We've had the bike for about 10 weeks and managed to ride almost 300km on various terrain including singletracks and a blue downhill trail.
What's cool?
The overall fit and finish is astonishing and on par or above adult bikes in the same price range.
Bike has relatively aggresive geometry, which is more downhill focused, but still comfortable for longer climbs.
- Seat Tube Length: 245 mm
- Effective Top Tube Length: 445 mm
- Head Tube Length: 100 mm
- Chainstay Length: 335 mm
- Wheelbase: 880 mm
- Seat Tube Angle: 73°
- Head Tube Angle: 67°
- Standover Height: 535 mm
- Handlebar Width: 560 mm
- Crankarm Length: 127 mm
Bike is designed for kids from 5.5 to 8 years of age or 117-135cm of height respectively. My son is 112cm tall and handles the bike without any problems.
Stock bike already comes with high quality components:
- Fork: RST Spex 20", 80 mm suspension
- Stem: Ritchey OS, reach 35 mm, clamp 31.8 mm
- Handlebars: Ritchey OS, width 560 mm, rise 18 mm
- Grips: EARLY RIDER, Lock On Kraton, 92 mm
- Headset: EARLY RIDER 1 1/8", semi-integrated, cartridge
- Seatpost: Ritchey 30.9 x 225 mm
- Saddle: EARLY RIDER Wing
- Crankset: Samox 127 mm NQF direct mount, 30 t
- Pedals: EARLY RIDER aluminium platform pedals
- Brakes/Brake Levers: Shimano Deore BR-MT500, 160 mm, BL-MT501 brake lever
- Shift Lever: Shimano Deore M6000 Rapidfire RH, 10-speed
- Rear Derailleur: Shimano Zee SS, 10-speed
- Cassette: Sunrace, 10-speed, 11-36t
- Chain: KMC X10
- Rims: Double Wall 28 hole, Tubeless Ready
- Tyres: Vee Crown Gem Skinwall 20 x 2.25"
Cherry on top are the fixed 15mm and 12mm axles both front and rear.
The claimed weight is 9.6kg without pedals.
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the RST Spex air fork. I was worried whether the fork will be sensitive enough to work even under such a light kid (he weighs only 17kg) and won't be just a dead weight on the bike. Luckily, it's possible to adjust the fork in a way, that he's able to use the whole travel. Compression and rebound adjusters are functional as well. They have only about 6 clicks of range, but each click causes a significant change. The last click is a full lockout. We use 2 clicks of compression from fully open for regular riding.
One week after getting the bike for his 5th birthday
The hydraulic Shimano Deore brakes with 160mm brake rotors work flawlessly so far. Braking strength is more than sufficient for such a small kid and he learned to modulate the brakes rather quickly. This also solved our main problem with the previous bike, where his hands would get tired from the mechanical V-brakes way too quickly. Now he's able to complete the whole trail without stopping.
What could be improved?
Unfotunately, the bike wasn't flawless out of the box. The internal cable routing for rear derailleur enters the frame on the right side, making the cable bend way too sharply. The original Shimano Deore shifter had way too long free throw and the little one couldn't shift to lower gears. I've fixed the issue by replacing the rear bowden with a longer one and replacing the shifter with Shimano Saint 10spd shifter. It has much longer levers and almost no free throw. Now he's able to shift up 3 gears at once.
The chainline was not properly adjusted from the factory which caused issues with shifting to the largest and smallest cog. Moving one bottom bracket spacer from one side to the other solved this problem.
Our mods
We have already made some mods that made the bike much lighter and better overall.
We have removed the heavy BMX tubes that came in the wheels and replaced them with tubeless valves and Stan's NoTubes sealant. This took the weight down by about 450 grams. Fitting the rear wheel was a bit fiddly, as the hole in the rims wasn't drilled very preciselly and the wheel kept loosing pressure. I've fixed this by using some extra rubber washers cut from and old tube.
We have replaced the Shimano Deore shifter with Shimano Saint, as described above. The combination of Shimano Saint shifter and Shimano Zee rear derailleur is completely bulletproof and I've been using in on my Ibis Mojo HD for years. The Shimano Saint shifter enables him to shift down 2 gears at once too.
The original Early rider pedals were fine, they had nice large plaform and the bearings were smooth. The pins were cast from aluminum together with the platform though, so they wore out rather fast and junior's feet started to slip. We replaced the pedals with Xpedo Traverse 9, that we already had from the previous bike.
The original 560mm aluminum handlebars were replaced with 620mm carbon ones. I wanted to cut them down to the original width, but the wider bars suited my son better and helped with his "elbows out" position. Another 145 grams saved.
Another planned mods include carbon seatpost, as the stock one is rather heavy and replacing the front brake rotor for a 180mm one, as he's picking up speed every ride. Target weight is below 9kg including pedals.
Conclusion
Early Rider Hellion 20" is a splendid kids bike, after minor details were taken care of. My son is making huge progress every week and is able to ride increasingly difficult trails on it.
There's no way around it, this bike is not cheap. High quality light kid bikes hold their price really well and they can be sold easily once the kid outgrows the bike. The final financial hit can equal to the one of a cheap bike that's left in a garage, because it was difficult to sell for a reasonable price. It there another sibling down the line, the choice is even easier.
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You can also check out our biking experience from balance bike to singletracks by the age of 5 here.
Outstanding review. My son has the belter 16 and he has already outgrown tit (he’s 4.5). I’m looking at the Helion HT 20″. I’m not a bike geek and don’t have enough time to research all the cool stuff out there!
Couple of questions:
1. Which brakes did you use? Deore for Front & Rear? Both the same PN? Ordering from Amazon is hit/miss because of the possibility for the products changing but the link remaining the same.
2. The pedals linked are white — the ones you used were black. Did you Xpedo Traverse Size 9. Just wanted to confirm
3. Did you switch to the 180m rotor yet? Which one?
4. The shifter…the amazon link has ‘right’ and 10speed…can you provide the PN pls?
Thx for the awesome review…
Hello,
1. we’ve kept the original Shimano Deore that came on the bike. They have been faultless so far.
2. Amazon might have changed the color, but yes, it’s Xpedo Traverse 9. We are still very happy with the pedals
3. nope, we stuck with the 160mm and they are fine.
4. yes, right and 10 speed is correct. There is no other Shimano Saint shifter available really, only the SL-M820 https://amzn.to/2MDfVpP
Hope this helps
Hi Pete,
I came across your posts and videos while researching bikes for my (soon to be) 8-year-old son.
We hadn’t looked at higher-end bikes his first pedal bike, but I’ve been looking at Early Rider bikes for his next one (a 24′). I know this review is of the Hellion, but I can also see you have experience with other Early Rider models.
I’m trying to work out whether the Belter or Seeker (Hellion not being considered) would be the best model for my son. I would put the expected use at:
Tarmac/Asphalt | 40-50%.
Well-trodden (dirt footpaths), e.g. woods | 30-40%
Off-path (grass, off paths in woods, etc.) | 10-20%
I’d be grateful for any advice you might be able to provide.
Hello Kris,
from my understanding the main difference between the Belter and Seeker are the tires. With your use case, I’d personally go for the Seeker. They are both amazing bikes, but I think Seeker is more versatile.
Have a nice day!
Hello, i just read your great review. My son is also riding a Hellion 20″ now. As you mentioned in your review, the Bike is great, but some parts could be improved. I’m also looking forward to reduce the weight of the Bike, while removing the tubes, seatpost etc… Did you reuse the original Vee Crown Gem (not tubeless ready), with your tubeless kit?
Best regards
Hi, yes, the tires work fine with Stan’s NoTubes sealant. The only problem we had was with the valves, as the rims wren’t drilled very nicely. They do slowly leak some air, but it’s ok.
Amazing build.
Pete,
I wonder where did you get the fork as I cant find it in EU and what’s the width of the fork? I have a set of GEM 20 x 2.6 and a 20 x 2.4 .
I would like to use them but it all depend on the fork.
Thanks and keep joyfull.
Ulises
Hello Ulises,
we’ve bought a complete bike with the fork included. bike24.de carries the fork, but it’s out of stock now.
All best,
Peter
Hey, how You setup the forks rebound ?
Compresion od easy, pump, sag measure and IT looks like it works fine.
Rebound Control is turning little too hard I think, I counted 16 clicks.
Doughter noticed hand pain after few rides/day, She is 17kg.
Hello, yes, the rebound adjuster is rather stiff. I kept rebound quite fast as kids are light and don’t really need much damping. If her hands hurt, I’d try to adjust her cockpit first: move saddle further front/back, rotate handlenbars a bit, adjust brakes so she can reach them comfortably with one finger and her elbows out, etc.. I don’t think rebound speed is the culprit here.
Hi Pete,
Thanks for this article. It decided me to buy this bike (with your upgrades) for the 5th anniversary of my daughter.
Keep up the nice videos
Paul (Luxembourg)
Thank you Paul!
Looks like another good upgrade to reduce weight could be to add some Schwalbe rocket ron to save another 100 or so grams, not sure how much tire kids will use, since mine are younger and they outgrow the bikes before any tire change is needed
Hi Marcel,
the Vee tire Crown gems were surprisingly good tires. We actually went the other way and just yesterday swapped them for Maxxis Minion DHF (20×2.4″) and HDR II (20×2.3″) as they wore out after year and a half of riding. Minions added some weight but are much burlier and will provide much more grip especially during fall to spring riding. Little guy is riding more and more demanding terrain and landing bigger jumps and drops, so more rubber is always a good thing.
Dobry den. Mohl bych Vas prosim pozadat o radu? I na zaklade Vasich prispevku jsem vzal synovi Helliona (diky za sdileni a recenze). Dostal ho minuly rok na jare k narozeninam. Tuhle zimu bych rad udelal servis vidlice, ale nejsem nikde schopen najit jakykoliv manual, jak vidlici rozebrat. Nemate prosim k dispozici nejaky navod ohledne servisu vidlice? PDFko nebo nekde neco na webu? Za pripadnou pomoc budu velmi vdecny. Dekuji Ondracek David
Dobrý deň,
k servisu sa mi podarilo nájsť toto jediné video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXWqDzcoKEc
Vidlica ma uzavretú patrónu, ktorú nie je možné servisovať. V rámci servisu je možné vidlicu vyčistiť (používa vazelínu, nie olej), vyčistiť alebo vymeniť penové krúžky a skontrolovať a vyčistiť guferá a spodné plastové púzdra. Potom to namazať čerstvým Sram butter.
Ja sa ju možno tento rok pokúsim prerobiť na olej, malo by stačiť dole pridať O krúžky, uvidíme:)
Pekný deň prajem.
Hi Pete,
Great Blog and Videos ! I have been a big fan of Woom 12 to 16 inches bikes, my son started pedalling on his 3rd birthday within 10 minutes, moving from early rider balance bike. Now, I can’t get the Woom 4 off air for months so I am stuck in deciding between Helion 20 or Orbea Laufey
I would be very interested in your opinion
Many thanks in advance for your time
https://www.orbea.com/be-en/bicycles/junior/laufey-junior/cat/laufey-20-h10
Hi Michal,
thank you! Both Hellion 20 and Orbea Laufey are great bikes and we have experience with them in our riding group. I’d say the final decision comes down to the type of riding you do. Orbea is more trail focus and Hellion is a bit more gravity/bike park oriented. Both of them are more than capable for most kids this age though.
You can check out this video https://www.instagram.com/p/CWA3OverxXq/ the first one following me is my kid on Hellion 20″ and the second kid is on the Orbea Laufey 24″ (7 year old, about 15cm taller).
Hope this helps.
Peter
Call me crazy, but I’m thinking about putting these same forks on my folding e bike. The suspension forks that came with it are terrible and these seem to be the most robust set I can find that will fit my 20″ wheels and not break the bank with shipping to the UK.
You said you had to adjust the pressure down for your child. Do you think with enough pressure they could handle an adult weighing 75kg?
Hi Ben, I don’t see a reason why it shouldn’t handle a 75kg adult. The damping on the fork works ok, but don’t expect any miracles. Also the the damping cartridge is sealed, so once it breaks (and it will), it’s not serviceable.
Awesome writeup. Wasn’t sure if we were the only folks having issues with the shifter. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this!
Question, are the brake and shifter internally routed so the new housing just pushes through or do the ports just go into the frame and you need a magnet/line to re-plumb. Was thinking of maybe opening the left side port more with a dremel and crossing over internally if it were the latter.
Hello Jason,
it’s been a while since I changed the bowden and I don’t really remember, if there was a routing channel or not. I use Park Tool IR-1.2 for these jobs preventatively. Cable routing is the only weakness of this frame, trying to cross them might be interesting. Please, let me know, if you try that!
Hello Peter,
my sons ride Commencal RMNS 16″ but they are probably too small for them. The boys are 122 and 125 cm tall. Do you think 20″ will be ok or wait until next season and then think about 24″?
Hi Mikolaj,
at 122/125cm they are both plenty tall for 20″ bikes. Going from 16″ to 24″ would be a huge change, I’d definitely go with 20″ bikes first.
Yesterday I bought two Hellion 20″, they are perfect for my boys (122cm and 125cm). Unfortunately, all the screws and the support are tightened too tight, I damaged the bottom bracket socket and it didn’t even budge, I think someone tightened it with an impact wrench 🙂
I’m glad the sizing was right.
I don’t want to be stating the obvious, but have you checked the thread direction? Chainring side has inverted threading and loosens to the right.
I know thread directions, I have been riding and servicing bicycles for over 20 years 🙂 I service everything, including seatposts and shock absorbers. I bought another socket wrench for the bottom bracket and it worked. There was a lot of loctite.
I’m really sorry:) I’ve seen such a thing happen more than once.. I’m glad you managed to get it sorted!
A little protip on how to lose about 100g almost for free – replace the chainring with an aluminum one (e.g. Snail 30T 6mm offset weighs about 70g) – I wouldn’t worry about durability. I will also take out the tubes and go tubeless. The weight should drop by about 500-550g in total. I was thinking about a carbon seatpost and handlebar like you, but I don’t like carbon and I don’t trust it so pass for me.
I watched your videos and photos, your kids ride great – good job! Greetings from Poland.