Giant and Liv (Giant’s female-specific sister brand) have each released two new bikes for kids looking to tackle proper mountain bike terrain. They describe the new Faith and Faith 24 as “high-performance, full-suspension trail bikes designed and built specifically for kids.” The Faith has a 26″ rear wheel with 27.5″ up front, 135 mm rear suspension and a 140 mm fork, while the Faith 24 has 24″ wheels front and rear, 130 mm of rear suspension and a 140 mm fork.
As a rough guideline, the Faith 24 is designed for 5-9-year-olds and features a 64.1 cm (25.2 in) standover height. It weighs a claimed 12.2 kg / 27 pounds with pedals. The Faith is intended for 9-13-year-olds and features a 67.6 cm (26.6 in) standover height and a 13.2 kg / 29 pound claimed weight.
• Wheels 27.5″/26″ (Faith) / 24″/24″ (Faith 24)
• 135 mm rear travel (Faith), 130 mm (Faith 24)
• 140 mm fork
• One frame size per wheel size
• Child-specific suspension, wheels, cranks, bars, grips, dropper post & brakes
• Air-sprung fork & shock with adjustable rebound and shook compression modes
• Claimed weight: 12.2 kg / 27 lb (Faith 24) – 13.2 kg / 29 lb (Faith) , with pedals
• Price $2,600 USD (Faith) / $2,500 (Faith 24)
• giant-bicycles.com
I asked what the differences are between the Giant and Liv variants. Here’s what Liv told me: “The Faith is designed for youth geometry, so there aren’t big differences here between the Liv and Giant models. Where they do provide distinction is in colorways and brand. By buying a Liv Faith, young girls are entering into a brand that is dedicated to growing cycling for girls and women.”
The Faith and Faith 24 both offer many of the features you’d look for in an adult’s bike, with geometry and components tailored to smaller riders.
The use of components specifically designed for smaller and lighter riders stands out. Giant’s in-house suspension brand (Crest) provides the fork and shock, specifically tuned for riders under 62 kg in the case of the Faith and under 46 kg in the case of Faith 24. The Crest forks used on the Faith have a setup guide with suggested air pressure and rebound settings for riders from 26-62 kg. The 100 mm travel dropper post is similarly designed for lighter riders to operate, with a light lever feel and low compression force. There are also child-sized handlebars, brake levers, grips, saddles and cranks (140 mm on the Faith 24 and 155 mm on the Faith).
The frame has a similar layout to the grown-ups’ Giant Stance , with a flex-pivot suspension layout which does without bearings in the seatstay or chainstay. The Crest FloTrac Lite shock is also tuned for lighter riders and is said to be responsive to smaller force inputs thanks to a large negative chamber. The damper features “simplified” open and locked-out compression modes designed for lighter riders, plus rebound adjustment.
The Faith and Faith 24 models have one frame size each. So, unlike with adults’ bikes, as the rider grows they get bigger wheels, longer cranks, wider handlebars etc. – not just a longer frame.
The head angle and seat angle wouldn’t look out of place on an adult’s trail bike. Even the 410 mm reach on the bigger Faith isn’t far off an adult’s bike a few years ago. The forks are specific to each wheel size, so the 24″ bike has a shorter fork offset (rake) to maintain steering stability (trail) despite the smaller wheel size. Chainstays are short (especially in the Faith 24) which should help young riders learn to manual.
Specs
Other components to highlight include Giant’s TRA tubeless wheels with 30 mm internal width and 5 mm rim sidewalls to reduce the risk of pinch flats, combined with Maxxis Minion tires. The Microshift 1×10 drivetrain and 11-48t cassette should offer enough range for most hills, while the 180/160 mm rotors may seem small, but they are designed for light riders and small wheels.
The Faith retails for $2,600 USD, or $2,500 for the Faith 24. International pricing can be found here.