Opus Nix 20-inch Kids Bike Review

Reviewed by Kathleen Wilker

$352 CAD (not available in the US)

opusbike.com

The Opus Nix is designed for families who love to bike and who want their children to have the best introduction to riding possible. The sloped crossbar makes an easy step through. Shifting and braking is easy and natural with kid sized brakes and seven-speed shifters. Bright bold designs in red, yellow and blue on a white background will appeal to kids who love color. But my favorite thing about this bike is how light it is. Most kids’ 20-inch bikes have front suspension, which adds weight to the frame. Even if kids are trail riding, the benefit of front suspension is not enough to compensate for the additional weight that suspension adds to the bike when the rider is only six to nine years old. The rigid aluminum fork is super-light and makes the Opus Nix the lightest performance kids’ 20-inch. If you are looking for suspension, Opus makes the Thumper and the Bolt 20-inch bikes with suspension.

This bike is so well made, with such great components, that you will definitely be able to pass it through multiple siblings and neighbors, making it a worthwhile investment. Anna Sierra loves her Opus Nix so much, she is planning on saving it for her own children.

Pros

This is the lightest performance kids’ 20-inch bike available. I love that the Opus Nix has a rigid fork. This makes the bike lighter than other 20-inch bikes by leading manufacturers. Easy to rotate shifters and brakes designed for small hands that can’t reach very far and aren’t as strong as adult hands are other kid-friendly features.

Cons

Some parents might balk at the price. Especially parents who buy bikes from big box stores. But a quality, lightweight bike made of kid-sized components is well worth the price. Especially when your little kid starts shifting into the granny gear and passing mom and dad on the uphills, even at the end of a nine-mile (15-kilometer) bike ride.

Ideal Rider

Any child aged six to nine, who is ready for his or her first big kid bike, would be well-suited to this bike. Families who ride together regularly will love having a quality bike that can take their kids all the way up to the top of big hills and as far as they want to go.

Overall

The Opus Nix is a fantastic bike designed with careful attention to details and with fun in mind. Anna Sierra adores the brightly colored frame, seat, rims and brakes. I love how fast and how far she can ride on her super sturdy and ultra-light bike. She can lift this bike over logs all by herself when we go trail riding. And she rode it to a first place victory in a 100-meter dash at a local bike race.

Kathleen Wilker loves riding with her family. You can read all about their adventures on Momentum’s Families on Bikes blog or follow Kathleen @kathleenwilker.