Hellion X24 - Factory Second

The good: awesome suspension design, excellent components, good value. Fast shipping. Never heard of the DNM shock but it seems to work ok. Great deal for the “factory second” that had absolutely nothing wrong with it.

The not so good:

1. No way this is 25.5 lbs as claimed. 28.0 on my scale. That extra 2.5 lbs is a big deal for a little kid if they plan to pedal at all.

2. No bottle cage

3. Vee tires feel pretty cheap - they feel like plastic and are difficult to setup tubeless.

4. Raw aluminum looks cool, but feels kind of like a cut corner. The painted version wasn’t available.

What would I change/upgrade? Stan’s wheels and better tires (Schwalbe or Maxxis).

Would I buy it again? Honestly at 28lbs, probably not given what else is available in the price range. But, it’s still an awesome bike and my son loves it so we’ll call it a win.

Couldn't be happier, the bike is unreal. Thanks Early Rider for a first class bike with first class service!

Unser Sohn liebt dieses Rad - und ich auch. Leicht, in der Enduro-Einstellung absolut trailgeeignet mit ausreichend Federweg war auch Finale kein Problem. Mit dem 10- jährigen Buben den Roller Coaster fahren ist schon was besonderes für mich.

Die Geometrie ist für Kids perfekt, die Komponenten hochwertig und zuverlässig. Lediglich die Federgabel hat Verbesserungspotential.

Trotzdem: absolute Empfehlung für Kids, die auf Trails und im Bikepark richtig Spaß haben wollen.

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Everything was excellent and my son is super happy! The only issue I had was after setting up the wheels and tires tubeless the Vee tan wall tires would not hold air and leaked out of the sidewall badly. I swapped On some Maxxis rubber and they sealed perfectly.

I bought the Early Rider Hellion X24 thinking it would be a lightweight and great bike for Downhill, Trail, and XC (like marketed). This bike is not that. First off, they market this as a "gravity bike" (downhill bike), but the suspension fork (which is a major component) specifically says “Do not use for downhill, freeride, or jumping” ON THE FORK. A bike marketed for these things should not have a warning sticker on the fork that says not to do those things with the bike. The fork also feels terrible, it's sticky and harsh going over anything. The rear shock also does not have enough travel for any "real" bike park riding (like marketed). It will get you through the greens and blues just fine, but for anything more I would look elsewhere. (I have done an 8 foot drop on it and it held fine, but it was not safe.) The user manual claims the bike is not intended for anything above a blue, and not to do drops over 2 feet. The website says nothing of this. I would strongly advise you to look at other brands with much better advanced kids bikes like Norco, Commencal, Vpace, Cube, Transition, even Rocky Mountain. We also contacted Early Rider for different reasons multiple times and got no response.

It’s an amazing bike. High quality