Children's bike test: With the Orbea MX 20 Team, the manufacturer from the Basque Country is sending a high-quality, reasonably equipped and versatile children's bike into the race. Despite thick but not too heavy tires and hydraulic disc brakes, the weight remains below the magic 10kg limit.
The Spanish manufacturer puts out a children's MTB that, with its understated look, wasn't the first choice of our little testers. But those who sat on it experienced pure driving pleasure. With its compact frame, the Orbea enables even small pilots to climb; taller kids who need to extend the seat post still sit upright enough to see traffic.
The components of the small off-roader are very well chosen. Orbea installs a nine-speed gearshift that is operated with sporty thumb buttons - ideal for taller drivers, although not as intuitive to use as a twist grip. The rear derailleur is of comparatively high quality and uses a wide 11-36 ring gear. In addition, there are hydraulic disc brakes, which on the one hand are nice and snappy, on the other hand require less maintenance with automatic pad tracking. However, children have to approach this brake carefully.
A good choice are the 2,1-inch wide Kenda tires with a rather fine profile: they roll very easily on asphalt, but have enough grip on loose ground. The rims even allow tubeless tires to be fitted, which can be used with very low pressure. The frame with its canted tubes is very successful; a bottle holder can be mounted, and the MTB is of course also equipped with quick-release axles. 9,7 kilos is a pleasantly low weight, although to be fair it must be said that the Orbea does not have a side stand. Conventional mudguards cannot be fitted, but perfectly adequate plug-in mudguards can. By the way, Orbea offers the MX 20 Team 19 model with V-brakes and eight instead of nine gears, but otherwise largely identically equipped, for 80 euros less.
