My kid’s 24” wheeled Marin San Quentin (SQ24) is a sweet rig. It serves her well on increasingly difficult blue and purple trails. Especially as she discovers the art of smooth riding. I think it has the best trail geometry of any kids’ hardtail out there. It has a good set of Maxxis DHF tires, a short-stack OneUp dropper post, and an excellent pair of brakes, for a lighter rider. It would not be inexpensive to replace.

 At the same time, and it’s important for this discussion, a ‘custom’ combination of well-used parts like the fork, brakes, and drivetrain came in far below what many folks I know have spent on their kids’ 24” rigs. Especially the ever-increasingly popular full-suspension bikes. No judgment here, I know those parents are trying to invest in the best outcomes from their shared experience in the woods – trying not to be MEGAtower-Dad – introducing their groms to their obsession. 

This is simply to say that if the Clairebarian isn’t riding her mountain bike to school, it should come as little surprise that multi-grand off-road investments like Rocky Reapers, Kona Process 2-4s, and Transition Ripcords aren’t showing up there either. And yet, many of the parents I know who are willing to invest that much in the trail experience of their children also go-by-cycle themselves and prescribe to the simple edict that life’s too short to ride shitty bicycles. 

Enter my theory that if I’d be willing to invest in a decent commuter rig for our mix-mode school transportation and going places in general that there are piles of other folks out there who would do that same. I’m not talking about carbon super-commuters or anything crazy here, just brands taking their existing 1×8 or 1×9 700c commuter rigs and adding XXS, and XXXS sizes – 24″ and 26″ wheeled versions with rubber in the 1.5″ range. 

Kona, for example, makes 24″ versions of their Honzo and Process rigs but not the iconic Dew urban-commuter series but I’ll contend that if there are folks willing to drop $3300 on a full suspension bike for their kid, there are plenty more who’d drop $800 on a mini-Dew. 

Brodie doesn’t make kids’ rigs but their $800 Omega ticks the boxes and why not have one of their $650 rim-brake models available in smaller wheel sizes as well? If parents are pursuing reliable car-lighter living their groms and tweens need to go along too. I’d like discs – cables or hydraulics – but there’s a solid argument for getting things done with a simple v-brake setup. There’s no better place to start in terms of teaching kids to change their own pads and cables. 

Looking at existing commuter rig models and watching how kids transition from wheel size to wheel size I think most brands would need to add two sizes in order to support kid’s from the Clairebarian’s age until they fit existing small or XS models. That’s shorter cranks, smaller rims and tires, and narrower bars in addition to smaller frames and forks and, of course, sticking with longer Reach and shorter stems to maximize toe clearance, but I don’t think it would be reinventing the bicycle for any of these commuter-forward brands. 

I’d like my kid’s commuter bike to mimic her mountain bike fit both in terms of pedaling position and keeping her a bit more upright for looking around as we inevitably dash from one piece of safe cycling infrastructure to another, but swapping a bar or stem for fit isn’t a big deal. I just need a solid platform to start from. Please?