VPACE MORITZ24 on test – Kids’ full-sus with exciting sizing concept

Mountain bikes are more popular than ever! But how do you expect a kid to ride a bike with massive 29” wheels? That’s exactly what the boys and girls at VPACE thought when designing the MORITZ24, a kids-specific mountain bike for young trail guns from 1.2 m tall – and with a hint of 29er attitude! We enlisted the help of a little shredder to put the MORITZ24 through its paces out on the trail, and see how it held up!

VPACE is a small manufacturer from the German Allgäu region that started producing race bikes and gravel bikes just a few years ago. Their portfolio includes a wide selection of stylish drop bar custom-built bikes, as well as kids’ bikes. Their children’s-specific lineup includes everything from gravel bikes and dirt bikes to trail and enduro bikes. The bikes in the MORITZ full-suspension range are called mini enduro bikes, and are available in different wheel sizes. Our MORITZ24 rolls on 24″ wheels, offering a suitable option for kids from 120 cm tall. The manufacturer follows their “29er concept”, which means that the wheels are significantly bigger than those of other comparably sized kids’ bikes, giving the rider all the advantages which an adult would get from riding a bigger 29” MTB wheel. The MORITZ24 relies on an alloy frame and generates 120/125mm of travel, at the front and rear, respectively. At 10.8 kg, the weight is pretty reasonable for a full-suspension MTB with 24″ wheels. The VPACE can be ordered online on VPACE’s website for € 2,399, but depending on the country of delivery, shipping costs between € 70 and € 170.

The VPACE MORITZ24 in detail

The alloy frame of the VPACE MORITZ24 relies on a simple design language with curved lines. Compared to many modern mountain bikes with straight, square-edged frame silhouettes, the MORITZ24 looks a little old-fashioned, but nevertheless very stylish. VPACE went for a classic single-pivot suspension design with a horizontally-mounted shock, which, unfortunately, leaves no room for a bottle cage mount in the main frame triangle. The cables are routed externally and run along the bottom of the down tube. The bike is delivered with no pedals, but you can get a set of matching TATZE pedals in two children’s sizes from VPACE’s online store. The chainstay protector is of high quality and does its job very well, preventing paint chips and chain slap, ensuring a quiet ride on the trail.

The spec of the VPACE MORITZ24

The VPACE MORITZ24 has a well-thought out spec, with countless child-friendly components. These include a Manitou Junit Expert air fork and Mara Inline air shock, which are both designed specifically for young, lighter riders and are extremely easy to fine tune to their needs. Moreover, the suspension’s air spring makes it easy to adapt it to fast-growing riders in just a few seconds. The Kind Shock Rage-i dropper post offers 75 mm and is paired with a handlebar remote. Although dropper posts are still a rare sight on kids’ bikes, they’re a key component when it comes to freedom of movement on the bike, which is also (or especially!) important for young riders.

MAGURA MT4 brakes with 160 mm rotors front and rear do stopping duties. The levers feature a reach adjustment dial, allowing you to adapt the distance of the levers to the small hands of children. Unfortunately, they’re made of plastic, and one of the levers on our test bike snapped off during this test. Given that kids are more likely to fall off the bike, it’s worth ordering a replacement lever just in case. Shifting is taken care of by an 11-speed SRAM GX 1 drivetrain with 420% gear range. For the cockpit, VPACE rely on their in-house components, combining a 40 mm stem and 580 mm handlebars, which are tapered at the sides to accommodate extra slim grips. That said, the taper doesn’t extend very far inwards, meaning that the handlebars can’t be cut to size, and there’s limited room for adjustment of the brake lever and shifter. At 120 mm, the VPACE Max kids’ cranks are very short, and also have a very narrow 150 mm Q-factor (width).

The VPACE 24SL wheelset is paired with Schwalbe Rocket Ron tires in the Super Race casing and ADDIX SPEED rubber compound. While these tires are very light and only have minimal rolling resistance, we recommend upgrading to more robust tires with the tougher Super Ground or Super Trail casing if your kids spend lots of time riding bike parks and demanding trails. Although a tough casing weighs significantly more, it offers better puncture protection and allows you to run lower air pressures, which translates into more traction and control. Moreover, a more aggressive tread pattern at the front wheel would drastically improve grip.

Tuning-tips: Replace the bars so that you can cut them to length, and have more freedom to reposition the controls | More robust tires, if your little ones like to hang out at the bikepark

The geometry of the VPACE MORITZ24

The VPACE MORITZ comes in five different sizes based on wheel diameter, with proportionally larger frames to match: 20″, 24″, 26″, 27.5″ and 27.5”. Yep – there are two 27.5” bikes, one of which has a larger frame. Although the name stays the same for all variants, the frames differ from one another. The two small sizes have a horizontally-mounted shock, while the three bigger ones have a vertically-mounted shock.

Our MORITZ24 combines 365 mm reach and 410 mm chainstays. The special thing about VPACE bikes is that they have comparatively big wheels for small body sizes. According to the manufacturer, this means that their kids’ bikes correspond roughly to an adult 29″ bike, which has become standard in the trail and enduro segments.

Size	20	24	26	275	275L
Seat Tube	260 mm	310 mm	330 mm	360 mm	390 mm
Top Tube	n.a.	505 mm	545 mm	578 mm	606 mm
Head Tube	90 mm	90 mm	90 mm	65 mm	110 mm
Head Angle	66°	66°	65°	65°	65°
Seat Angle	75°	75°	75°	75°	75°
Chainstay	360 mm	410 mm	425 mm	435 mm	435 mm
Wheelbase	938 mm	1,044 mm	1,113 mm	1,159 mm	1,188 mm
Reach	335 mm	365 mm	390 mm	415 mm	440 mm
Stack	469 mm	523 mm	572 mm	600 mm	609 mm

The VPACE MORITZ24 on the trail

The VPACE MORITZ24 makes it far easier for young shredders to make their way to the trailhead than many other kids bikes. One reason for this is the short, narrow cranks, which suit the narrow hips of kids, ensuring excellent ergonomics for riders between 120 cm and 140 cm tall. The dropper post travel was also a great match for our test rider Luis, who, at 123 cm, was able to insert the dropper post all the way into the frame and still reach the pedals without any problems. He also got used to using the dropper very quickly. Finally, the wide gear range allowed him to negotiate even steeper ramps, while the low system weight of the MORITZ24 makes it comfortable to pedal.

When gravity takes over, the relatively big 24″ wheels integrate you into the frame, rather than placing you on top of the bike. This inspires huge amounts of confidence, encouraging young trail guns to open the gas a little more and commit to steeper, rougher trail sections. While this makes it particularly suitable for natural, rooty trails, the VPACE MORITZ24 also feels at home on long bike park tracks, where the powerful brakes help prevent arm pump. The big wheels also help with jumps, as the larger rotating mass provides additional stability in the air, inspiring confidence in the process. However, the additional composure comes at the expense of agility, meaning that the VPACE is a little cumbersome in fast, consecutive corners and tight trail sections. For this reason, it’s also less suitable for pump tracks.

Our conclusions about the VPACE MORITZ24

The VPACE MORITZ24 is a simple yet well thought-out bike with many details that make it suitable for kids’ ergonomics. At the same time, it has many of the clever features typical of big enduro bikes: for example, the wheel size is proportional to the frame size, which has a huge influence on the bike’s handling. Despite detracting from the bike’s agility, the big wheels ensure excellent composure, inspiring our little shredders with huge amounts of confidence, whether they’re riding rough natural trails or fast bike park sections.

For more info, visit VPACE’s website.

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Words: Simon Kohler Photos: Peter Walker