A new bike from St-Martin BMX: the Mini Darwin 14"

Feb 28, 2014

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 15706 times

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. Rider may loose bike control because body and legs move too fast.

This nice and small bike will be available in Japan in march and in Switzerland and France in april.

Complete specs here.