« previous next »
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: St-Martin BMX - 14" Mini Darwin Kids Bike  (Read 3486 times)

Offline Mr News Bot

  • Robot
  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 5723
    • global-flat
St-Martin BMX - 14" Mini Darwin Kids Bike
« on: February 28, 2014, 05:38:36 PM »

St Martin is trying to fill a gap in the (real) kids bike segment with a new 14" complete bike called the Mini Darwin. They described the whole idea nicely so we just drop you the text here:

"Yes, a 14-inch bike, not 12, not 16. The original idea came from Taka at Delirium Distribution, St-Martin distributor in Japan. He realized that there was a big gap between 12" and 16" bikes. Some children feel unconfortable on 12" and 16" bikes because they are already too tall for a 12" bike or yet too small for a 16" bike.
We've worked 6 months on that 14" bike project to reach the best balance possible, in order to make kids happy when they ride.
The bike uses modern technical solutions such as integrated headset, Aheadset stem, cassette hub on rear wheel, forged alloy crank, 4 alloy pegs, unidirectional tires and 1-pc seat/seatpost combo.
And it also uses specific solutions for small riders : 1" headset, 19 mm O.D. handlebar and grips, 24x9 gearing with short crank arms. A too short gear ratio is not good when combined with short crank arms. The rider may loose bike control because body and legs move too fast."

Availability: in Japan in March and in Switzerland and France in April.

Find the full specs on the St Martin website.

Logged

Offline K.Wong

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 1344
Re: St-Martin BMX - 14
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2014, 05:57:29 PM »
Uh, no pott's mod? And depending on the brand of caliper brake used, it might not be possible to invert the barrel adjuster/cable-stop with the crimp position for the pott's modification.
only bringing up this point as stm is the flatland arm of the company- superstar= street, focale= fixie
Logged

Offline melon lover

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 1193
Re: St-Martin BMX - 14
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2014, 08:14:09 PM »
i was looking at that the other day and was thinking the same thing ???


You know they are going to put a pretty high price on it and for that you get 25 year old brakes + No gyro(doesn't look like it has tabs either) 


Probably doesn't have a hollow stem bolt for cables either  >:(
Logged

Offline K.Wong

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 1344
Re: St-Martin BMX - 14
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2014, 03:20:13 PM »
Yeah, and considering how expensive the better made u-brake plates are going for nowadays...
it looks like they just purchase a container load of re-badge low-end bikes.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »