Woom Off Air Review: Lightweight Mountain Bike for Kids

This post may contain affiliate links where we earn from qualifying purchases. As an amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Find out more in our disclosure.

Woom has been around for a while now, and they’re changing the game for kids biking. We’ve had a Woom bike for years (and through 3 kids now), and it’s been amazing for our kids to ride around town. Now that Woom makes kids mountain bikes with front suspension, we were excited to see how good it was.

Woom bikes are specifically designed for kids. Everything from the geometry to the components has kids in mind, which is one of the things that makes these bikes so great. Designed in Austria, it’s clear that these bikes are designed for kids who are going to be riding in the mountains and need a bike that makes that as easy as possible.

Woom Mountain Bikes for Kids

Woom makes 2 models of mountain bikes for kids. The Woom Off and the Woom Off Air. The only difference is that the Woom Off Air has front suspension and the Woom Off does not. Both are great options, but since our kids are already experienced in mountain biking and do a lot of mountain biking on rocky trails, we decided to go with the Woom Off Air for our 9-year-old. The Woom Off Air is nearly 3 pounds heavier, but for the increased performance, it seemed well worth the weight.

If your child is new to mountain biking or does a mix of riding around town with a few dirt trails now and then, the Woom Off might make more sense and we love that it’s more lightweight. If you have a child who is more timid about biking, I do think that the 3 pounds makes it harder for kids, so if they don’t need the suspension, factor that in as well.

Our Bike Tester

The Woom Off Air 24″ bike was primarily tested by our 9-year-old son. While he’s an average height, he’s a skinny little thing, weighing in the 10th percentile. This makes bike weight an incredibly important component for him. He’s a fairly competent mountain biker, averaging about 2 days a week on our local mountain bike trails. He’s a solid intermediate rider and can handle most blue terrain with an occasional easy black.

We tested this bike all over the state of Utah from Park City and Salt Lake down to Zion and St George. All of the trails that we rode on were cross-country trails with an even mix of up and downhill, and threw in a few bike parks with some jumps along the way.

Initial Impressions of the Woom Off Air

Straight out of the box, most of the Woom Off Air was easygoing. In fact, our 9-year-old put most of it together himself, with just a little bit of help from mom and dad. The handlebar, wheels, and pedals were the main components that needed to be put on before the bike was ride-ready. In total, it took him about 25 minutes to do everything, but most adults could have it done in 10 minutes.

We were excited to hit the trail and went straight to his favorite trail. We were a little bit disappointed when as he started climbing, it became clear that the derailleur needed quite a bit of adjusting before we could really ride it. I’m really not good with things like that, but luckily my teenage son was there and made a few minor adjustments to make it shift better, but my husband had to do some more adjusting to fine-tune it when we got home that evening. It is pretty common for bikes to need some adjusting after the first few weeks of riding, but we were surprised that the Woom Off Air needed adjustment straight out of the box. In the future, we’ll check the shifting more closely before hitting the trails, which would have alleviated our on-trail frustrations

Since my son is so light, we love that Off AIr has an air fork. This means that the front fork can be adjusted to different pressures to suit your child perfectly. There are a lot of entry level kids mountain bikes out there and most do not have this, so he can barely get the suspension to move at all unless it’s adjusted for his weight. (This is true for most kids, not just lightweight kids).

Riding The Woom Off Air

After working out the shifting issues, we’ve had no problems with the Woom Off Air. In fact, it’s performed so well. We love that the design is made just for kids (not just a smaller adult bike), so it really does fit him well. The nobby tires gave so much grip on every terrain we tested them on, and the extra tire width really helped with stability as well.

Our son was previously riding another brands “lightweight” bike but the Woom Off Air is about 5 pounds lighter. Considering that my son weighs just over 50 lbs, the lighter weight made a significant difference for him. He could maneuver the bike better and the bike worked better WITH him rather than him having to muscle the bike around. All in all, it made for a smoother and simpler riding experience, and made him enjoy biking even more!

The air for was easy to adjust, the bike handles well, and was fantastic for cross-country riding all over the place!

Features we LOVE About the Woom Off Air 5

This has been a great bike overall, and here are some of our favorite features of this kids lightweight mountain bike.

Great components overall. We especially love the SRAM X5 derailleur and shifters which make shifting smooth and easier for kids.
1×9 drivetrain makes shifting simpler for kids. Instead of kids worrying about how to shift a 3×8 drivetrain, with a 1×9, all they need to think about is going easier or harder with their gearing.
RST air fork that’s adjustable so you can set it to work the best with your childs weight and riding style. These forks are specifically designed to work well at lower pressures and still have great rebound.
Tires and rims are tubeless ready (although they need rim tape still). This is such an easy conversion and makes such a difference in reducing flats on the trail.
Handlebars are more narrow and have tapered ends so it’s easier for kids to grip.
Trigger shifters! Regular Woom models have grip shifters and our kids think that trigger shifters are much easier on the trail.
2.35” wide Shwalbe Rocket Ron Tires. On a kid’s bike these seem super fat and give kids extra tire grip. We love that this bike has fantastic wide tires, without sacrificing weight.
Available in black or TerraCoppa (a copper color)
Hydraulic disc brakes make stopping better. We love the responsiveness that a disc brake provides, and having them come standard on the Woom Off Air gives the brakes a quicker reaction time and better stopping power for kids!

Best Terrain for the Woom Off Air

We’ve tested out the Woom Off Air all over the state of Utah, which has a pretty good variety of terrain. We’ve been riding it on mountain trails, through the sandy deserts, around town, and everything in between.

Overall, it seems like the Woom Off Air is best designed for cross country riding, which is perfect since that’s what our kids prefer. It’s not designed for big drops or jumps. The lightweight design make it especially easy to climb, and of course easy on the downhills. It has a pretty solid geometry that’s not super aggressive, but still allows kids to really grow and progress in their skills. Don’t forget to always have your kids wear a helmet!

Looking for more bike reviews? Check out these next.

Who We Recommend The Woom Off Air For

The Woom Off Air is a great bike for kids who are intermediate and above mountain bikers. It’s a fantastic trail bike! This is a great bike for kids who will be doing a lot of climbing since it’s really lightweight, so the bike weight won’t slow them down.

We think that the Woom Off Air is an excellent option for smaller or really lightweight kids, like my son, since weight makes a huge difference in their ability to ride well. For kids who are really lightweight, I actually recommend getting a Woom Off, without the front suspension, since you’ll save 3 more pounds, which is a massive weight cut for a bike. Most kids don’t really need suspension unless they’re riding more technical trails, so they can get by without it, and the weight makes a big enough difference to make that a real consideration to look into.

About Jessica Averett

Hi, I’m Jessica, a mom of 5 kids and married to my favorite adventure partner. I love to bike, ski, camp and hike. We've visited over 40 countries with our kids, but are equally happy on the road as we are exploring our home state of Utah.