[manimal]

Now that he finally has gears and a hand brake we decided to hit the trails. He took to the gears as if he's been using them for years and i only had to suggest that he shift once. The handbrake on his new ride is still a bit of a task for him to easily grab but he did very well (although he did complain of some arm-pump on the longer downhill sections)

First we stopped by the freeride park where he did much better than i thought he would on the jumps. VERY smooth for his first time jumping a huge bike, he railed the berm about as fast as i do

then we hit the trail; about a 3 mile loop including some climbs and really fun, rollercoaster-ish, down sections.
cleaning a log thingy

fun bridge after a steep roll-in. his control with the hand brake was impressive

i snapped this shot by holding the camera behind me while riding, i'm very surprised that it actually came out so well

we both had a blast and he seems to enjoy the diversity in riding that gears and a hand brake bring to the sport.

 

[splat]

Nice ! How does he like having some squish in the front ?

 

[manimal]

Nice ! How does he like having some squish in the front ?

he loves it. he's constantly popping little wheelies and rolling little drops. i think his progression will speed up as he grows into it.

he was launching his ramp the other day and his lack of leverage wasn't allowing him to keep the front end up. he lawn-darted almost every time but he just kept saying how cool it was that it was soft when he landed

 

[Skookum]

Haha cool. If Lil Manimal stays stoked on riding he'll be pro level before he even thinks about girls...

It's cool to see thru your ride reports the discovery of the cool things about biking thru your guyses adventures. Unfortunately for me the discovery of gears and hand brakes were on a 10 speed i bought for a paper route, if only mt. biking had been around when i was a kid......

Also for that long distant riding might be a good idea to having that seat up a tad so his knees don't get hammered doin all that pedaling.

 

[manimal]

it's hard to tell in the trail pics but his seat is up about as far as it can go for him to actually get on the bike. i raised it about 3" from slam bottom. it's still not perfect for where it should be but it is a little better. he has to compromise a bit for now until he grows some more.

 

[ÆX]

awsome. i wish my son thor had some bicycle drive.

how did you start him? training wheels

or somthing like this?

 

[BigMike]

Awesome! Seeing you and your son ride makes me almost not so scared to have kids in the next 8 years!

 

[JRogers]

Crap, I'm amazed that kid can ride that thing. The bars look like they come up to his neck! And the pics of him on it make the fork look like a 66 or something else really big.

 

[manimal]

Crap, I'm amazed that kid can ride that thing. The bars look like they come up to his neck! And the pics of him on it make the fork look like a 66 or something else really big.

haha....funny you mention that 'cause it's a full size fork designed around a 26" wheel but it's on a 20"

it only has the assist spring in it so it's suuuper plush.

 

[sneakysnake]

thats so awesome, it's really cool that he can do so amazing on a bike that is that big on him....how old is he?

 

[manimal]

he's 6 now. i can't believe how well he's handled it either
there's a thread in the lounge with shots of his progression from his 12", 16" and now his 20". just search "lil manimal".

 

[hooples3]

i see he is adapting quite well tot he new bike !!!

 

[pixelninja]

I can't wait to see what lil maninal is doing by the time he's 12...

 

[CAVEDWELLER]

I have a 3 yr old that loves to ride and jump his ramp. What' sfunny is I think your son and mine started on the same bikes. How old was lil' manimal before you got him a bigger bike? Looking at a 16" DK GL for my son.

Here's him jumping, ala hardcore

 

[DHS]

does lil'man fit into the hat yet?

 

[mtnbiker66]

I was camping with Gastro,Highrevs and WheelieMert last weekend and they were bragging on him. I ride with my son all the time, there's nothing better.

 

[BAH]

Nice!

 

[TreeSaw]

Awesome! I can't wait to take my daughter out riding.