Trek's Wahoo 24 Trail Bike Gives Kids the Proper Tool To Join You on Off-Road Travels

Folks, if you've got a child who has been getting the hang of riding a bike and is now ready to join you on off-road trails, then listen up. The machine before us today is dubbed the Wahoo 24 Trail, and if you know anything about this lineup from Trek, you know it's aimed at the young riders among us and just in time to land on our Christmas lists.

But how did we get here? Well, Trek has been a name in the cycling industry since 1976, and if you don't know anything about this crew if you turn on your TV to any sports or cycling channel, chances are that you'll see a Trek machine ride across the screen shortly after tuning in.

Naturally, it makes sense for a team like this to embark upon creating and sustaining a lineup of bicycles designed for kids. Why? Well, with nearly 50 years of R&D behind them and countless trials and tests giving rise to some of the strongest and performance-inclined bicycles around, there are only a few other crews that I would put my trust in building a better and safer kid's bike.

So, what does the Trail have to offer? Well, for starters, Trek is asking us to drop only $700 (€650 at current exchange rates) on this rather weird but smartly designed bicycle. That may seem like a tad more than what the average parent would like to drop on a bike their kid is simply going to destroy in the rides to come.

Now, if you're like me, upon seeing the Trail for the very first time, you may be wondering why the frame looks the way it does. I can assure you, there's a method to the madness, and it doesn't take an engineer to understand what's going on here.

What we see starts off with nothing more than aluminum tubes shaped, rather odd than what we're used to seeing, and there's a reason for that: the Trail is built around 24-inch wheels. This is a crucial aspect and defines the entire bike.

How? Well, 24-inch tires are much larger than what the average kid's bike is sporting, and the reason is to help our little ones ride over roots, bumps, chapped earth, and whatever else the forest throws in their way. But, if you were to build a classic-style frame without all those kinks and bends the Trail boasts, our kids would be sitting rather high on the bike and have a hard time reaching the pedals, among others.

So, to ensure that our little riders can cover obstacles that may arise during travels and do so safely and with comfort, Trek has chosen to drop the top tube really nice and low, and the seat stay runs almost parallel to the chain stay. All this, in turn, affects the seat tube's placement, which is even dropper post-compatible, just like the bigger kids.

As we can clearly see, this sort of framework places riders nice and low, close to the BB (Bottom Bracket), and literally in between the wheels. This eliminates all of the above-mentioned issues that could arise from using 24-inch wheels, and, best of all, should offer our kids a wonderful opportunity to adjust to the dynamics of larger wheels, wider handlebars, and why carbon fiber is used to craft forks.

The rest of the Trail has seen some serious attention, too. After all, this is a bike that's meant to keep up with the bigger kids. Sure, not through all terrains that this world has to offer, but the presence of disk brakes from Tektro and a 1x9 speed drivetrain from microShift are sure to ready your growing rugrat for the real deal, just a few years or rides away.

Components such as the stem, fenders, and handlebar are all from Bontrager, one of Trek Bicycle Corporation's brands. The tires, on the other hand, are from good old Kenda, but if your kid prefers something grippier, switch the rubbers out, as they're a rather affordable component. Altogether, 10.7 kg (24 lbs) is what your youngling will be throwing around.

But what does all this bring to your child's riding experience? Well, quite a whole lot, really. First of all, it'll ready the rider for some of the bigger machines this world has to offer, which, may I remind you, they grow up so fast; the real deal is only around the corner.

Next, it means that you and your child or children can bond during moments that were otherwise off-limits in the past. You can teach them how a derailleur works, how to change a flat, and proper use of gears and taking corners, all the while creating memories to last a lifetime. In a couple of years or so, you'll be watching their run on TV, YouTube, or from the finish line. Think about all that before grabbing just any old kid's bike you find on the market.