The Felt F24X is their first foray into ’cross bikes for kids. © Cyclocross Magazine
When I wandered into the Felt booth at Sea Otter, at first I thought I was looking at a new BMX bike that happened to have drop bars and was just leaning next to the latest cyclocross offerings. But I quickly realized that I was looking at the latest addition to the Felt family: the F24X, their first cyclocross bike designed for juniors.
“What we did was take our F24 (the Felt youth road bike) and slackened the angles, added a hydroform top tube and made it a little better for shouldering,” Assistant Product Manager Ben Warren explained. “We have a kid’s handlebar that’s really shallow, and added short reach levers.” The frame is 6000-series aluminum and comes in size 39.
“We partnered with Kenda to come up with a cyclocross tire in a 24 inch size. It wasn’t easy to find, and Kenda is going to offer these in the aftermarket as well.” Kenda’s Happy Medium tread was the winning option, so parents looking for different ’cross tires for junior’s 24″ wheels can expect those to hit the market soon.
Felt and Kenda partnered to come up with a Happy Medium 24 inch tire. © Cyclocross Magazine
The bike comes with Tektro mini V-brakes. It also comes equipped with 46/32 chainrings and a 165mm crankset. In the back, “we’ve made it so it’s very cyclocross-friendly and kid-friendly as well, with nine speeds in the rear.” The rear derailleur is a Shimano Sora, with a microSHIFT front derailleur. The crankset and wheel set are both made in house by Felt.
Even the handlebars are junior-specific. © Cyclocross Magazine
“We like kids involved in cycling, and we’ve had kid’s track and road bikes. As a racing company, we like to be involved in niche racing like track, triathlon and cyclocross. We thought it was a natural progression: we offer them for road and track, so we wanted to for cyclocross as well.”
The MSRP will be $799-829, and will be available sometime in midsummer.
And check out our Sea Otter page for much, much more from tech to race reports!
Will the F24X bike – and its under 1k price tag – help get more kids into ’cross? © Cyclocross Magazine
