Hellion 16 (MY24/25)

It’s the second bike we’ve picked up for my 4-year-old—he started out on the Seeker 14 kids bike, and now he’s riding the Hellion 16 kids bike. He already learned a ton on his first bike, and this one is really taking his skills to the next level.

Honestly, there’s nothing better than hitting the trails together in the Southern Alps France. He’s already sending little jumps, throwing in some drifts, and just having a blast. These bikes didn’t just teach him how to ride, they sparked a real passion for MTB.

Can’t wait to get him on the Hellion X24 kids bike… that’s when things get serious 🤘

So this is a rather long term review of the Hellion 16 with over 1000km of riding. We bought the bike for our daughter's 4th birthday having outgrown her seeker 14 (another superb bike) which was passed on to her 2 year old brother.

The sales service was excellent and the bike quick and easy to set up out of the box with only a few minor preferential tweaks needed and some ride wrap to protect that stunning purple paint.

Our daughter progressed onto the Hellion 16 seamlessly and her confidence and control instantly improved. We were a little apprehensive about the power of the hydraulic brakes initially, but kids are surprisingly adaptive and they only inspired more confidence and no more complaints of tired hands on long descents.

The geometry is definitely well suited for kids providing stability at speed but yet still nimble at lower speeds. We found with the larger pedals we added it was prone to pedal strikes on flat corners but if anything this helped our daughter's technique for the better.

The stock gear ratio was a good compromise between speed and climbing ability. The addition of a rear hanger and readiness to add gears was fantastic. Thank you Jake for the technical support for fitting gears, this made a world of difference to our daughter's riding immediately!

The quality of the design and build is fantastic, and in the 1000km ridden so far on the bike we have had to do nothing more than clean it and raise the seat height. The bike still sounds and rides the same as the day it was bought with no deterioration of components.

Genuinely an outstanding product I wish these existed when I was a kid!! We had the pleasure of meeting the early rider team at Malverns Classic this year at their expo stall really great bunch of passionate people who I think really believe and care about their products. We ended up buying Myah a Hellion 20 as she was ready for the move to bigger bike so a review for that to follow.

In the meantime time the Hellion 16 is now in the hands of Myah's 3 year old brother who I'm sure will easily put another 1000+ km on. What is especially nice is that the quality of the bike does not make it feel like a hand me down but a genuinely new feeling bike for the next child that gets the pleasure of riding it.

Thanks Early Rider!

Our 4-year-old daughter absolutely loves her new Hellion 16.
As a bike-obsessed dad, it was clear she needed a really good bike – and that’s exactly what we found here!

There was a small issue with the crank at first, but the service that followed was truly exceptional: personal contacts, transparent communication, incredibly dedicated and highly competent.

Now our daughter is happily back in the saddle, grinning from ear to ear – we couldn’t ask for more. 😉🚲

Excellent. Only kids bike I've seen that is built like a proper bike. Brakes are awesome but might need a new rear tyre soon!

We were really happy and proud to see our 3.5 y-o child to roll off right away on his new bike. His Hellion 16 is of great quality and is already adding unforgettable memories to the whole family. The team based in Oxon RG9 4LG was very friendly and helpful. We definitely recommend.

The absolute best 16 inch bike money can buy. It’s made to perfection. Highly recommended.

The bike is brilliant!
James is a touch too small based on the dimensions given but he rides this bike so much better than his seeker 14. The bike geometry is perfect for children’s body shape and size, allowing him to pedal comfortably, reach the brakes and control the bike.
The brakes have great stopping power, a big upgrade from the v brakes on the seeker 14.

We have had the bike 2 weeks and James’ riding has come on so much in that time frame!

Absolutely amazing

My 3 year old son loves it and doesn't want to be without his bike anymore.

it's just perfect

I’ve just come back from Morzine with my 6 year old daughter (small for her age) and the 16” Hellion was great on the slopes. Disc breaks really made a difference in her confidence on the trickier sections. The grippy tyres also helped!

I have boght Helion 16 for my son, 3.5 yrs old 104cm height. Before He was riding Woom from 1.5yrs.
ER Helion 16 bike looks great. Fat tyres, acurate hydraulic breaks, as I can see, son hadels it well (from the second day:)).
What I did not like: it is china made!!! but seller declares that it is Swiss made. Tyres and brakes are some “no name”. The packedge was not so good as it was said in description. There is no instruction how to attach ligt reflectors. It coud be more protectors from the chain between the leg. There is no accesories in stock (like stand leg, and etc.) The bike front fork was scrached from the box paper. So in a conclusion I would say, that the bike is good, but is not so well served as discribed. Woom looks different, but I prefer quality of serving, packing full range of accesories and description. The price for ER shoud more friendlier. I do not think, that I will go for “ER full” bike, after my son will grow out this Helion and hope this bike still be in acondition to ride for my youngest son.
So this my experience.

I regret purchasing this bike for my 4 year old. I should have listened to the negative reviews that critiqued the adult diameter size 22mm handlebars (these should be kids 19mm bars) and the fact that the bottom bracket is too wide. Additionally, the instructions that come with the bike are poorly written—no explanation of how to adjust the levers on the cheap Chinese brakes that come with it?

After seeing friends’ Prevelo Zulu 2’s, I wish I just bought that instead. They have better components and even come with a front fork at this price point.

So stoked with the Hellion 16”
Makes such a difference for the kids to have a good bike. We went from a cheap heavy bike to this and our daughter’s attitude completely changed. Suddenly she wanted to bike everywhere all the time having not really enjoyed it that much before.
We live in the mountains so having the disc brakes is also a game changer and can ride the steep roads to school without worrying if she can stop.
Amazing

Could not ask for better quality in a kids bike, it’s anxiously amazing. The geometry fits my 4yr old perfectly and it’s super light. Very impressed!

Absolutely amazing little bike, super light and all kid specific. We have our 2 year old on it and he's loving it!

I purchased this bike for my 3 year old and it’s amazing! I was looking for a proper mountain bike that was lightweight and this is the way to go. The dialed geometry, slightly longer cracks, and lightweight has increased my sons confidence on single track. There are other bikes that are cheaper but this bike is really worth the money and should have a very high resale in a year or two.

super tolles bike und schnelle lieferung

We had 14 seeker before this, he got on this and never looked back. Love the dimension and the disk break, also the weight.

Unglaublich gut verarbeitet. Alles super. Kann ich nur empfehlen.

I searched and shopped for months to find the best bike for my son. He is unusually good for his age (4) and we live in an area known for cross-country mountain biking. If your child likes speed, air, single-track trails, and big descents, then you need a proper bike.

The Hellion is different. Photos do not do it justice. For example, it isn’t painted silver, that is a clear coat finish over brushed aluminum. All of the hardware is top notch and built to last.

People who know bikes know they are looking at something special when they see the Early Rider Hellion. I’ve taken it to local bike shops to show them what they should be selling and the bike shop employees are impressed to see such components on a “child’s bike”.

Initially, I wanted the Seeker because I wanted the low maintenance and long service life of a Gates Carbon Belt drive. The Hellion uses a chain. On the other hand, the Hellion is built to add gears. There is plenty of space between the rear drop-outs to fit 135mm hubs and disc brakes. The frame has holes pre-drilled for adding a transmission cable from the handlebars to just above the sprocket.

Although more expensive than other small bikes, it is priced competitively for what you get.

Highly recommended!

I never do reviews but I figured this would help other people. For those looking for the drive train info only hear it is: 200$ with shipping " shimano zee, 10 speed cassette and shifter and chain, or sram Gx short cage 10 speed cassette,shifter,chain."
First, the bike it's self is awesome! 5 stars for the product. But I took away 1 star for description and some communication.
First Adam was great helping me get this to Alaska. But further communication was short and felt forced. However I'm sure they are busy so no big in the grand scheme. He was never directly rude fyi.
I ended up initially ordering a microshift acolyte 7-8 speed for kids for less than 100 but that didn't fit. It's too long and hits the ground.
So I got dinged on a restock fee. When I asked what works I got the above info, however in the description, it says "gears easy to add". If they know that only the downhill adult gear set up works they should just put that in the description. It feels after reading that, anything could work. Granted telling people this bike is 750 plus 200 if you want gears would push people away. I get that but if I'm willing to buy this bike in the first place they shouldn't assume what more I'm wiling to spend since I bought this bike almost specifically to add gears, (for honesties sake, I'm making an assumption about them making an assumption, I'll eat crow if I need to) any way...
The last thing is, I love the Vee crown gem tire BUT again for 750, I feel like if the rims are tubeless it should come with tubeless compatible tires.
Not sure how everyone is going to read this. I'm not an elitist, or being nit picky, literally just sharing my experience hoping to save other people the trouble of digging for the info. I still full recommend this brand and don't regret it.