Test: With the Canyon Offspring AL 16, we tested the smallest of the new Canyon children's bikes. Cool looks, a lot of adult technology and an all-round happy test driver. There is really little to complain about on the children's bike, which costs almost €500.
Children's bicycles are a complicated subject. For various reasons. On the one hand, of course: the parents also have a say in the selection – at least that’s what they think. In most cases, the reality lies somewhere between what the little ones would like and what the parents consider sensible. After all, the kids shoot up faster than you can say "wheel size" and the bike they just bought is already too small. It's a little different if one or even both parents belong to the category of bicycle fanatics themselves. Far from all reason, the little ones dare their first driving attempts on hand-forged wheels, in which mum and dad also made one or the other wish come true.
Product news: Canyon presents children's bikes: "This world needs young heroes"
Market: With the Canyon Offspring AL 16, Offspring AL 20 and the Grand Canyon AL 24, Canyon presented mountain bikes for children for the first time in its history. Modern equipment meets low weight at an attractive price/performance ratio that is typical of Canyon. New territory for the Koblenz direct mailer Canyon! While one was already very broadly positioned in many other two-wheeler areas, […]
The Canyon Offspring children's bikes lie in precisely this tension between the sober pragmatism of classic children's bikes and the appeal of stylish but completely unreasonable miniature versions of full-fledged luxury bikes. At the beginning of the season, the direct mail order company from Koblenz presented the first children's bikes in the company's history to the public for the first time at the Berlin Bicycle Show. With models from 16″ to 24″, the latter even as a carbon version from 2018, you cover the entire range from the first real bicycle to the first piece of sports equipment on two wheels.
For our test, we chose the smallest model, the Canyon Offspring AL 16. As you can tell from the name, the smallest Canyon Kids offspring comes with 16 inch wheels – at least half of them. At the front, on the other hand, the people from Koblenz have installed a larger 18-inch wheel. Why the impeller mix? You want to combine the best of two worlds - the small rear wheel allows you to construct a low frame for short legs and the larger front wheel improves rollover behavior over smaller obstacles. It is not for nothing that some adult MTBs also use this concept.
Let's stay with the wheels for a moment: 2,1″ wide MTB tires from Kenda are mounted on the rims. In the broadest sense, the Offspring AL 16 is definitely a mountain bike - at least a bike for the first trips into easy terrain. This is also indicated by the thru axles or the disc brakes, which we will come to in more detail in a moment. Of course, there is no suspension fork with this frame size and it would really be out of place.
From a technical point of view, Canyon has installed a surprising amount of adult technology for such a small bike: The most remarkable are certainly the disc brakes from SRAM with 140 and 160mm discs. Don't you need on a children's bike? Is correct. But here we are again at the initially mentioned problem between 'need' and 'want'. Disc brakes are undoubtedly cooler for the kids because mum and dad have them too, and bike-savvy parents should probably be happy about them too. Unfortunately, the hydraulic stoppers weigh a little more compared to classic rim brakes. A logical consequence of the disc brakes are the quick-release axles at the front and rear: the discs always run smoothly once the calipers are correctly aligned, even after the wheels have been removed and installed.
Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the equipment is the SRAM Automatix shifting hub. Depending on the speed, it changes back and forth between two gears without having to operate a handle. The translation is absolutely child-friendly with the 25t chainring in front and the 20t sprocket.
Canyon has also done a good job with regard to one of the critical areas on every children's bike: the cockpit. Especially at the beginning of every cycling career, falls are the order of the day. The often sharp edges of the stem and the handlebar ends represent a not inconsiderable risk of injury. This is exactly why they are padded or covered on almost all children's bikes - this is effective, but often doesn't look particularly great. The Canyon is different: the Canyon bumper protection made of rubber is hardly noticeable, but reliably defuses the problem area. The same applies to the flanges on the handles.
Equipped like this, the smallest Canyon children's bike weighs 8,2 kg. This is a decent, but certainly not sensational value. In addition to the disc brakes, the Automatix hub weighs a bit here. The designers' hands are also partly tied financially: At just under €500, the Canyon Offspring AL 16 is already a rather high-priced children's bike, but of course there aren't any precious parts in this budget: there's neither carbon nor high-tech aluminum for this price.
Canyon Offspring AL 16
Our tester's name is Tim, he's a proud 1,04m tall and turned four this summer. This puts it exactly in the range that Canyon is targeting for its 16-inch offspring: from 98cm to 110cm, it should fit boys and girls and be a first faithful companion on two wheels. In our case, it was love at first sight. We and Canyon hit the mark with the design and the adjustment can hardly be quick enough. The correct saddle height is found quickly, and there isn't much room for maneuver with the handlebars and stem as they are one unit. Things are a bit more difficult with the brake levers: Although the reach can be adjusted using an Allen key, we would have liked to be able to bring them a little closer to the handlebars.
Immediately afterwards it starts. After a short sniff, all doubts are gone. Tim pedals and gets the offspring up to speed immediately. The geometry is successful, the seating position is such that the little ones get a lot of security and can always step forward quickly without hurting themselves.
Thanks to the Automatix hub, rapid progress on the road on level ground is just as possible as slight climbs, the slightly larger front wheel helps with minor bumps and does not have a negative effect on handling overall. The 102cm short crank arms offer enough ground clearance at all times so that there is no risk of ground contact even when cornering with the inner pedal down.
If we were to ask Tim, he would certainly have absolutely nothing to complain about with the Canyon Offspring AL 16. It's similar for us: Sure, it should be a few grams lighter. But honestly: If it were 300g lighter, but not so super cool optically, Tim's conclusion would probably be less positive. Be that as it may, under no circumstances did he want to let the test bike out of his hands.
Alex S says
A very nice and interesting article about a special bike for the little ones. My daughter is 4 years and 105 cm tall - so I'm wondering whether the AL 16 might have to be discarded after just one season. Canyon itself names 110 cm (as described in the article) as the upper limit of the size range, sometimes 115 cm is also read. I wonder how much leeway there actually is here and whether one had to have the feeling with the little adventurer Tim that the bike would soon be too small. The next larger variant with 20″ is of course still out of reach, and so suddenly, for example, an Islabike Cnoc 16, which is probably a bit larger, becomes a safe (but less exciting) alternative... However, unfortunately also a bike that you (or a child) cannot test it in a specialist bike shop beforehand.
Best wishes!
Alex says
Hello, I would be interested to know if you could equip it with training wheels at the beginning. I'm looking forward to an answer. My daughter is looking forward to the new bike, but I don't want to buy anything that she can't ride