whm1974

Are 24" inchers more or less kids bikes? I have seen them listed online at Target, Walmart, and Amazon as such. Did see I nice girl's mountain bike with step though, bike only has quick release on front wheel and now the back. What is the story with that?

On another note a friend purchased a 26" mongoose from Amazon for ~$200, and I swear he could have gotten near the same at the local Walmart for cheaper then that.

Russ Roth

24"is typically a kid's bike though some of the walmart versions can be big enough to be a short women's bike.
Funny enough, QR of some form with bolt-on rear wheels is very common at the cheapest end and the more expensive end. At the low end its a way of saving a buck while looking fancier, basically its cheaper to make bolt-on wheels vs QR. At the highest end are thru-axles and plenty of forks come with a QR style thru-axle on the suspension fork while the rear will require an allen wrench.
Maybe cheaper at walmart, maybe not. The differences between bikes might not always be obvious at a glance. 200.00 might mean aluminum rims instead of steel, stainless spokes instead of plated, using SIS housing instead of generic brake housing on the shifting, or just using the cheapest shimano sis shifter and der instead of something like falcon. The difference between real shimano, even the cheapest version they make and some of the real generic parts can be hard to find, but while they might seem to work the same at first the differences show up after a year of use. The shimano will still work as well as it ever did, the rest will start failing. Could be any/ all of these or none of these

shelbyfv

Yes, 24" are primarily kids bikes. A new "bike" for $200, whether Walmart or Amazon or Target, is more a BSO than a functional bike. $200 can get you an actual bike, used, if you take the time to learn.

CrimsonEclipse

BSO?
Broward Sheriff Office?

veganbikes

BSO=Bicycle Shaped Object it is used to describe items of low quality that look similar to bikes typically sold at WallyMart KMart Amazon...they are designed to be throwaway items built from the cheapest materials and parts by the lowest skilled labor or maybe people who know what they are doing and just don't care.

In terms of wheel size, it is a wheel size. It doesn't correlate to frame size. Though typically a 24" wheel is usually found on kids bikes and that is where typically the frame size is nil and it is just by wheel size. However there have been bicycles for adults made with smaller wheel sizes either for shorter people or those afflicted with dwarfism or other skeletal-muscular issues or in some cases just for compactness or other reasons (Tern GSD/HSD uses a 20" wheel to make a smaller cargo bike for the city for easier storage but ability to haul 2 kids and also keep the load lower to the ground)

I would go down to your local bike shop and have them size you up for a bike. If you are differently proportioned I might reach out to your local bike fitter and set up an appointment and use that data to go to someone like Lennard Zinn/Zinn Cycles or another frame builder and have them build you up something to fit you well. Your fitter might even know some local folks or have ideas.

Iride01 

We are talking about wheel size? Sure typically that might be considered a kid size by many. But hey, a few days ago I was crossing the reservoir dam in my car. Bike lane on either side of a four lane divided road. We passed by a guy in a t-shirt riding a more normal road bike that many would envy. But his pace nor cadence seemed that good for his mid forties to fifties he appeared to be. Then not a quarter mile further down we passed an old guy all dressed up in full kit making really good speed with a good cadence. Glancing at him a second time I was amazed to see he was on a bike with small wheels. A folding bike at that. I had to make many more glances to confirm that I was seeing what I indeed was seeing.

So no, I'll no longer think that wheel size determines whether something is a kids bike or not.

Viich

24" is the "Big Bike" cruiser class in BMX racing. I run one sometimes, but honestly, the wheels are too big and you have to adjust your technique - the back wheel gets in the way. 20" is much better.

50PlusCycling

As for 24” bikes, my 8-year-old ride one, and they are popular here in Japan with the Geritol set.

whm1974

I'm not doing BMX racing. Just getting around and going places.

Gresp15C

Check out Bike Friday, and maybe a few other makers of folding bikes, since you mentioned in the other thread about getting your bike in and out of a car.

I would say, 24" are mostly kids bikes. What that means is that you can get an adult sized bike with 24" or smaller wheels, but they are likely to be specialty bikes, and therefore also relatively expensive. Any time you have "particular" requirements, you narrow your options, and pay more.

jgwilliams

Some, if not all, Airnimal folding bikes use 24" wheels, such as the Airnimal Chameleon. You'll probably also find a few recumbents such as the Challenge Furai with 24" wheels. One slight disadvantage is that there isn't the same range of tyres available for 24" as there is for 700c.

nathand

My 8-year-old is riding a 24"-wheel "kids bike" and it's a Scott Scale RC24 - light aluminum frame, 11-speed drivetrain, hydraulic disc brakes. Kids bike doesn't mean it's necessary cheap or poor quality. On the opposite end of bike size and weight - but with the same size wheel - I almost bought an electric cargo bike with 24" wheels, an Xtracycle Stoker (bought the Swoop instead, which has a 26" front and 20" wheel). It's really about the wheel being sized appropriately for the intended use of the bike.

sjanzeir

Adults - 29er/700c
Up-and-comers - 27.5
Adolescents - 26er
Tweens - 24 inch
Grade-schoolers - 20 inch
Kindergarten - 16 inch
Learning to ride before you can walk - 14 inch
Babies - 10 inch
Infants - five caster wheels

3alarmer 

...from your other thread, I gathered this information:

So my understanding is that your old bike is a Diamondback something, that still works, but you want something newer. And you use it mainly for transportation, presumably in a small town or urban environment.

Wheels size, in and of itself, is just something around which a bicycle frame is designed. But it is true, as has been repeated here, that mostly you see 24" wheels on bicycles for younger riders, who are physically smaller than adults, mostly. If you are a smaller person, a 24" wheeled bike might fit you fine, but it will be a chore to find one that is of better quality, overall, especially if you are looking at Walmart or on Amazon.

I gave you that link to the current Diamondback website. Diamondback used to be something you saw more at dedicated bike shops, for sale. I don't know how they market their bikes now.

People could probably give you better information if you stated your specific needs (urban transportation and grocery shopping ?). Also some idea of whether you are a very small, or larger person might indicate that a 24" wheel size could work for you. I still worry about the whole rack attachment requirement. You might be better off going with a different brand of bicycle, and looking at something marketed specifically as an urban all purpose bicycle. Some of those come with the rack already installed.

I'm not sure that going from 26" wheels to 24" wheels will make it appreciably easier to get your bike in and out of your building.

Many lower priced bicycles use a nutted rear wheel, rather than a quick release wheel, because it's cheaper to source them. Quality varies.

REI has some good deals on this sort of bicycle, and sometimes they go on sale. But I don't think you'll find one with 24" wheels there.

wolfchild

Adults only ride 29er/700c and nothing else ???....First time I ever heard that, learn something new on internet all the time

indyfabz

I have one of these:

https://bikefriday.com

Or were you trying to be funny?

sjanzeir

And since you seem to have been making little progress, I feel obligated to help you out, so here's something straight from the books:

sjanzeir

Hilarity ensues.

ofajen

Ha! I may ride mostly on a road frame with 700C but I sometimes ride a 26er, so this in no way undermines the fact that I do everything wrong.

Otto

Gresp15C

One more thought, since the OP has mentioned getting the bike in and out of cars, and their house. Weight might be more important than wheel size. And it's hard to find kids bikes that are lightweight because they don't skimp on the steel.

whm1974

Getting around and outside of town. And yes, going to stores.

Russ Roth

Gotta skew the sizes some but for selling the average customer a mtb it works till you hit the tweenish area. Even in bike shops, 12, 16, 20, 24, and now even 26 inch bikes don't really come in frame sizes. Gotta hit that 27.5" before the frame discussion breaks out. Outside the basic kid's bike/mtb, the conversation gets fun. Even BMX you have micro, mini, jr which are all 20" but not the same 20" as expert, and pro and with none of them do you discuss wheel size or seat tube as the determiner for proper sizing, it all comes down to top tube length to really screw with sizing.
For real fun, my "tween" at age 11 had several 24" bikes, the mtb had a 507iso, the road bike had a 540iso (why raleigh used this I don't know), a 520iso track bike and a 547iso school commuter, yay for sizing.

sjanzeir

bf/whoosh

Viich

Why did you spell humour wrong?

t2p

agree - can be a challenge to find a quality / lightweight small bike

we had some nice 24” bikes - including these:

Specialized Hotrock 11.5 - I believe that bike was also available in a 12.5 or 13.5

has the lighter / butted A1 frame ... installed BMX race tires on it and the kids could scoot

Gary Fisher Tyro - nice thing about that bike was it has rigid fork ... was reluctant to part with that one