Prevelo Zulu Four and Sendy Gear Apparel

Prevelo Zulu Four

Walking around sun dazed in the endless sea of adult toys that is the Sea Otter Classic, it is really easy to skip over some of the cool things on display. Sensory overload and distracting friends will steal my attention almost immediately. Luckily, I was pointed in the direction of the Prevelo booth by a friend to have a look. I was greeted with a friendly Jacob Rheuban, the co-owner of Prevelo bikes and got a rundown on the newest generation of trail bikes they have been working on. The idea is simple: lightweight, big gear ratio hardtails with decent tires, made for kids. The Prevelo Zulu family of bikes covered all these things. The Zulu family is a series of trail ready hardtails from 14" wheels to all the way to 26". The builds are similar and the 24-inch-wheeled Four comes with some smart choices that make the child's riding experience a heck of a lot more fun. If they are having fun, chances are so are their parents.

When I told Jacob I was seriously interested in getting Silas to test out the all new Zulu Four for the month of May, I didn't give him a ton of room to play with when it came to timing. The kid would be visiting for 3 weeks and It would make sense if the bike was here when he arrived for a full 3 week test. The complication was that the new Zulu with its updated dropouts to accept UDH hangers and the KS Pivotal dropper post was still a couple of months out. He told me he was flying to Cambodia next week to check on the status of the production run and would bring one back with him on the plane if he could.

The timing of the new bike wouldn't work out in the end, but the current generation Zulu Four was on its way to our house along with a Rocky Mountain Reaper 24 which Silas got to compare it to. Month of May was sorted!

The bike arrived mostly assembled. It took the wee man little time putting it together under my relaxed supervision. While Provelo did not send us their excellent looking alloy pedals with domed pins, we made do with what we had lying around, opting for small adult sized pedals due to the bouncy hardtail nature of the bike. We were especially excited about the gearing on the Zulu Four. The Microshift Advent X AM V2 derailleur dancing on the 10-speed 11-48t cassette with a super light action shifter on the bars meant the little man of endless complaints would have nothing to complain about on the climbs, at least in theory. It would have been super nice to have a dropper post on this bike like the new generation Zulu does. The quick release seat clamp was operable by Silas' hands and he was happy to stop, have a snack, sip some water, lower the seat and enjoy the descents.

The Spinner 300 air fork worked well right out of the box and maintained its air pressure throughout the test period. These forks used to come on some Opus 20" bikes and have always been a shop favourite. They are tuned for light riders and can even handle some Whistler Bike Park abuse. The 100mm travel fork has a tunable air cartridge and we ended up somewhere around 30 psi for the skinny guy that would be piloting it. While the test bike is a 9mm quick release, the updated bike has a 15mm through axle on the front and a UDH compatible 12x142mm rear axle.

Here are some numbers from Prevelo to help you get an idea:

Weight 22 lbs
Minimum Saddle Height 24.8 in / 630 mm
Maximum Saddle Height 31.1 in / 790 mm
Gain Ratio 1.39 - 6.09
Recommended Inseam 23" to 29"

Wheel Diameter 24 in
Wheelbase 39.44 in / 989 mm
Chain Stay Length 15 in / 380 mm
Seat Tube Angle 74°
Head Angle 66°
Effective Top Tube Length 19.7 in / 500 mm
Bottom Bracket Height10.8 in / 260 mm
Stack 21.3 in / 541 mm
Bottom Bracket Drop 1.2 in / 45 mm
Seat Tube Length 12.2 in / 310 mm
Standover 24.0 in / 580 mm

The Prevelo climbed really well as expected, the usual complaints of the pilot were still heard as we pedaled from home up the Good Sir Martin climb trail to John Deer. While some of the punchy moves were too much for the rookie North Shore pilot, the descent was earned without a huge amount of hassle. The climb that takes me 20-25 minutes depending on fitness and bike choice took about an hour fifteen minutes with some forest bathing breaks to uplift our spirits and check out the early spring life on under the canopy.

Sendy Gear Apparel

If I may just side-track from the bike for a second and focus on the gear Silas was wearing at the time and the preceding rides in the month of May, It plays a big part in our overall trail experience. A budget-friendly, primarily kids and now also adult clothing brand from Australia, Sendy Gear, wanted Silas to test out some gear on the Shore. They recently opened up a warehouse in Squamish to fulfill North American orders and serve the Sea 2 Sky region, and I was curious to see what the brand had to offer for a shoe destroying 9-year-old.

We got him decked from head to toe with short- and long-sleeve jerseys, trail shorts, shoes, elbow and kneepads and a backpack to carry his own water and snacks. While he didn't seem to be super excited while we were trying the gear on at the warehouse, he lived in those clothes for 3 weeks straight. I reminisce about the days my mother would take me shopping and how annoying the whole experience was, so I don't blame him there, but he did express his gratitude for the attention Sendy Gear gave him like he was a full-sized human being. It was a top notch experience.

There is very little to complain about the gear that is made overseas and the price they charge. The 90 CAD riding shoes were well put together and survived many days of riding, hiking and plenty of trail building. It is a strange feeling when your 9-year-old begs you to go trail building every day - but that is what we did. We put in the hours by ourselves, with the NSMBA and the king of the shore: Jerry Willows. The shoes, gloves and hydration pack all functioned as they should. With his own water onboard, he enjoyed sipping out of the hose. The comfortable elbow and knee pads protected his spindly limbs, and Silas just wore the whole thing for hours at a time and never complained. The temperatures in May were reasonable - high teens and low 20s - and comfortable for all the gear he was bringing along. While I couldn't comment on how long the shoes and the pads would last if worn all year long, three weeks of intense use was a good sign of durability without the added price tag of some of the bigger brand names. While there is no obvious warranty policy posted on their website, the small, family-owned brand promises to make things right if any of their equipment fails to perform as promised.

Back to the Bike

The rider fully kitted with the right gear and no clue on what to do on North Shore woodwork, I released the little man down some of the easier but super fun trails on the Shore. Bobsled was definitely on the menu and the 66-degree-headangled Prevelo Zulu Four was the perfect bike to tackle all the smooth rolling terrain the popular trail has to offer. Treating it like a downhill pumptrack, I followed Silas down Bobsled countless times. "One more" he would demand at the bottom. We put his saddle up and climbed back up for another. As an experienced rider, I was also pleasantly surprised by how much fun Bobsled had to offer me.

The Zulu Four seemed proportionate for Silas' build. About 122cm/4feet in height, I could see him spending at least a couple of more years on the 24" wheels. Maybe with the opportunity to bump the front up to 26" and leave the rear 24". When he does outgrow these wheels, Prevelo has a Trade-up-Club which allows you to send your 'now too small' bike for a 40% refund on the original price you've paid. As long as it is within 24 months and in decent condition, this is an excellent program I would definitely participate in.

We even liked the Kenda Regolith Pro Tubeless tires in 24x2.2" size. We set them up tubeless with the optional tubeless conversion (the WTB i27 rim was pre-taped and ready to go) so just some sealant and a couple of Stans valves and you are good to go. For a boy as skinny as a mosquito, we ran 12-14psi in the tires all day long in pretty much prime North Shore conditions. It really didn't rain much during his visit and while we didn't get to test his slippery woodwork skills, the tires seemed to grip well and rode comfortably for him. There were no surprises with the grip as he plunged himself down the entrance to Floppy Bunny, but I held my breath while watching him. The Tektro brakes did their job well and are well tuned in power for two finger brake users. They use common Shimano B05s resin pads and mineral oil, so no worries about involving the child in the bleed process either.

Another highlight was the 19mm grip tube diameter on the handlebars. Small hands need small bars and small grips. Prevelo has replacement grips for 17USD and up. You can also upgrade to their Heir Carbon bars with 22.2 or 19mm grips for 140USD. That could save some weight on an already light bike.

We took the bike to our local park with a MTBHopper ramp and proceeded to get awfully close to writing our summer off. Not the bike's fault, but as he felt more comfortable on the little hardtail, he set the ramp up higher for more air. At that point it is only a matter of time before a crash and some shed tears. Luckily nothing to report on that end. Not even a dropped chain. The Microshift Advent derailleur has a working clutch that kept the chain on the 130mm crank armed 28t narrow-wide chainring.

We did find the limits of comfort of the Prevelo on some of the rougher, faster trails on the shore like John Deer and the Empress Bypass. The speeds and the bumps made it a bit more challenging for the less experienced rider to ride comfortably. That's where the Rocky Mountain Reaper 24 reported for duty, which I will talk about in another article.

Overall our experience with the Prevelo Zulu Four has been amazing. The recent addition of UDH rear-end and the pivotal KS dropper post would make the already exciting platform even better. While not cheap, the Trade Up Club is excellent if you are a single child family and like the Prevelo idea. I imagine Prevelo will get into the full suspension frame market eventually but if you are after an extremely high quality, lightweight and no nonsense kids bike developed in the US, I would look no further than Prevelo.

Prevelo Zulu Four 1299USD / 1770CAD

Sendy Gear Apparel