The upgrade to drop bars
We were in the process of finding a 24" bike to upgrade from a 20" to a 24" bike and stumbled across a bike with drop bars. I had been looking for a bike that was fairly lightweight and with a higher quality and performance than some of the "standard" offerings out there. I had found a few brands that make higher quality 24" bikes for kids: Woom, Cleary, Prevelo, Pello, Frog, Islabikes, Diamondback, Fuji, Specialized (Jett), Spawn, Trailcraft, Kona, and Redline.
There might be more, but those are the brands that I remember seeing during my search. I wanted to buy a used bike in order to keep things budget friendly, and I knew I could probably do minor repairs without much issue.
Drop bar bikes for kids
I think we would have been fine with standard flat bar bikes, but there were some drop-bar style bikes that seemed to offer a good value. They were being sold at a decent price used, and had components that are common on better-than-average adult bikes.
If I remember correctly, Fuji makes a road bike for kids, the Ace 24. We didn't want a road bike though as I wanted something that could handle potholed streets and mild trails to match our riding. I think Diamondback offers a road bike too.
Kona, Redline and Diamondback all make cyclocross bikes for youth. I started looking into these more when I saw the occasional kids cx bike on Craigslist. Kona has the "Jake 24" series. Redline offers the Conquest 24, and Diamondback has the Haanjo 24.
We would have been fine with any of these, and in the end found a Kona Jake 24 that was a decent price, and easy to purchase (based on location).
First impressions: shifting and braking
First impressions were.. fine!
The seller offered my kid a test ride, and they started riding right away. I think I probably showed them how to brake with STI integrated levers. It looked a little big for them, and they had a more difficult time braking than usual due to the different shape of the levers. I didn't bother to have them shift.
The bike rolled faster than their 20" bike and the tires looked kind of skinny.. but we were able to ride off with it after paying the seller. He was selling it because his child outgrew it, and threw in a couple of extra inner tubes.
The bike had some signs of wear from being left outside. There were spiderwebs in a lot little areas and some leaves stuck to the spiderwebs. The cables were corroding a bit, so there was extra friction when shifting and braking. The plastic shifter covers had cracked (this is what led me to make my own new shifter covers) Other things seemed fine though and I viewed all of this as fairly normal for a used bicycle.
Things I fixed up to make it ride better (since it was used and had been left outside)
There are a lot of things fixed down below, but in general the bike was in decent shape. There are a lot of items because we use the bike almost daily, and this accounts for about 2 years of fixes.
Replaced the shifter and brake cables
Braking required a lot of force, and shifting required even more force. Ergonomics were an issue (the shifters were designed for adult hands) but also there was a lot of extra friction due to corrosion of the cables and the cable housing.
The shifter and brake cables had corroded. They weren't rusty, but you could see how the cables that had probably been previously shiny had turned a dull and slightly greenish color. I first started by adding lubricant to the cables, which made braking and shifting a little easier. It turned out this wasn't sufficient and eventually I replaced all of the cables. This made braking a lot easier, and shifting a little easier.
Replaced the chain
The chain had noticeable rust on it. We used that chain for a bit, but I eventually just replaced the chain. This made the bike ride smoother and quieter. Though this is an ongoing maintenance thing, because we ride in the rain. I end up re-lubricating the chain every couple of weeks.
Replaced the handlebar tape
The existing handlebar tape was in usable condition. It had some tears and some wear, but it was ok. I saw a colleague's reflective bar tape though and thought it'd be fun to change the tape on my kid's bike. I found some holographic reflective bar tape and switched to that. I wanted a little extra visibility, and it turns out that this tape is really reflective. It's extra-visible when the light is low in the sky like during a sunset, or when illuminated by headlights.
Downsides are that the tape is a little slippery and not as comfortable. It's got a harder plastic feel to it.
The trade-off is sort of worth it, but I'd be curious if there's any softer, less slippery bar tape that we can use in the future.
Replaced shifter cover name plates
The existing Shimano shifter cover name plates had yellowed and cracked from sunlight and UV exposure and probably some minor crashes. This is probably normal but I thought it'd be a nice project to design new ones. The new shifter name plates fit pretty well and if they get damaged, I can just make another pair.
Replaced the pedals
For whatever reason, my kid slips off of their pedals a lot. I think it's because they're sometimes distracted, as all kids are. I swapped the existing pedals with wider platform pedals so their feet wouldn't slip off as often.
Shifter lubricant
This is common for older integrated Shimano shifters, and has happened on two of our other bikes. It is easier to shift to a harder gear than an easier gear. Sometimes the pawls don't catch onto the ratchet due to dust, evaporated solvent, or something that makes the grease that used to be in there either not exist or not lubricate as well.
This is sort of fixable by spraying a bunch of solvent / cleaner / lube into the shifter, but this is kind of gross to work with, smells bad, and is hard to clean up. This wasn't a problem with the bike, but just an issue with older shifters, especially ones that have been exposed to the elements.
Things we changed to make it easier for a kid to use drop bars
The adult-sized shifter/brake levers that came with the bike were hard for small hands to operate. A bike with brakes on the hoods already means one is riding in a position with less mechanical advantage. My kid could adjust by switching to the drops, but this would mean that they'd be worse at braking because more time would be required to change hand positions.
Some companies such as Woom use levers and other components with more specialized ergonomics for smaller kids' hands and bodies.
Changing the cables helped and made it easier to brake. Shifting is still sometimes difficult.
My kid doesn't use the front derailleur at all.
Some bikes have inline brake levers, or sometimes called "cross top levers" or as my friend Felix used to call them "oh-shit levers". I think the Fuji Ace 24 series usually comes with them. This bike does not have them, and at first I was a little concerned, but it's been fine.
What's it like now? Is it weird to switch back to a "regular" flat bar bike?
My kid is totally used to it. I think they like having extra hand positions available, but I don't think that they were completely necessary either. I asked them what they thought and they said "Yeah it was kind of weird" trying out a flat bar bike. But they were able to ride it and shift and brake fine after they figured it out again.
