Early Rider Hellion 16 kids bike in review
The Early Rider Hellion 16 offers a lot more than a child’s bike really needs: disc brakes, solid adult components and a stunning aluminium frame. You’re likely to love this fancy little shredder as much as your kids do!
You can get an overview of the 11 exciting concepts here: kids bike buyer’s guide – 11 exciting concepts at a glance
The Early Rider Hellion with 16″ wheels promises to put a big smile on the faces of kids between 100 cm and 120 cm tall, and surely their parents too. Does dad ride a high-end Nicolai with a raw aluminium frame? Then this is the bike he would want for his kid. The Hellion not only looks just as good but it also has the same high-performance disc brakes found on some adult mountain bikes. The lever reach can be easily adjusted to suit your child’s hands so that it doesn’t have to drag its feet on the floor to come to a standstill! The rear wheel with its aggressively profiled off-road tire and the frame even allow you to fit gears at a later date. Other details such as the threaded bottom bracket, the clean welds of the aluminium frame and the rubber grips with their gentle flanges at the end complete the picture of a child’s bike that was designed and built with as much attention to detail and the same quality as an adult bike, though it also weighs 7 kg.
Unfortunately, the threaded bottom bracket has the same width and the handlebar has the same diameter as an adult bike, which is too wide and too thick for children. As a result, they have to spread their legs apart to stand on the pedals and can’t get a good hold on the grips. In addition, the two bolts of the stem protrude slightly, posing a hazard to children’s knees. However, you should be carrying dinosaur plasters anyway.
The adult size grips of the Hellion 16 are difficult for children to grasp.
On the other hand, the pedals of the Hellion are specially adapted for children’s feet – excellent!
The Hellion allows kids to brake like grown-ups. The big rotors offer plenty of power.
The Early Rider Hellion 16 kid’s bike is built well and finished beautifully, making a good impression not just on kids but also their parents. As a kids bike, the Hellion could be seen as over-engineered. We think it’s just right for a growing shredder.
Tops
- high-quality
- can be upgraded to run gears
- raw aluminium look
Flops
- wide q-factor
- protruding stem bolts
Find more information here: earlyrider.com
11 exciting concepts at a glance
You can get an overview of this comparison test here: kids bike buyer’s guide – 11 exciting concepts at a glance.
All kids bikes in this group test: Tout Terrain Singletrailer Trailer (Click for review) | Shotgun Pro MTB child seat (Click for review) | Leg&go balance bike (Click for review) | Mondraker Grommy-E-balance bike (Click for review) | Early Rider Hellion 16-kids bike| Woom OFF 5- / OFF AIR 5 kids bike(Click for review) | Woom UP 5 kids ebike (Click for review) | Ben-E-Bike TWENTYFOUR-SIX E-POWER FS kids mountain bike (Click for review) | SCOTT Ransom 600 kids mountain bike (Click for review) | VPACE MORITZ26 kids mountain bike (Click for review) | YT JEFFSY PRIMUS 24 kids mountain bike (Click for review)
