The woom 6 26-inch bike is the perfect hybrid bike for tweens who need a high-quality bike to tackle the neighborhood and the trails. As a hybrid (which is a blend of road and mountain bikes), the woom 6 features smooth-rolling tires that easily roll over various terrains, a lightweight 22 lb. build, and a wide gearing range to tackle a wide variety of riding conditions.
From long distance rides on paved trails to fun family rides on compact dirt trails, the woom 6 was designed for the everyday rider who needs a high-performing and versatile bike. Not too technical, yet far from basic, learn what makes the woom 6 shine in our review below.
woom 6 Overview
RATING: Exceptional
MSRP: $699
BEST FOR: Recreational tween riders looking for a high-performing bike that will effortlessly take them on a wide variety of rides, including rolling hills and paved trails.
SEAT HEIGHT: 29.5″ to 37.5″
WEIGHT: 22.1 lb.
GEARS: 8-speed with SRAM Grip Shifter
FRAME: Aluminum Alloy
GAIN RATIO: 1.8 – 5.4
PROS:
- Lightweight with a low minimum seat height
- Wide range of gears (8-speed) for tackling various terrains and elevations
- Low center-of-gravity geometry for better balance and maneuverability
- Easy-to-use grip shifters and other high-end components
- Gorgeous, and with a nice variety of “mature” colors available
- Ergonomic grips to prevent wrist strain during long rides
CONS:
- Too upright for really aggressive riders
woom 6 Review – Results of our Test Rides
As a hybrid bike, the woom 6 is a great choice for everyday tween riders who want a lightweight nimble bike that can seamlessly go from paved to compact dirt trails.
If you’re shopping for a tween, it’s important to be familiar with the various types of bikes available for your child, and which bike is best for their style of riding. Since most tweens can also fit on adult bikes, your options of bikes available is quite substantial.
What’s a hybrid bike?
A hybrid bike, like the woom 6, brings together the best of road and mountain bikes to create a comfortable and capable ride for your average child.
Hybrid bikes are designed for mainly street use, but unlike road bikes, they have wider, grippier tires that offer more cushion and more surface area than traditional road tires. The handlebars on a hybrid bike come with a slight rise for added comfort, versus drop bars on a road bike or flat bars on a mountain bike.
To improve versatility and simplicity, most hybrid bikes have a 1x (“one-by”) system versus a 3x system. Quite simply, this just means that your child only shifts with one hand, versus having the option of switching between gears with both hands.
More technically this means that there is only one shifter and derailleur which is attached to the cassette on the rear wheel. The “one” refers to the single cog on the chainring (located by the pedals). A 3x system has three cogs in the chainring. Moving the chain between these three cogs allows for additional differences in gearing, but also requires a second shifter and derailleur.
For tweens and even casual adult riders, we greatly prefer a 1x system because changing gears is much easier. Instead of worrying about which shifter to use, the 1x system’s single shifter eliminates any confusion. While 1x systems don’t offer as wide of a range of gears as 3x systems, the range is plenty wide for riding everything from daunting hills to paved downhill paths.
While 1x systems are becoming more and more popular on higher-end mountain bikes, they aren’t as common on mid-priced bikes sized to fit a tween. In fact, after countless searches for a suitable bike with a 1x system for my 12-year-old, the woom 6 and the Trek Wahoo 26 were the only bikes I could even find (more comparison on these two bikes later)!
Size and Geometry
The woom 6 has a seat height range of 29.5″ to 37.5″ and is a best fit for kids ranging in heights from 55″ to 65″ tall. We tested out the woom 6 on our 62″ tall 12-year-old tester with a 30″ inseam and a 60″ tall 10-year-old with a 28.5″ inseam. The woom 6 provided a comfortable ride for both. For kids less than 55″ tall, the 24-inch woom 5 would be a better fit. (Or the smaller, 26″ Prevelo Alpha Five.)
While experienced in mountain biking, our 12-year-old tester is not a very aggressive rider and prefers riding a bike with a more upright, relaxed position. On the opposite side of the spectrum, our 10-year-old tester is very aggressive and prefers aggressive riding in general. Both kids loved the woom 6, with the 12-year-old preferring to ride the bike full-time, while the 10-year-old preferred the woom 6 for neighborhood riding.
Performance
To put the woom 6 to the test, we started with a long ride on our local paved bike trail with our 12-year-old tester. With rolling hills, long flat stretches, as well as gravel sections, the trail offered a wide variety of riding experiences. The woom 6 performed like a champ in every condition. Shifting was smooth and easy as she rolled up hills, and the top gear was plenty high for her to gain plenty of speed on the flat sections.
Featuring 26×2.0 Schwalbe low-resistance tires, the bike easily transitioned from paved trails to gravel and dirt trails. With a medium tread, the tires provide plenty of grip on paved surfaces while still offering plenty of damping and flexing for basic all-terrain riding.
Upon completion of that initial long ride, our tester was super excited and asked when we could go out again. As a tween whose love of biking riding has slowly been replaced by everything from hanging out with friends to screen time, the woom 6 successfully reignited that love, and just in time for summer (insert mom’s victory dance here)!
New Colors and Frame Design
Starting in 2021, the woom 6 comes in new colors! The woom 6 is now available in red, navy blue, mint green and gray. The light blue color shown in this review is no longer available.
To provide a more mature look, the frame of the new woom 6 comes with more modern squared off tubing, versus traditional round tubing. In the image below, you can see the older version of the blue woom 6 with rounded tubing compared to the squared-off tubing of the latest mint green model. This squared-off design is also featured on woom’s mountain bike-specific OFF series.
woom 6’s Notable Components
Adjustable-Height Handlebars
As a versatile hybrid bike, the woom 6 comes with an adjustable height stem which allows the handlebars to be raised or lowered. Adjusting the stem is very simple and requires loosening just two Allen bolts.
We recommend starting your child off on the highest setting (shown on the right) and then adjusting them as your child desires. More aggressive riders may prefer to have the handlebars set lower, while average, everyday riders would likely prefer them to sit higher.
woom’s Adjustable Height Handlebar
Drivetrain and Shifter
The woom 6 features 8 speeds with a SRAM grip shifter that works great for the average tween rider. Whether tackling rolling hills or long, flat, paved trails, the woom 6’s gain ratios (ranging from 1.8 to 5.4) offered plenty of range.
As mentioned previously, the woom 6 has the much desired 1x drivetrain. Hard to find on a 26″ hybrid bike, but it’s a huge benefit for the average tween rider who doesn’t have the coordination (or the desire) to learn how to properly use a 3x drivetrain with two shifters.
Ergo Grips – new as of 2021
To help ease the strain on the wrist during longer rides, the woom 6 now comes with ergonomic locking grips. The “wings” at the end of each grip provide a larger base for the lower palm to rest on. The wider base allows the child’s weight to be spread out onto a wider surface, thereby decreasing the overall strain on the wrist and hand.
The grips also lock into place to prevent the “wing” from twisting out of place.
Narrow q-factor
woom’s lightweight cranks are made of forged aluminum with a narrow q-factor (the inside width between the two pedals). The woom 6 is one of the few 26″ inch bikes with a narrow q-factor for kids.
A narrow q-factor maximizes efficiency with every pedal stroke. Considering tweens who fit on the woom 6 are likely to fit on an adult bike as well, the woom 6’s narrow q-factor is one of the major benefits of buying a kid-specific 26″ bike.
While tweens can be as tall as some adults, their frames are often still much narrower. The q-factor on adult bikes is typically too wide for most tweens, which can negatively affect the efficiency of each of their pedal strokes.
You can see the difference below of a 12-year-old on the woom 6 and a women’s Diamondback bike. On the woom 6, she is able to push straight down, but on the Diamondback, she has to push down at a slight outward angle. As a result, she is able to get slightly less power out of each pedal stroke on the Diamondback as compared to the woom.
Narrow Wide-Chainring Chainring
In order to prevent chain derailments, the woom 6 features a narrow-wide chainring. Narrow-wide chainrings alter the tooth shape of the chainring to precisely fit the standard narrow and wide spacing on bike chains.
A more detailed descriptions about narrow-wide chainrings and their benefits can be found in the drivetrain section of our woom 5 review.
Brakes
The woom 6 has front and rear v-pull brakes that are easy to use and effective. The brake levers are adjustable to fit the smallest of hands. More advanced riders may benefit from the additional stopping power from disc brakes, but our testers had no complaints about the woom 6’s braking performance.
Adjustable Saddle
Cushioning and supportive, the saddle is ergonomically designed to fit the smaller bone structure of kids. Even after longer rides, our testers had no complaints about the saddle.
To help remedy any problems that may arise, the saddle is also fully adjustable and be tilted up or down (red arrows below) as well as slide forward and back along its rails (yellow arrow).
When setting up your child’s bike, it’s always important to ensure the saddle is level. If the nose of the saddle is too high or too low, it can affect the child’s comfort level on the bike. Using a standard bubble level can help you determine if the seat is level.
Included Kickstand
woom’s unique rear-placed kickstand now comes standard on the woom 6. The kickstand is easy for kids to engage and does a great job keeping the bike upright.
The rear positioning of the kickstand is out of the way of the pedals, so it will never get in the way of a pedal stroke. If a child were to forget to put the kickstand up, the kickstand will pop up upon coming in contact with the ground.
Pedal Strike – Issues with Older Models – Pre-2021 ONLY
**woom has addressed the pedal strike issue and has raised the bottom bracket on their latest 2021 model. The pedal strike issue is an issue on all woom 6 purchased prior to 2021**
Due to a low bottom bracket, older versions of the woom 6 did have issues with pedal strike. Pedal strike occurs when the pedal of the bike hits the ground. Pedal strike typically occurs when riding over uneven terrain or during tight turns.
When making tight, more aggressive turns, our 10-year-old tester hit the inside pedal on the ground. Our more conservative 12-year-old rider who has ridden the bike extensively, however, did not have an issue with pedal strike on the woom 6.
woom 6 vs. Trek Wahoo 26 vs. Pello Roovi
Comparable in specs and price, the Trek Wahoo 26″ and the Pello Roovi 27.5″ are two comparable hybrid bikes with a 1x system. We have yet to get our hands on a Trek Wahoo 26″, so we weren’t able to do a true comparison ride of the two. But based on the build and available specs on the Trek, they are certainly designed for different riders.
The woom 6’s more upright positioning, low pedal clearance, and grip shifters make it a better fit for everyday recreational tween riders, while the Trek’s aggressive positioning, higher pedal clearance and trigger shifters make it better suited for more aggressive riders.
woom 6: With an adjustable-height handlebar and grip shifters, the woom 6 is best for everyday or recreational riders. With outstanding performance, the woom 6 is likely to re-spark your child’s love of biking.
Trek Wahoo 26″: With a very low rise handlebar, the Trek has a slightly more aggressive body position which allows aggressive riders to more easily lean in and out of turns. Its trigger shifters are also typically better for more aggressive riders.
Pello Roovi 27.5″: The Roovi can be purchased with a rigid fork for neighborhood riders, or with a suspension fork for mountain bikers. It can also be upgraded later if your child decides they want to get into more serious mountain biking. With the most high-end components of the three bikes, it’s also the most expensive.
| Bike | woom 6 | Pello Roovi | Trek Wahoo 26″ |
| MSRP | $699 | $709 | $559 |
| Seat Height | 29.5″ to 37.5″ | 28″ – 33.25″ | ? |
| Weight | 22.1 lb. | 24.5 lb. | 22 lb. |
| Gain Ratio | 1.8 – 5.4 | 1.9 – 6.3 | 1.7 – 5.56 |
| Shifter | SRAM grip shift | Shimano Trigger | Shimano Trigger |
| Speeds | 8-speed | 9-speed | 8-speed |
| Brakes | V-pull | Hydraulic disc | V-pull |
woom 6 Bike Bottom Line
The ultimate ride for recreational tweens, the woom 6 will effortlessly take kids on a variety of adventures. With a wide range of gears, the woom 6 is well suited for long paved trails to rolling hills and everything between.
FTC Disclosure: Affiliate links are included in this review. No monetary compensation was provided for this review, however, the reviewed product was supplied by the manufacturer or distributor to help facilitate this review. All opinions and images are that of Two Wheeling Tots LLC. All content and images are copyrighted and should not be used or replicated in any way. View our Terms of Use.
