woom OFF 4, 5, and 6 Review

The ideal mix of technical brawn and delicate simplicity, the woom OFF 4, woom OFF 5, and woom OFF 6 are the ultimate gateway bikes for young groms just getting started. From the hydraulic disc brakes to the carbon fork and their insanely lightweight frames, the woom OFF rigid mountain bikes will help your little one quickly master on-trail skills and learn to love the shred.

The woom OFF is available in 20″, 24″ and 26″ wheel sizes.  All sizes feature the same components, with size being their primary difference. We’ll cover the woom OFF 4 (20 inch), woom OFF 5 (24 inch), and woom OFF 6 (26 inch) bikes in this review. For all the details on what makes these kids mountain bikes so exceptional, read our full review below!

woom OFF 4, 5 and 6 Review – Results of our Test Rides

Finding the perfect mountain bike for your child can be tricky.  From geometry to drivetrain, there’s a lot more to consider when riding trails as compared to riding around town.  Where your child is going to ride and how much experience your child has on the trail also play a larger role in finding the “best” mountain bike for your child. 

All woom OFF bikes are in the “cross country” category and are designed for riders who need a bike that is just as capable uphill as it down. The OFF is ideal for young riders ready to tackle longer green or blue single-track trails with or without large elevation gains.

The woom OFF is NOT designed for young groms who are on a mission to hit the largest jumps or catching the largest air at the jump park. If your kid is itching to catch large air like this bike tester, a more aggressive mountain bike that places more emphasis on the downhill would be more appropriate.

To put the woom OFF through the full testing ringer, we tested these bikes for an entire season of mountain biking as our kids’ regular-use bikes. We tested the 20″ woom OFF 4 and the 26″ woom OFF 6 with our 7, 10, 11, and 12-year-old kid testers. Our kids range in skill from beginning mountain bikers to experienced, confident shredders. 

For more advanced riders who will be tackling more technical terrain, the woom OFF is also available as the woom OFF AIR with a front air suspension fork, which we cover in our woom OFF AIR review. If your child is a more advanced rider, we highly recommend starting off with the woom OFF AIR.

woom OFF Best for Beginning Trail Riders

Made specifically for cross country and trail riding, the OFF bikes share very little, if any, components with woom’s traditional bike line up (such as the woom 5 and woom 6).  From the SRAM X4 setup and wide bars to the longer, more stable wheelbase, the woom OFF line is perfectly designed for beginning riders as well as intermediate riders ready to push themselves a little further.

The OFF’s kid-centric frame design mixes the perfect balance of confidence and stability, while keeping steering and maneuverability responsive and quick. The woom OFF bikes climb, descend, and tackle cross country terrain with ease.

But why is the woom OFF so exceptional for beginning and intermediate shredders? In addition to exceptional geometry and high-end components, the OFF’s major selling point is its weight.

Incredibly Lightweight

The OFF is significantly lighter than most of its 20 inch and 24 inch mountain bike competitors. Just like woom’s neighborhood bikes, the biggest differentiator from other kid brands has been keeping off the weight that plagues so many bikes out there for the little ones.

So, when we got ahold of the new woom OFF bikes to test, it was no surprise that they had left OFF (haha!) a ton of weight compared to some of the other kids’ mountain bikes out there.

How much weight are we talking about? Well, woom states the 26” woom OFF 6 hits the scales at a very svelte 20.5 lbs. with pedals. In comparison, some bike shop bikes in the same size are weighing in between 30-40 lbs.  I can hear some parents out there now saying, “who cares?” For those of you saying this, let’s do a comparison.

Our 11-year-old tester riding the woom OFF 6 weighs about 75 lbs. So if he is riding a bike that weighs around 35 lbs, then the bike is about 46% of his body weight.  So if you are a 170 lb. adult that would be equivalent to you riding a bike that weighs about 79 lbs. Can you honestly imagine trying to pedal an 80 lb. mountain bike? Not a chance! Ok, rant over.

Rigid Fork – Yes, beginners can live without suspension!

The woom OFF features a carbon fork to keep it ultra-light, while the larger through-axle helps keep the fork rigid. A rigid fork on a mountain bike? Yes! But why? 

Because suspension forks add weight to the bike, and that weight just may not be necessary, especially for beginner riders. woom knows this, and smartly allows parents to choose between a rigid fork (OFF) or a suspension fork (OFF AIR). (As a note, if you buy the woom OFF, you can always upgrade to woom’s suspension fork later.)

Most suspension forks simply can’t provide sufficient dampening for lightweight kids.  Yes, they provide some, but for many beginning and intermediate riders, the additional weight the suspension forks adds does not compensate for the small gains in cushioning and the increase in price! (This is especially true for 20 inch mountain bikes.)

For reference, the woom OFF 5 weighs 18.9 pounds, while the woom OFF AIR 5 with suspension weighs 3.4 pounds more. That might not seem like a lot, but we’re talking about 7 and 8 year olds here. Unless they absolutely need suspension, why burden them with those extra pounds?

To compensate for the lack of suspension, the woom OFF comes with cushioning 2.35″ wide Schwalbe Rocket Ron tires, which do an incredible job of smoothing out the ride.

Our 10-year-old tester had been riding a 24 lb. Islabike Creig with an RST adjustable air fork for two years, but he had no complaints about the lack of an air fork on his 20.5 lb. woom OFF 6.  The OFF bike rode equally smoothly on its rigid carbon fork with wide tires as did the Islabike with an air fork and 2.1″ wide tires.

More aggressive riders or those tackling rougher terrain may prefer the additional weight of a suspension fork for additional help in smoothing out the ride.  For those groms, check out the woom OFF AIR with suspension.

When is it time to upgrade the rigid fork to suspension?

This question really depends on the terrain and trail features your child will be tackling. For kids just getting into mountain biking that are taking things a bit slower or are just riding mellower trails, no suspension is a non-issue.

As young riders progress and are able to ride for longer or tackle rougher trails, a suspension fork can certainly come in handy to help smooth out the ride. If your child’s arms or shoulders are getting tired during longer rides, it’s likely time to move up to a suspension fork. Sore hands (even when wearing gloves) is another indicator that it’s time.

The woom OFF Air is available with 60 to 90 mm of travel depending on the size of the bike. Our 12-year-old rider started his mountain bike journey on the woom OFF 6 and advanced fairly quickly in skills and confidence. As a result, we upgraded the woom OFF 6 to an air fork after about 6 months as he began attempting chunkier trails, and more aggressive terrain.

Considering the woom OFF is designed for cross country riding, keep in mind that while adding a suspension fork will help smooth out roots and rocks along the way, it will NOT turn the bike into an all-mountain bike capable of tackling aggressive drops and jumps. A more robust bike with a slacker headtube, such as the Prevelo Zulu, would be a better fit.

woom OFF Performance

For our beginner and intermediate mountain bikers, the OFF was the perfect bike for them – not too much (no suspension to save on weight), but not too little (plenty of gears and powerful hydraulic disc brakes). The woom OFF truly was exceptional for every situation our riders found themselves in – from the uphill and the downhill of Park City, to those flat flowy trails in Bentonville.

Climbing with the woom OFF is easy due to a comfortable seat tube angle which puts the rider over the bottom bracket. But of course, it’s also super easy to climb thanks to how light these OFF bikes are. With plenty of range in the gears to climb most green and blue rated trails out there, the light weight gives the OFF a huge advantage over a lot of bikes out there. Kids can easily make their way up significant climbs and effortlessly move around or up and over obstacles.

While certainly not a downhill bike, the woom OFF still performed well on the descents that followed the climbs. The bike had plenty of traction from the Rocket Ron tires. And through most terrain, the bike was fast and easy to throw around. Getting through corners was noticeably easy and the bike stayed stable at faster speeds at least when smooth.

One thing that woom didn’t have a measurement for were the chainstays. We’re assuming they are pretty stubby by the ease of getting the front wheel off the ground. Our more experienced 11-year-old tester was easily able to get the front tire off the ground to get up and over obstacles. He had a blast riding wheelies around the neighborhood too.

woom OFF 4, 5, and 6 Components and Specs

Geometry Ideal for Stability and Control

As far as geometry goes we’d say it fits right into the XC category, which is where most beginning and intermediate mountain bikers are going to find themselves, especially those on 20″ or 24″ bikes.

The geometry is set up to make the bike feel really balanced and give little riders a lot of confidence. This is great for new riders as well as more skilled riders who want to start trying new things or just increase their speed on trails.

Headtube angle is 69 degrees for the woom OFF 5 and 6, and 68 degrees for the woom OFF 4. This angle is slightly less slack than mountain bikes that are more designed for downhill dominance. This angle gives the rider confidence on the downhill by making the bike feel stable and controlled.

This helps them feel more grounded, like they are not going to go over the bars at any moment. It also allows for great efficiency on the uphill and flat trails, everything a cross-country mountain bike needs to be.

Wheelbase is fairly long on all the models (1066mm on the 26″) giving kids stability at speed and more confidence in basically every situation. The bike sits pretty low giving a more “in-the-bike” feel rather than being perched up on top of it. This again gives the feeling of confidence.

Notice a trend here? The woom OFF mixes the perfect balance of confidence and stability while keeping steering and maneuverability responsive and quick.

Hydraulic Disc Brakes Offer Great Stopping Power

Now let’s get into some nitty gritty specs for bit. The parts for the woom OFF have been well thought out for little hands and bodies. Promax hydraulic brakes have good stopping power but also great modulation, giving kids good control over braking.

Some hydraulic brakes can stop kids a bit too abruptly, causing them to skid and lose control – not the case here.  The brake levers are ultra-responsive and can be modulated to your child’s preference.

9-Speed Drivetrain, Trigger Shifters

All three sizes of the OFF feature 9-speeds with SRAM trigger shifters and an X5 derailleur.  While learning to use the double thumb shifter on the SRAM took our beginner testers a few neighborhood rides to master, our experienced testers got right on board.

All woom OFF bikes also feature a narrow-wide chainring to help keep that chain from coming off mid-ride.

What about gearing ranges? While only 9 speeds, we found there is plenty of range in gears to get up and down. With as light as the OFF bikes are, there’s less need for an additional, bigger tooth cog on the cassette for even lower gearing while climbing. 

woom OFF 6 has a 28 tooth chainring in the front and an 11-36 tooth cassette out back. This results in a gain ratio range of 1.7 to 5.6.

woom OFF 5 has the 28 tooth chainring in front, and an 11-34 tooth cassette, resulting in a slightly higher gain ratio range of 1.9 to 6.0.

woom 4 OFF has a 28t chainring and an 11-32 tooth cassette, resulting in a gain ratio range of 2.0 to 5.9.

The Q factor is nice and narrow, meaning your kid is not going to be cranking their pedals out in too wide of a stance.

Wide Handlebar & Ergonomic Saddle

Grips are small for little hands and super grippy and comfortable. Bars are 680 mm wide on the woom OFF 6, 600 mm wide on the woom OFF 5, and 580 mm on the woom OFF 4. All have with a 20mm rise.

It’s good to see kids bike manufacturers putting proper wide bars on kids’ bikes these days.  The bars can also be rotated forward or back 10 degrees to tilt the handlebars away or closer to the body.  The 50mm stem can be also be flipped to adjust the bar height.

The saddle is high quality and ergonomically designed to fit a child’s pelvis. The seat post does not have a quick release, which can be an inconvenience when kids are growing so quickly at this age.

Wide Tires, But Not Tubeless Ready

I was super pleased to see such a nice set of tires come on a kid’s bike at this price point. 2.35 wide Schwalbe Rocket Ron’s front and back give tons of traction with plenty of rolling speed and good shock absorbing qualities – as long as you run the pressure correctly. 

And through most terrain, the bike was fast and easy to throw around. Getting through corners was noticeably easy and the bike stayed stable at faster speeds, at least when smooth.

Make sure you are running your kids’ tires nice and low to allow the tires to get maximum traction and give some bump compliance. I ended up running the woom OFF 6 at about 16 lbs. for my son that weighs 70 lbs., and about 15 lbs. on the woom OFF 4 for our lighter riders.

The rims and tires are not tubeless ready, which would be nice to have so parents can convert them more easily if they think it necessary. (Something we really appreciated about the Pello Roovi.)

We did convert our woom 6 to tubeless when we also upgraded the front rigid fork to an air fork for our more aggressive, older riders. Because neither the rims nor the tires are tubeless ready, this was a bit more challenging, but still possible.

Challenging to Upgrade

While an exceptional gateway mountain bike, one downside of the woom OFF is that it isn’t as easy to upgrade as other brands. The brakes, shifter, and derailleur are standard and not hard to upgrade, but the fork and crank arms are not.

Due to the headset/headtube design of the OFF, there are currently no known aftermarket suspension forks that will work with the woom OFF in any of the sizes. If you want to upgrade the woom OFF, you will need to purchase woom’s suspension fork.

The crank arms are also custom to woom and are not easily replaced by non-woom parts. We found this to especially be problematic when the the crank arms on our woom 6 bent (more on that below). After our replacement woom cranks also bent, we were disheartened to realize that we couldn’t upgrade the cranks to another brand due to lack of compatibility.

We already discussed the difficulty with conversion to a tubeless set up, and there’s also no routing for dropper post cables. But realistically, given who this bike is designed for, a dropper post really isn’t needed on this bike.

Weak Crank Arm (woom OFF 6 only!)

After a year of use, one downside we discovered for ONLY the woom 6 was its weak crank arms. After practicing short drops (about 2 feet) on the trail, our 12-year-old rider discovered the crank arms on his woom 6 had bent. Upon receiving replacement crank arms from woom, those crank arms bent again after executing a short drop in the neighborhood.

The woom OFF is designed as a cross-country bike (think long single-track focused – aka fast bike hiking) and NOT designed as an “all-mountain” bike where drops are the norm and sought out. However, considering kids will be kids, we believe the crank arms should be strong enough to withstand the weight of a 12-year-old.

woom OFF 4, 5 and 6 Bottom Line

Stunningly built from top to bottom, the woom OFF mountain bike is a killer choice for any young grom ready for a steady, sturdy, and lightweight steed to begin their mountain biking journey.  Loaded with the essentials without being weighed down by a suspension fork, the OFF will dominate those cross country trails, make climbing quite a bit easier, and keeping kids steady on the downhill.

Check with our bike sizing guide to see which size woom is right for your mountain biker.

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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.