Just in time for Christmas, Ridley has launched the new Yungstr carbon kids’ bike, race-ready for the next Remco Evenepoel, sized for riders between 8 and 12 years old and priced at €2,699.
Although other brands, including Frog and Boardman, also sell drop-bar bikes for kids, Ridley claims the Yungstr is the first full-fledged drop-bar kids' bike.
Kids' bikes are usually made of cheaper aluminium, rather than the carbon fibre used by Ridley, which has also specced a Shimano GRX groupset and 700c DT Swiss wheels, maybe helping to justify this claim.
Ridley says the Yungstr is designed for road, gravel and cyclocross duties. It even has a UCI approval sticker, so it can be ridden in UCI-sanctioned races.
It has clearance for tyres up to 32mm on 700c rims or 42mm on 650b, so the bike can put plenty of rubber on the trail for off-road riding.
Ridley says that, rather than shrinking an adult bike frame, it has designed the Yungstr’s frame from the ground up to mix reactivity with the stability needed for gravel riding or tricky cyclocross courses. It comes in a single size, with a 970mm wheelbase and 410mm chainstay length, while the head tube angle is 71 degrees and the seat tube angle a steep 75 degrees.
The frame stack is 485mm and the reach 370mm; Ridley says you can quickly swap out the stem as your kid grows, so the bike should last them longer. The sloping top tube results in a 400mm seat tube length and you can set the saddle as high as 690mm.
Ridley says the bike’s frame weighs 929g and the complete bike, which features a Shimano GRX RX400 10-speed gravel groupset, weighs 8.9kg.
While drop-bar bikes for younger riders are a little niche in the UK, they’re popular in Ridley’s Belgian home market. A few years ago, when we rode the Scheldecross cyclocross course in Antwerp at a launch a couple of days before the pro races, we shared it with a large group of younger kids, almost all riding Ridley kids’ cyclocross bikes.
Kids can be tough on bikes, but Ridley offers a lifetime warranty on the Yungstr, which is transferable if you resell the bike once your kid graduates to a full-size road, gravel or cyclocross bike.
