GMC Denali Girls' 24-Inch Road Bike Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the only road bike we found designed for 9-12 year old girls. With one limitation, this is a great transition from a 20" child's bike.
Our oldest daughter was outgrowing her 20" child's bike. Both of her parents are traditional road bikers as compared to cheap mountain bike riders. She wanted gears and a freewheel, and we determined 24" was the desired wheel size. Bike shops and the Trek monster only offer mountain bikes as the next size up after a 20" child's bike. The geometry options were terrible. They forced the young riders to be too stretched out in length. It may not be as bad for larger boys, but definitely incorrect for smaller girls. Additionally, these mountain bikes have value added marketing destroying any other potential. Shocks are added which add weight and bulk, making them hard to maneuver. The shocks are ridiculous since few children are heavy enough to activate them. The bulk, weight, and poor geometry hinder the ability of young children to ride the common 24" bikes. In short, most bikes for this age group are built to sell and not to ride.
Then we finally found two options. LL Bean offered a mountain bike specifically designed for 9-12 year old girls. This was a fine choice although we preferred traditional drop handlebars and road geometry and gears. This Denali 24" girls bike is perfect. The 19" bar height allows a safe stop and start. While it comes with lower end Shimano grip shifters, they work smoothly and are appropriate given the aggressive pricing of this bike. The frame is a nice 7005 aluminum and the other fine components offer a decent weight.
I wrote Terry bikes to suggest they consider this age group as potential future customers, but Terry never responded.
Our daughter is a small 9 year old weighing only 51 pounds. She is also on the shorter side of girls her age. It took only a day for her to get familiar with the handling and shifting. She is riding faster and longer distances than she ever could with the 20" child's bike and we are enjoying our times together. I fully expect this bike to last her for many years.
The only negative was the brakes. The traditional brake levers, under the drop bars, are too low and need a wider hand to reach than our daughter has. The brakes took too much strength to pull given the grip width and position. The solution was easy. We added inline break levers on the top bar. This was not ideal given the bar shifters are in the same location we wanted the new brake levers. I needed to move the shifters inwards to make room but in the end, the new brake levers works. If Danali would consider adding the shifters as standard, this bike would be perfect out of the box.
In summary, we are grateful to Denali as a bike manufacturer for considering this age transition as important for creating long term riders. This is a great bike for 9-12 year old girls and was a great price on Amazon. I wish our local bike shops would consider carrying this type of product.

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Sized for the smaller rider, the GMC Denali girl's 24-inch road bike is perfect for kids who are still growing or who are stature-challenged but still want a high-quality ride. The frame size is 16 inches, while the stand-over height is 21 inches, giving it all the strength, durability, and style of the full-size Denali but in a proportional size. More significantly, it's outfitted with a full array of elite alloy components, including a sturdy triple-chaining alloy crank set, precision brakes, easy-to-grip handlebars, and smooth- rolling wheels.
Hill climbing is made easier thanks to the sturdy crank set and trusty Shimano TZ40 derailleurs, which round out the drive train, while the Shimano Revo 21- speed twist shifters provide precise, hassle-free shifts. Other details include a lightweight 36-spoke wheel set with V-profile rims, Kenda tires with color accent trims, and a lifetime warranty on the frame and fork.

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