Aluminum frames with polished weld seams - Cannondale is maintaining this tradition with its brand new children's bikes. With adapted standover heights on the top tube, easy-to-reach brake levers and child-friendly grips, the US bike manufacturer wants to continue to win the hearts of the youngest mountain bikers.

The children's mountain bikes are available in 16, 20 and 24-inch wheel sizes, each in girls' and boys' versions, built in a standard frame size. The catchy 16- and 20-inch models have rigid aluminum forks in the head tube, otherwise suspension forks from Suntour or RST are used.

The "Race, Boy's, 24" and "Race, Girl's, 24" versions come with a triple crank, 21 gears and a choice of two frame sizes - medium and large. Apart from that, the other versions also mentioned have a single crank on the bike, each with a single or 6/7-speed sprocket on the rear wheel. In terms of weight, the 16-inch models start at around 8.6 kilos, the 20-inch models at around 9.6 kilos and the two 24-inch Race versions weigh in at 12 kilos.

The Cannondale children's bikes will be available for the first time at the beginning of 2013, with prices ranging from CHF 359 to CHF 599

www.cannondale.com