In 2010, I saw my son, Abishai, fall in love for the first time (aside from the love for his mother and food of course). I think this is a little earlier than most; he was 22 months old, and we’d bought him his first bike. It was a Strider balance bike, and it was immediately his favorite possession, and his favorite activity in the world. He could barely talk, but on his third day, he went ripping down a neighborhood grass hill, wiping out at the bottom, and remained undeterred.
Riding “Bobsled,” outside of Salt Lake City, UT
After he grew out of his balance bike, we looked for good next alternatives. We were saddened by the young-kids biking landscape. They are heavy, have terrible gearing, and the suspension forks are pretty much just for show. Abs limped around for a couple of years on a Novera Duster 20 from REI. Later he switched to a 18-year-old old bike of mine, which was way to big for him. Ironically they weighed about the same amount, but at least he had usable gears now.
Last summer, when mountain biking with some friends we saw the Prevelo Zulu 4, and he got a chance to ride it. I hadn’t realized how much his biking enthusiasm had been tempered by ill-fitting and overweight bikes: he came alive in a way I hadn’t seen in years. (One sure way to pull at dad’s heartstrings.)
Unpacking and assembling.
We were planning a fall trip to ride the White Rim Trail, a 100 mile 4×4 road through Canyonlands National Park, in the fall. Alyssa reached out to Prevelo to see if they wanted to partner with us to tell the story of biking the trail with 3 families and a group of 7 kids. Thankfully, they provided a test sample of the Zulu 4 for Abs to use for the trip.
When the bike arrived, his excitement was nearly uncontainable as we unboxed the bike and did the minor bits of assembly that are required. (Attaching a handlebar, the front wheel, seat and pedals if I remember correctly.)
We spent a week mountain biking the trails out in Vernal as our first test. It was really fun to see his abilities skyrocket. The Prevelo’s geometry was very confidence inspiring, the air shock is actually adjustable enough that he can benefit from having suspension, and the SLX/Zee drivetrain is grown-up quality.
A few weeks later, we tackled the White Rim Trail, and over the course of 4 days, I was blown away by the number of miles Abs put on the bike, and how fast he was able to move. He even chose to do one of the long 3 mile technical climbs out of camp the second day, then rode the majority of the 20 miles to the next camping spot.
Ok, now for more of a technical review.
Pluses:
- Light weight. Coming in at 25 pounds for a kids’ bike with a suspension fork is a rarity these days. This makes it easier to handle, pick up over obstacles, and ride uphill.
- Sweet geometry. Both of my younger kids (it has been passed down to his 7 year old sister now) feel confident on this bike due to its handling, and it shows.
- Quality drivetrain. The shifting is crisp and smooth with the Zee derailleur and the SLX shifter. A 1×10 configuration is so much simpler for a kid than a 2x or 3x drivetrain, while giving them most of the range that they can use anyway. (At some point, the gearing gets so low that they can’t balance because they are moving so slow.) The short-cage derailleur protects the drivetrain from rocks which are more of an issue with the smaller 24″ wheel size.
Prevelo MTB with kids in Park City, UT
- Wide range cassette. The supplied 11-34t cassette gives a 300% gearing range, which is substantially better than most kids’ bikes on the market. I do wonder why Prevelo didn’t put an 11-36t cassette on to maximize the range of the Zee derailleur, although this is an inexpensive upgrade. We are considering trying an 11-40t to give a little more range for our little one to make it up hills.
- Air-adjustable fork. Most kids’ forks are a total joke. This one at least is air-adjustable, so you can adjust it to your kid’s weight. My only complaints about it are the lack of an adjustable rebound damper, and that I can’t buy seal kits off of Amazon. (One suggestion is for Prevelo to stock the seal kits on their online store, as an easily-serviceable fork is high on my list for bikes that are more than a few hundred dollars.)
Areas of improvement:
- Tubeless-compatible rims. One of the things I loved when we got our Striders were the foam tires: they argued that fixing flats sucks, and kids would rather just ride their bike. I really wish that the Zulu 4 was tubeless ready so I never had to worry about the kids flatting. That stated – we’ve yet to have a flat, and for many people setting up tubeless is a daunting task.
-
Start of the White Rim trail, UT
Bottom line:
I love this bike. My kids love this bike. When we told Esme we were getting Abs a new bike so we could pass the Zulu down to her (we didn’t want to own 2 x 24″ bikes), and that a hand-me-down-bike was her birthday present, she was ecstatic. As she’s started riding it, it has been really fun to see her confidence grow. Just the other day she flew down a mile of winding single-track, airing off of the small drops and loving it the whole time. This bike strikes a great balance between price and performance for a bike that will fit a kid for about 3 years.
Kids mountain biking Sedona, AZ on the Prevelo Zulu 4