Specialized Hotrock 16 vs Ridgeback MX16?

gooner71

Hi there - I'm considering one or other of these for my 5yr old's birthday present. He's been whizzing around on a little bike with 12 inch wheels for a couple of years now and is very proficient.

It seems the setup of these 2 bikes is quite different although weight is comparable.

The Ridgeback has a 36 tooth chainring and a 16 tooth cassette and the specialized has a 28 tooth chainring (I have yet to out the cassette size on the specialized but it seems comparable)

Does anyone have a view on which would be better for everyday use? The ridgeback may be harder to pedal but would be quicker once up to speed?

Thanks
Simon

-spider-

Both good bikes - it would be down to preference.

I went for Ridgeback for my kids - one on an MX25 the other on a Harmony. Both are excellent and given sterling service. We use the forest trails at Learnie on the Black Isle regularly and both cycle to school - both don't have a probelm getting up to speed.

I've had a Specialized in the past and before that (in the early days of Mountain Biking) I had a Ridgeback 605 xt. I have had a love of Ridgebacks since - the Specialized was ok - but the Ridgeback won hands down.

On the kids side I felt that the Ridgeback appeared better than the Specialized. I actually whittled it down to two as well - Rudgeback and Kona.

What sort of riding are you thinking of?

gooner71

Just to wrap this up, I bought the Ridgeback in the end. It came down to the fact the Specialized has a pedal backwards rear brake as opposed to both being operated from the handlebars.

So we've have the Ridgeback MX16 for around 3 weeks and couldn't be happier with its performance.