20 inch wheel hardtails are the stage where kiddo's start "real" mounting biking. Gears, a suspension fork plus the bigger wheels fuel skill development over their prior 16 inch pedal bike. This size bike is where the kids learn the fundamentals of mountain biking and hopefully develop a life long passion for the sport. Getting a good fitting, well spec'd bike is key here Mom and Dad. With one of the lowest minimum seat heights going of 22.8 inches (not quite as low as the Spawn Yama Jama but lower than the Woom air) and a really nice pair of low q-factor 120 mm cranks, the Zulu 3 will be able to fit as young 5 very nicely. A kiddo with an inseam of 21 inches or more should do just fine on the Zulu 3. You may need to lower the spacers under the stem and perhaps even switch in a zero stack handlebar for the really little kids.
We often recommend getting onto bigger wheels as soon as possible but this is not always the case. If kiddo can manage the bigger wheel size and are riding rocky/rooty terrain, the bigger wheeled Zulu 4 may be the ticket if they are overlapping in suggested size range. However, for playing around in bike skill parks or more flowier/smoother trails, the smaller wheels often win here for manoeuvrability and handling of the bike. I had my 8 year old on both the 20 inch Zulu 3 and the 24 inch Zulu 4. The 20 inch with the decreased standover was definitely better in the skills park and flow trails while the 24 inch won on the rocky/rooty trails where he needed to keep his speed.
It's understandable you may want to stretch the fit of a bike as much as possible. Its our opinion that you and your kiddo will be better served by flipping bikes as soon as they can size-up a wheel diameter comfortably (standover, bar height and crank length all fits). Buying a quality bike will allow you to do this confidently by insuring you can re-coup the initial cost with a high re-sale value. If kiddo looks like a bear on a tricycle, you have waited too long.
With a longer wheelbase of 887 mm and longer chainstays of 335 mm, this is probably the most stable descending bike in it's category. Add to that the slackest Head Tube angle available in a 20 inch hardtail of 66 degrees and you have a true scaled down trail bike capable of a lot of downhill fun. The Zulu 3 will even be at home in lift access bike parks for the adventurous 5-8 year old.
The comparably steeper seat tube angle puts the kids in a great upright climbing position when it comes time to pedal back up for some more fun. The quick release at the seat post is a nice touch as the kids (or mom/dad) can quickly adjust the seat height for climbing and descending. Dropper post routing is there and you can add one at checkout for $190.
Drivetrain
Well done Prevelo, well done microshift. The short cage 9 spd derailleur with a clutch keeps the bike quite and prevents the chain from dropping when combined with that narrow wide 30 Tooth front chain ring. The shifter, with an easier throw, does amazing for the kids. No problems shifting here. And the 11-38 T cassette offers plenty of range to get the kids up to speed on the flats in addition to getting them up those hills with ease.
Wheelset
The regular Zulu 3 gets the tubeless ready WTB i27 rim with light weight alloy hubs. When you combine this with the fantastic 120 TPI Crown Gem 2.25 wide tubeless tires, you get a very nice wheel-set. Definitely take advantage and convert the set-up to tubeless as this will allow you to lower the rotational weight and run the tires lower pressure without worrying about flatting a tube.
Brakes
Our test bike was outfitted with Radius disc brakes but the new production model comes with Tektro. This was a great move as the Radius brakes we have had in the past have been plagued with air in the system issues. The Tektros are rock solid and some of the best reliability going.
Touch points
Although not lock-ons, the Kraton grips don't slip and are low diameter. We actually prefer push-ons as they save a little weight and sometimes dampen vibrations better for the kiddos. The downside is it takes a little more work to take them off and get them back on compared to lock-on grips. Prevelo nails the seat with perfect sizing and padding for small bums.
The composite pedals come with in-mould plastic pins which actually do really well. Definitely better than 99% of pedals that come stock with kids bikes. Upgrading to the alloy heir pedals is an option at check-out and well worth it for the hard charging kiddos.
What about the fork?
So this is the Spinner 300 air fork with 80 mm of travel. This fork does work on the bigger impacts; picture jumping off the curb or when kiddos roll-off a drop or ledge. It does not perform as well or offer the sensitivity as the heir build fork, but that will run you $550 more as mentioned. Unlike the premium Heir fork, the spinner does not have an external rebound adjustment.
With all 20 inch forks, we use low tire pressure (as low as 7 or 8 PSI) for the small bumps and keep the fork air pressure as low as we can for the rider weight to get some bigger impact dampening. It is also important to keep the seals nice and lubricated with slickoleum on kids forks. We run down this fork rebuild on our youtube channel.
What fell short?
The only thing we would nit pick is the headset's large 10mm upper dust ring/cover. It would be nice to have a flat dust cover rather than 10mm raised so you can get the handlebar as low as possible for the real little kids. And perhaps leaving a bit more steerer tube length on the fork so you could adjust bar height as they grow with spacers. But to be honest, this is better accomplished with purchasing higher rise bar so as not to shorten the reach as they grow.
The Bike Dads' Take:
"This is a mountain bike in every sense of the application. Trail geometry, hydraulic disc brakes, kids specific touch points, air sprung front suspension, tubeless rims/tires and a clutch drive-train...pretty much all you could ask for in such a little package. Can you lighten it up even further? Sure, but just look to the premium heir build if that is what you are after. The Zulu 3 makes us want to be a 7 year old again!" -Colin
Even the Heir forks have some room for improvement! When I opened them up I saw that even though none are factory installed there was room for a 30x6mm foam ring under the seals, so I got some of those and put 5mL of Fox 20wt Gold in each leg (+soaking the rings) and I feel like it makes a noticeable difference to the small bump sensitivity and lowering the initial stiction/overcoming the negative spring, especially at the lower pressures needed for proper sag on smaller riders like on the 16″ version.
Do you happen to know the frame reach on this bike? It’s not published on Prevelo’s website.
Not sure the exact reach number but its close to others in the category for sure (spawn Yama Jama, Trailcraft Bluesky, Early Rider). The reach does well for recommended inseam size.