Black Mountain

The Black Mountain SKØG is a really clever bike designed to grow with your child.

It’s got 16″ wheels and an innovative “growing frame” designed for smaller riders, so you can skip the hassle and the expense of buying two bikes.

The SKØG is fitted with a maintenance and oil free belt drive rather than a traditional chain, to keep things easy and clean.

Age wise it’s designed for about 4.5 years up (102cm to 121cm height range) which could be until 7 years old (depending on growth rate.)

The SKØG can also be used as a balance bike if your child hasn’t quite mastered that stage of learning to ride yet, which will help speed up the “learning to ride” phase.

Our reviewer hadn’t started pedalling when she got the SKØG – you can read our review of how quickly she became a confident cyclist here.

The Black Mountain PINTO is certainly a clever first bike! It’s got a unique “growing frame” that means the bike grows with your child, allowing maximum use.

The PINTO is fitted with 14″ wheels, but the sizing means it’s designed to replace the need for a 12″ and a 14″ wheel bike.

Age wise it’s designed to fit a tall two and a half year old, or an average 3 year old.

The PINTO can also start out in balance bike mode if your child hasn’t quite mastered that stage of learning to ride yet, so you really can get the most out of this one bike.

You can read our detailed review of the Black Mountain PINTO here

The Black Mountain HUTTO is a good choice if you want to save money and hassle over time. This is because it’s got a very clever “growing” frame that increases in size so it will last a lot longer than a standard bike.

Having a bike that you know is going to last will be such a relief, as you don’t have to do all this searching for a bike again for a while!

There are 7 easy to use gears, which are operated by a grip shifter (which your child twists with their right hand), which will make the transition to a “big” bike nice and easy.

Black Mountain Bikes really are targeting the top end of the quality kids bike market, with not only a very well specified bike, but also their attention to detail with their customer service and commitment to the environment (all their packaging is plastic free). We also like the fact that the warranty is transferable – a nice touch not found with other brands.

Upgrades available include mountain bike mode with disc brakes and suspension forks if you’re planning to do a lot of off road riding, or a balance bike adaptor kit if your child is not pedalling.

The Black Mountain HUTTO Trail is a unique bike.  It uses Black Mountain’s very popular and patented “growing frame” technology, which allows the bike to quite literally grow with your child.  They’ve added to this disc brakes and a suspension fork to allow fun out on the trails.

Black Mountain Bikes have a really clever “growing frame” which means that when your child outgrows the original frame size you can adjust the frame and the gearing to make it last much longer.

This means you get at least two bikes for your money and don’t have the hassle of having to sort out a new bike. 

The KAPĒL is their 18″ wheel offering, but taller children may want to move straight onto the 20″ wheel HUTTØ to get maximum usage.

Most 18″ wheel bike are single speed, meaning they don’t have gears.  The KAPĒL is one of the exceptions, making it ideal for those who regularly ride hills.  Do remember that not all children are ready to start using gears at this age.  

Another clever feature about these bikes is the fact that they can start out in balance bike mode if needed (you do need to buy an additional balance bike convertor kit) so your child can progress from learning to balance through to pedalling all without you needing to buy a new bike.