Video: What Bikes Are North Shore Groms Riding? - Daily Driver Bike Checks

 Amen

 @Kmccann137: I'm 47 years old and I now regret selling 2 of my old full suss trail bikes. They would have saved me so much money. Trying to find size small 26inch bikes for my sons is a nightmare.

 @karatechris: same. My 09 Nomad would have been ideal for my boy.

 Alot of the worlds kids: How do you have time to bike after working in the factory or fields all day?

 my Reign 0 2012 with the EWS stickers still on is like wine!!

 Kids over here have it way to good

 @SacAssassin: Me as a kid: Jeez why do my parents have no time for anything and are always busy like ALL the time with all that boring stuff...?

Me now with my own kids: Jeez why do I have NO time anymore and why doesn't this cooking/cleaning/school run do itself? Ohhhhhhh that's why my parents had no time to do anything....

Moral of the story kids, live the f out of it now and enjoy every second of this wonderful world we live in before you get too many responsibilities. Or just don't have kids...

Joke btw, I love taking my son biking, when he says he wants to go back and try that trail again that he crashed on last time makes me so proud, but damn I wish I'd kept those old bikes. Kids' bikes these days are expensive AF!

 @mikedk: So... you're saying I should keep my XL Evil Calling for my 3 year old son?

 …is the kind of thing I tell my wife to justify spending money on bikes.

 Same here but no kids so more bikes for me

 @ybsurf: More lifehacks, I'm writing this all down!

 That's what the top tube says @10:12 Process 153 CR/DL...

 Most definitely a Process 153

 When you put a single crown on an Operator it becomes a trail-hill bike.

 @kinematix: is that the latest name for downduro?

 Grom is such an embedded term here in Hawaii that some groms get called groms for many years into adulthood. Lately I've been having my 11 year old try new features before I do and he really enjoys that. He's been sendy for years now and good bikes are safer, we are frugal but still get him good stuff. Just bought him a XS Scout frame and moving parts from his old bike and some new stuff we've been accumulating. First time in our family buying a new full price bike.

 @dirtpedaler: Right on man, I love riding with my kids.

How tall is your son? I’m looking for his next bike and wondering if he’d fit an XS. He’s 4’9”.

 @jason475 All of this for sure. Same with my "grom." He's surpassed me, but he still pushes me to be a better rider.

For us, bikes also gives my son a total focus for his current teenage life. It's his social scene. It's his exercise program. He ties it into his academic projects. He constantly ponders different careers that he might have in the bike industry (if he doesn't go pro). He's learned networking and geography. He's been able to travel and meet people from all over North America through bikes. He's learned about responsibility to sponsors and team obligations as well as how to present himself. He's learned about digging and construction and mechans. He's learned independence, as he's been turned loose on trails to ride for a full day since he was like 12 years old. He's learned how to film and edit videos as well as (for better or worse) how to work with social media channels, and this has also given him a keen interest in music and different music genres.

Bikes, for those of us truly into it, are way more than just a sport or hobby. It's a defining piece of our lives as a family, and it's hard to put a pricetag on that.

 @Reno233: my son is 5'0" and on a Marin XS 27.5 rift zone 1. other than the stupid long crank it fits ok. it's impossible to find a boost crank 1x12 that is 155 or 160mm, yet e-bikes have them. I tried a bmx/135 mtb spacing crank and it would not work. previous he had a specialized 26/24 big hit grom.

 @fruitsd79: Canfield cranks! canfieldbikes.com/products/canfield-bikes-am-dh-cranks

 @Hogfly: that is truly awesome. There is more to life for these kids than typical travel sports that take up every waking second of theirs and your lives. Not sure if you know this, or it matters to you, but my son earns community service hours for working on the trails. Its not a priority, but he still gets them.

 @Reno233: Mine is 4'8" and the XS Transition Scout is a great fit, can put both feet down while on the seat. Only been out in the street with it so far. We had 26 inch wheels on his Commencal Supreme 24 for the last couple months and the Scout's wheelbase is 100mm longer. Hopefully he will find the Scout as playful/whipable.

 @Hogfly: Mine has been on the 140 Brood/Spawn and planning on going to the 150 Canfield soon. I bit pricey but it seems we are a crank bending family as myself, wife and kid have all bent cranks in the past. They also explain how to compensate for boost with chainring offset.

 @dirtpedaler: Awesome, thanks for the info. My son also has an older supreme 24 currently, but has outgrown the reach. Commencal just came out with a new junior and XS lineup that’s pretty interesting but not available until fall 2022.

 @Reno233: My kid really wanted the Clash but I just don't like the geo. The short reach on the supreme 24 was helpful since he is smaller. Would have been nice to get a Primus or Minor Threat before going 27.5 but missed out. I also like the XS Norco Sight. Decided I better grab a Patrol while I could. When we get to Whistler next year for sure we will both be drooling over the new XS Supreme which may actually be available.

 Grom came from surfing, specifically down under, not skiing (snow sports grabbed it from surfing). It's like certain words...you put the right stink on it and it can be derogatory or benign

 @NorCalNomad: ha! I trump your surfing origin…it came from naval slang…

….Grom stems from the word grommet, a term generally used to denote the lowest ranking members of a naval ship. This term was then borrowed by the Australian surf community to describe young, skilled surfers, employed as both a term of respect and a way to poke a little fun at the younger guys and girls in the water.…

 Everett FTW! Dude doesn't want to just blurt out same random answer, thinks about it for some time then: "Downhills". Respect. He's ready too, full-face & gloves, ready for that Downhill run! Gotta love Sienna's reaction, laughing along...

 and rides a nicer bike than you lol

 Yep... I lucked out and just before Christmas 2019, a somewhat local shop was doing a "20 days of Christmas Sale" (different product each day and they'd promote it on Facebook)... one day the sale happened to be a 2018 XS 27.5 Marin Hawk Hill for $1000 (CDN)!!! This was in the before times, when XS bikes were sometimes hard to sell, ha! I saw it and immediately blew off work and drove the two hours to go buy it asap!

Bike was still too big for my son then... but I saw the potential and value. I put an angleset on on it (-1.5), found a used set of 26" wheels, bought some 26" tires on sale, put 152mm Suntour cranks on it, a smaller seat and a Brand X dropper.

I emailed back and forth with Marin asking about the changes and if they would work ok... great response from them and they were excited to see the finished product.... asked me send them pics of it. Then the next year they released their 26" kids bike!

That was a couple years ago... he's still on the same bike, but I've since put the 27.5 wheels back on as well as a larger range cassette. Next season I'll put the longer cranks and larger seat back on and it should be good for another season. Might also upgrade the fork as he's progressed substantially. Then the bike will go back down to 26" wheels just in time for his brother to use it.