I got my daughter a Nimbus Nightfox for her 11th birthday and as a reward for learning to ride her 20" Nimbus Club. I ordered 127/110 cranks. She would need to grow into longer cranks. My 9 year old son (who has renewed vigor practicing on the 20") is anxious for the day he will inherit the Nightfox. She wears my old KH Percussion knee/shin armor (medium), her own KH pulse (fingerless) wrist guards/gloves, and a helmet. So good so far. Knock wood.
A few observations:
The lower legs do flare out towards the bottom stopping the upper legs from sliding too far down while the frame still clears the tire by a couple of inches. The picture you see on UDC has it set to it’s shortest setting. Those couple of inches are the difference in my son’s feet reaching the pedals.
I ordered it with All Steel Wide Disc Hub because, let’s face it, when she finally gets those 110mm cranks spinning, she is going to have to learn how to use a brake to clean even the slightest descent.
As she is a relative beginner, I’ve replaced the intimidating Shadow Handlebar with a 12" straight (No “T”) pipe (Ergo grip/field hockey stick end). It’s far from optimal but you’ve got to have somewhere to mount the brake lever. My main problem is what to do with all the extra brake cable? I’m not cutting it down because she will eventually want the Shadow “T” Handle and I like the lever all the way out on the end. For now, with the short straight handle, the cable barely clears the tire so I’m running it without a brake.
The tire, you will notice is of the Off-Road variety. I don’t mind the extra knobby tire (as compared to the Nightrider) even when riding on the road. The “Todd” tire on my geared 36er is wearing down (or, as I like to put it, getting even lighter) pretty fast.
If she tires of struggling to roll the big wheel and goes back to riding her 20" Club then I’ve got a pair of 165 cranks (which were never an option on my KH36 if I wanted to be able to reach the shifting button) just waiting for some Coker MUni. There, you caught me! Daddy’s got an alterer motive and he’s somehow trying to convince Mommy that the +$850 he just spent was “for the kids”.
Still, this brake cable is going to be a hassle when raising and lowering the seat/frame from her height to mine.
Update: She just took off. I’m never getting this thing back. Check out the video.