With the LS-Pro 24, children's bike specialist Puky is breaking new ground: there have never been such sporty children's bikes under the well-known name. The silver-grey lightweight adopts technology from the second brand Eightshot, but has more to offer in one respect - and less in another.
With the second brand Eightshot, Puky entered new sporting territory a few years ago. The robust, child-friendly mountain bikes have long been established; Now Puky is taking over features of the Eightshot bikes in its own model range. This becomes particularly clear with the Puky LS-Pro 24: At just over nine kilos, the 2021 bike is an absolute lightweight, which also differs significantly from the classic Puky style in other respects. Because the LS-Pro is delivered without street equipment; only the legally required reflectors are included, and there is also a side stand - which many will of course remove right away, as it doesn't quite suit the purpose of the sports model.
Light driving pleasure
And that consists of promoting the joy of cycling in older children – children who often find it difficult to get around with heavy three-speed models and for whom a light sports bike is a real revelation. Acceleration, handling, low-resistance riding, these are the areas in which the Puky outperforms numerous conventional children's bikes. Parents in particular who like to ride their bikes a lot and a little faster and who depend on the children pulling them along can use the LS-Pro to provide an unexpected boost in motivation, because the lightweight means that their offspring can travel faster and with less effort over both short and long distances .
Solid, child-friendly technology
It's no big secret how this works: A wide range of eight-speed derailleur gears with a focus on easy mountain gears is on board, as well as relatively easy-rolling, 1,5-inch wide all-round tires that cut a fine figure on asphalt and natural paths. As usual with Puky, the frame geometry is completely child-friendly: the seat tube is short, so there is plenty of scope for size adjustment; the standover height is low and the posture upright. For Puky, it goes without saying that components are tailored to the little users, such as the 140 mm short pedal cranks and the special children's brake handles, which operate the powerful but not too extreme V-brakes. It can be assumed that the children from the age of eight and almost 130 cm tall, who are the target of this model, have already gained a few years of experience in the bicycle saddle.
The highlight of the Puky is of course its low weight, and here you have to mention an important difference to the sister model Eightshot X-Coady 24 SL. This is about a kilo heavier with identical equipment, the same frame and almost the same price - how can that be?
The difference is in the fork
In addition to the tires, which are 2,1 inches wide and heavily profiled on the Eightshot, the forks of the two models differ: The Puky uses a particularly light aluminum fork, while the Eightshot uses an aluminum fork with a steel shaft that is more resilient and has a classification of the X-Coady allowed as a mountain bike. So while the Puky is a road bike that children can of course use for trips on unpaved roads, the Eightshot can also take part in extreme off-road use with jumps etc. Anyone deciding between the two brands or models should consider this.
Leaving aside marginal loads, the Puky LS-Pro 24 is of course an all-round convincing children's bike. Everything is right down to the last detail, such as the patent seat post with a solid two-bolt clamp or the child-friendly, short Ahead stem, which can easily be exchanged for a longer one for taller riders. If you want, you can mount mudguards or a carrier (both are offered by Puky for retrofitting), screw the parking stand back on and thus make the bike suitable for everyday use - a gain in riding fun on the way to school and in your free time, which the children will be happy about.
More about the Puky LS-Pro 24 and the manufacturer at www.puky.de