It鈥檚 hard to spend big on kids鈥 stuff. Whatever you buy is destined to be a short-term investment, given how fast children grow. And they clearly don鈥檛 need expensive toys to have a great time: My seven-year-old can turn a discarded cardboard box into a week-long engineering project. But watching her on , which will be available this summer,听has convinced me that when it comes to kids鈥 bikes, you get what you pay for鈥攁nd even at $899, this rig is totally worth the extra coin.
Most kid鈥檚 bikes, even ones from reputable adult brands, cost hundreds less than this one. Most also use low-quality components, and cheaper, heavier materials. But a 50-pound child simply can鈥檛 pedal a 30-pound bike very far, or up hills. It鈥檚 akin to asking an average-sized adult to ride a 100-pound rig鈥攁nd if that were our norm, cycling would be doomed to extinction.听
, a two-year-old, California-based company that only makes kids鈥 bikes, obsesses over every child-centric detail. From the moment my kid hopped on the Zulu Three, she became a dramatically better rider. I was stunned.
With her first few passes in the driveway, it was obvious that she was cornering better on this bike. She looked balanced, stable, razor-sharp. Then we headed to some nearby singletrack, where the bike鈥檚 benefits became even more pronounced: She railed loose berms and charged over eight-inch rocks with newfound confidence. It was as if she鈥檇 accumulated a year鈥檚 worth of practice overnight.听
The Zulu Three鈥檚 20-inch wheels come with 2.1-inch Kenda tires that are wider than your typical pavement cruiser and deliver much better traction on deep, dusty corners where skinnier tires wash out. The Shimano Zee short-cage derailleur offers more ground clearance than most so it doesn鈥檛 bash into rocks and roots as derailleurs on kids鈥 bikes tend to do. Hydraulic disc brakes let her scrub speed or stop with less effort, in shorter distances鈥攁nd my daughter definitely appreciates the improved control. Plus, the front fork is a real, adjustable air fork that soaks up hits without the harsh, bucking-bronco rebound you get from the coil forks on cheaper bikes.
Even with these features, the Zulu Three weighs just 23 pounds鈥攁 fair payload for the six- to nine-year-olds it鈥檚 built for. That, plus the 11-34 gearing over 10 speeds, has dramatically improved my daughter鈥檚 uphill range. Suddenly, she鈥檚 able to log real climbs, and longer mileages over rolling terrain, with a fraction of the fatigue she used to feel. She鈥檚 got enough muscle left to tackle rocky, rooty uphills. She surprises herself with what she鈥檚 accomplishing, and I love watching her elation when she conquers an obstacle that would鈥檝e thwarted her on her old setup.听
Kids who rarely pedal beyond their paved driveways probably don鈥檛 need this bike. But groms who hop curbs, skid around vacant lots, and pedal up and down technical singletrack will find their wings with the Zulu Three鈥攁nd that鈥檚 a hard purchase to skimp on.
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