Children can't keep still for five minutes. Like Duracell bunnies, constantly energised, always on the go. We are still standing with photographer Wolfi at the top of the flow trail in the Oberammergau bike park, snapping the last pictures with Lois and Tobi. But out of the corner of my eye, I can see Vreni, Franzi, Ben and Lasse already restlessly shifting from one foot to the other.
"Can we finally get going?" Vreni calls up to me as Wolfi finally packs his camera into his rucksack. But just as I'm about to deliver my cautionary sermon - about the first descent and not overdoing it - the six of them rush past me, cackling wildly. I have to hurry so as not to lose the connection. Lined up like the cars of a rollercoaster, the tots rattle through the berms and over the waves of the flow trail, clattering over the wooden planks of a chicken ladder before tumbling like marbles - plop, plop, plop - into the landing hill. Arriving at the bottom of the car park: cheerful giggling and eager bike swapping - a quick drink of spritzer and then off to the next descent.
If you mix a bunch of bike-loving kids with the latest junior fullys and a child-friendly bike park descent, the fun bubbles up like a fizzy drink. The manufacturers have understood that children between the ages of nine and fourteen don't care much about scrubbing forest tracks, but prefer to really step on the gas downhill. Our little testers are no different. They all regularly sit on their bikes, but prefer to spend their time here in the bike park - and you can see that in their riding style: They let the rear wheel drift around the bend, lay the bike flat over the table and - hand on heart - even make their parents look old. Our six test bikes with wheel sizes between 24 and 27.5 inches, which look like shrunken adult versions, are the perfect playmates for this. The air suspension can be easily adjusted to the low weights and, with 120 to 140 millimetres of travel, buffers out even rough root carpets and botched landings.
As soon as the youngsters have learnt the basic riding techniques, it is worth switching to a full-suspension bike because it noticeably increases safety on more challenging terrain. Or: "Because it's just so much more fun to ride", as 10-year-old Franzi puts it in a nutshell.
You can download the complete comparison test of the six children's full-suspension bikes from BIKE 4/2021 as a PDF below the article. The test report of the bikes costs 1.99 euros.
Why not free of charge? Because quality journalism has a price. In return, we guarantee independence and objectivity. This applies in particular to the tests in BIKE. We don't charge for them, but the opposite is the case: we do charge for them - tens of thousands of euros every year.
- Cube Stereo 240 Pro
- Early Rider Hellion X24
- Rocky Mountain Reaper 24 inch
- Scott Ransom 600
- Vpace Moritz275 S
- YT Jeffsy Primus JP 24
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Stefan Frey
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