happybrahma

Hey all,

I'm wondering when I'll be able to move my son from the 12" to the 16". He is almost 4, but short for his age. There are a lot of older 16" hotrocks on CL with the older style bmx crossbar handlebars. They look pretty cool, and I can swap the bar to a flat one if I need to. The hotrocks seem to be the only decent kids bike that can be found pretty easily in the used market. I've even seen them listed for $50.

Does anybody know the minimum seat height on these older 16" hotrocks? The minimum seat height looks to be the limiting factor for my son. He recently learned to ride without training wheels, but he still likes to get a toe on the ground while in the seat.

Thanks,

-Steve

mel2012

I can't find a minimum seat height or inseam measurement anywhere for either the new or old Hotrocks--I did find one reviewer who said he was able to fit his 41" daughter on a 16", with a swap to a flat bar. I do know that the bottom bracket height on the older Hotrocks is higher than the bottom bracket on an Islabike CNOC 16, so I suspect the minimum seat inseam would be higher than the CNOC 16---which is 16.5". If you see a good deal on Craigslist, I'd just go and check it out--he'll grow into it eventually . Just don't get one that's too old--I think there have been at least three iterations of the Hotrock and the original version has a shorter wheelbase, higher bottom bracket and shorter top tube length. I can say that my daughter had a much easier time riding and handling the 16" Hotrock than she did her 12" Novara bike--she was 4.5 when we found a good deal on a used one and is tall for her age, so that doesn't really help with your question.

joel52

~19 1/4". Maybe another 3/8" drop available if you hack off the bottom of the seat post.

mel2012

I can't argue with a tape measure, but that seems high. Our daughter's inseam was 19" when we got her 20" Islabike and she had been riding the 16" Hotrock, with the seat raised fairly high, for 6 months at that point, and she's always been a flat footer--always wants her seat low enough to put a foot down flat.