Prevelo Zulu Five Kids 26″ Mountain Bike Review

Lighter, smaller, and more capable than ever, the newly updated 26” Prevelo Zulu Five is the ultimate all-mountain bike for eager young riders. Whether your child is gaining confidence on green trails or testing their skills on challenging blue runs, the Zulu Five offers a perfect balance of comfort and playful agility.

Over the past two months, we’ve put the new Zulu through its paces at mountain bike camps and NICA practices, and it consistently received rave reviews. While the sizing of this 26″ bike is unique (it’s surprisingly similar to, or even smaller than, some 24″ bikes), for the right-sized rider, the Zulu Five is bound to become a fast favorite.

What we love about the Prevelo Zulu Five

• Kid-specific design: Every component, from crank arms to grips and shifters, is designed with smaller riders in mind.
• Reliable customer service: Backed by Prevelo’s excellent, no-nonsense support.
• Tektro hydraulic disc brakes: 160mm rotors in front, 140 mm rear, deliver powerful and responsive braking.
• Wide 1x gear range: Ideal for steep climbs, featuring a 10-speed 11-48t cassette (a step above Woom’s 11-36t).
• Trail-ready geometry: A slack head tube angle boosts downhill confidence, while a steep seat tube angle helps keep the front end stable on climbs.
• Microshift Advent X Pro trigger shifters: Easy for young riders to reach and activate.
• Dropper post compatible: Designed for 31.6mm dropper posts with stealth cable routing.
• Tubeless-ready: The rims come pre-taped! Valves and sealant to complete set up available at checkout.
• Future Proof Frame: UDH Compatible with Thru-Axle Dropout

What you should know about the Prevelo Zulu Five before you buy:

• Sizing: Despite being a 26” bike, it’s sized similarly to many 24” bikes. If your child is upgrading, review our sizing section carefully.
• Dropper post: Prevelo’s Kind Shock 75mm dropper post has a low stack height, making it accessible for younger riders. However, a minimum seat height of 31” is required to use it, and for taller kids, the 75mm travel might feel a bit short.
• Chainstay protection: The chainstay lacks protection, so we recommend adding a guard before your rider hits the trails. Ours showed noticeable wear after a couple of months.
• Loud rear hub: The quick-engaging rear hub is noisy but can be helpful for keeping track of your rider when descending.

Prevelo Zulu Five Review – Initial Thoughts

We have always loved the Prevelo Zulu Five and the upgraded 2024 model has only increased our devotion. Several pounds lighter than the previous version, the Zulu makes even quicker work of climbs while still keeping its slack geometry for plenty of support on the downhill.

To put the Zulu through the paces, we promptly put it to work with our 12-year-old NICA rider. If you aren’t familiar with NICA, it’s a country-wide mountain bike racing league for grades 7 to 12. Based in Utah, our NICA teams regularly tackle over 1,000 feet climbs, followed by steep downhills during their weekly practices. Any basic mountain bike won’t cut it for these kids!

From day one, it was pretty clear that the 11-48t cassette (1.27 – 5.53 gain ratio) provided enough tooth to tackle the climbs. Coming from the woom OFF 6 which only has an 11-36t cassette (1.71 – 5.6 gain ratio), the extra climbing power was immediately noticeable.

When pointed downhill, the Zulu’s slack 66º HTA helped the bike stay planted compared to woom’s 69º. All in all, the Zulu excelled at everything we threw at it. And while we still love the woom OFF AIR, Prevelo’s Zulu series is hand-down a better bike for more aggressive riders.

That being said, keep in mind that although the woom and the Prevelo both have 26” wheels, they are sized for different riders, as the minimum seat height of the Prevelo Zulu is over 2” lower than the woom (more about this in sizing section below).

What type of rider is the Prevelo Zulu Five the best fit for?

In the realm of MTB types, we would place the Prevelo Zulu Five in the “all-mountain” category – best for young groms ready to continue to up their game with more challenging and technical terrain.

With a 66º head tube angle (HTA) and a 100mm fork, the Zulu is more downhill-focused than other kid-specific 26″ mountain bikes, including the woom OFF AIR 6 (69º HTA, 90mm fork) as well as the Trailcraft Timber 26 (68º HTA, 100mm fork). If your little grom is eager to plow through chunky rock gardens and magically seems to find every little jump along the trail, the Zulu is the perfect bike for them.

The Zulu Five is also a solid choice for new trail riders who may not be as experienced on the trail, but are adventurous by nature. By placing riders in a semi-upright position, this Zulu is aggressive enough to allow for experienced riders to really leanin to the bike, but not too aggressive as to turn off progressing riders.

Prevelo Zulu Five Size and Fit Recommendations

Before diving into the details of the Zulu Five, it’s important to note that this is a relatively small 26” bike—barely larger, or in some cases even smaller, than many 24” bikes. If your child has already outgrown their 24” bike, we highly recommend measuring their inseam before considering the Zulu Five, as they may already be approaching the upper limits of this bike’s ideal fit.

Prevelo recommends the Zulu Five for kids with inseams ranging from 26.5″ to 31″. If your child’s inseam is over 28″, they’ll fit the bike, but the room for growth will be limited.

The seat height of the Zulu ranges from 27″ to 34.5″ with most kids comfortably setting the seat height to approximately 3″ to 4″ inches over their inseam.

Our shortest tester, 54″ tall with a 27″ inseam, was a perfect match for the Zulu Five. With the seat set at 30.5″, they had ample room to grow. The sizing felt just right—neither too big nor too small—and the bike performed like a champ.

While shorter riders with a 24″ to 25″ inseam could technically fit with the seat at its lowest position (27″), the bike may feel a bit large for them. As a result, we agree with Prevelo’s recommended minimum inseam of 26.5″.

Our 62″ tall rider with a 30.5″ inseam (shown in images above) loved the Zulu, but he rode with the bike at its maximum seat height of 34.5″, so the Zulu offered no room for growth. For longer rides, he preferred the larger woom OFF AIR 6, which offers more reach. And with a maximum seat height of 38.2″, the woom also provides more room for growth for a 26” bike.

Zulu Five Sizing vs. Other 24″ and 26″ MTBs

You get an even better perspective on the small size of the Zulu Five by comparing its seat height range to other kid-specific 24″ and 26″ MTBs. The minimum seat height of the Zulu Five is essentially the same as that on woom’s 24″ MTB.

Because of its smaller size, transitioning from a 20″ MTB to the 26″ Zulu is possible, but we only recommend it for very confident riders with advanced skills.

Bike	Wheel Size	Seat Height
woom OFF AIR 6	26″	30.3” – 38.2″
Pello Reyes	27.5″	28” – 37.25″
woom OFF AIR 5	24″	27.1” – 33.3″
Prevelo Zulu Five	26″	27” – 34.5″
Specialized Riprock Expert	24″	27” – 32.5″
Prevelo Zulu Four	24″	24.8” – 31.1″
Prevelo Zulu Three	20″	21.7” – 26.1″
woom OFF AIR 4	20″	20.6” – 28.5″

What makes the Zulu so Small?

Despite the differences in seat heights, the Zulu Five’s wheelbase is almost identical to the 26″ woom OFF AIR, with a difference of just 1mm (1061mm for the Zulu and 1060mm for the woom). So, what makes the Zulu “smaller” than these other bikes?

While frame geometry plays a role (more on this below), part of the magic lies in Zulu’s unique BMX style Pivotal saddle. Unlike traditional bike seats, the Pivotal saddles do not have rails, which allows the seat to sit about an inch closer to the seat post collar when in its lowest position.

To maintain their super low seat heights, Prevelo also worked directly with Kind Shock to create a 75mm dropper that works with the Pivotal saddle. To keep things clean, the Zulu has stealth routing ports for the dropper beneath the bottom bracket . Prevelo will also install the dropper for free if purchased at the same time as the bike.

As a result of the Zulu’s unique low stack height of the saddle and dropper, kids riding the Zulu will be able to fit on a dropper post sooner than they would be able to on other bikes. To use the 75mm dropper on the Zulu Five, kids only need to be riding with the saddle set to 31″. As a comparison, to use a dropper on the woom OFF AIR 6, the saddle heights need to be around 34″.

Dropper Limitations for Taller Riders

For taller or more experienced riders, the Zulu’s 75mm dropper post may feel a bit short. Our 11-year-old tester, for example, uses a 125mm dropper on the woom OFF AIR 6, which is approximately 2″ taller than the Zulu’s.

While we haven’t had the opportunity to test the performance or height limitations of Prevelo’s dropper post, it’s important to note that if you choose to upgrade to a longer dropper from another company, you’ll also need to purchase a new saddle (Prevelo’s Pivotal saddle won’t work on standard droppers).

Zulu Five’s All-Mountain Geometry

When selecting the best bike for your rider, it’s important to consider not just size, but also geometry. The Prevelo Zulu Five is designed as an all-mountain bike with slacker geometry compared to the woom, which leans more towards XC.

Featuring a slack 66º head tube angle (compared to woom’s 69º), the Zulu confidently tackles chunky sections of trail without being bounced off course. Ideal for ambitious riders ready to take on bigger drops and more aggressive trails, the Zulu encourages playfulness and helps build confidence.

The slacker head tube angle, however, does lead to a smaller cockpit, which leads to taller kids outgrowing it more quickly than the woom.

Pointed up, the 74º seat tube angle helps to keep the legs directly over the pedals to produce a more efficient pedal stroke. The steeper angle also positions the rider’s weight forward on the bike to help keep the front wheel more planted on the climbs.

Prevelo Zulu Five Components

Zulu’s Stellar Wide Gear Range

The gear range on the Zulu is perfection! With 10 gears spread over an 11-48 cassette, the Zulu provides plenty of climbing power with enough in the tank to keep some power in the pedals on the downhill.

During our testing period, our 11-year-old tester regularly switched back and forth from the woom OFF AIR and when riding steep trails, the lower gearing of the Zulu was a godsend. The larger 48t cog in the Zulu cassette versus the 36t in the woom made a massive difference in his ability to power up the climbs.

	Prevelo Zulu	woom OFF AIR 6
# Gears	10	9
Cassette	11 – 48	11 – 36
Chainring	28	28
Gain Ratio	1.27 – 5.53	1.71 – 5.6

For longer rides with extended elevation gains (versus short punchy climbs), the gearing on the Zulu was also preferred. The cutoff seemed to be at about 500 ft. elevation gain over 5 to 6 miles. With rides less than 500 ft. elevation gain, we didn’t have any concerns with the gearing on the woom. Anything above 500 ft., fatigue noticeably began to set in sooner on the woom than on the Zulu.

Microshift Advent X Drivetrain

Equipped with a clutched Microshift Advent X derailleur, the derailleur stays pretty tucked up and out of the way considering the bike’s large 48 cassette, but in really rocky terrain it could get bumped around. Built with full metal construction and attached to the frame via Prevelo’s derailleur hanger, the derailleur is well equipped to take a beating.

Chainstay Protection Needed

The chainstay, however, could certainly use some protection as after a few months of use, it was pretty beat up with the paint and clear coat completely stripped off. This damage was done even with the derailleur’s clutch on. Prevelo is aware of the problem though and is working on a fix.

The derailleur is paired with Microshift’s Advent X Pro shifters. Designed specifically for mountain biking as well as for kids, the Advent X Pro has light lever action as well as a larger silicon traction pad on the thumb trigger.

Air Suspension Fork

The Zulu Five now comes equipped with an RST F1RST 100mm travel air fork with lockout and adjustable rebound and compression. While the Spinner fork on the previous model had 120mm travel, we found the RST fork to be much more responsive for lightweight riders. Having ridden both, our testers much preferred the responsiveness and feel of the 100mm RST fork compared to the 120mm Spinner Fork on the previous Zulu model.

Unlike the Spinner fork, we also had no problems getting 30% sag as well as the full 100mm extension when set to the proper psi. That being said, for our 80 lb. 62″ tall tester, he was able to easily bottom out the fork at 30% sag, so we ran it closer to 20%.

Tektro Hydraulic Disc Brakes

Built for downhill adventures, Prevelo equipped the Zulu with Tektro hydraulic disc brakes with 160mm rotors on the front and rear. Providing plenty of stopping power at the rider’s fingertips, rest assured that your little grom will be able to stop when needed.

With that power, as kids get more aggressive in their riding, we highly recommend encouraging them to use 1-finger braking – meaning to brake using just their index finger. For most riders, the brake lever will need to be moved inward on the handlebar (away from the grip) in order to properly position the brake lever.

Rims and Tires

The Zulu comes with grippy 2.2″ wide Kenda Booster Pros front and back, which performed great in Utah’s mixture of chunk and moon dust terrains.

As an added bonus, the rims come pre-tapped for easy tubeless conversion. Just remove the included tubes, add sealant, and tubeless valves. Valves are not included, but Prevelo does offer a tubeless setup kit that comes with sealant and your choice of colored valves.

Pedals

The stock pedals on the Zulu are sturdy plastic with decent plastic cleat. The pedals work great for getting started, but we highly recommend for more aggressive riders to upgrade to pedals with metal pins.

While Prevelo does offer their top-notch metal HEIR pedals with rounded metal pins for $95, be aware that they are actually smaller than the stock pedals provided, and may be too small of a platform for some kids on the Zulu Five. The face of the stock pedal is 100mm long x 100mm wide while the HEIR pedal is 100mm long and only 74 mm wide.

Prevelo Zulu Five Comparison Chart

Throughout this review, we’ve compared the Zulu Five to the Woom OFF AIR, highlighting the key differences between these two bikes. To provide a more complete picture, we’ve also included the 27.5″ Pello Roovi in the comparison chart below, as it’s another kid-specific bike designed for riders transitioning from a 24″ model.

After testing all three, we found the Zulu to be the best choice for more aggressive riders, thanks to its slacker head tube angle, greater fork travel, and lower climbing gear. But as mention previously, these bikes are different sizes, so be sure to take that into consideration.

	Prevelo Zulu	woom OFF AIR 6	Pello Roovi
MSRP	$1,399	$1,299	$1,008**
Seat Height	27″ – 34.5″	30.7″ – 38.2″	28″ – 37.25″
Weight	23.3 lb.*	25.2 lb.	27.1 lb.**
# Gears	10	9	9
Cassette	11 – 48	11 – 36	11 – 36
Gain Ratio	1.27 – 5.53	1.71 – 5.6	1.9 to 6.3
Drivetrain	Microshift Advent X	SRAM X5	Shimano Altus
Air Fork	RST F1RST 100mm	woom 90mm	RST F1RST 100 mm
Brakes	Tektro, 160mm rotors	Promax, 160mm rotors	Tektro, 160mm rotors
Tubeless Ready?	Yes	Compatible	Yes
Dropper Compatible?	Yes	Yes	No
Head Tube Angle	66º	69º	67º
Seat Tube Angle	74º	71º	74º
Handlebar	680 mm wide, 20 mm rise	665 mm wide, 20 mm rise	680 mm wide, 20 mm rise
Wheelbase	1,061 mm	1,060 mm	1,066 mm

Prevelo Zulu Five Bottom Line

The perfect pony for young aggressive groms, the 26″ Prevelo Zulu Five is the perfect mix of playfulness and technical ability. Its Goldilocks combination of lightweight, large gear range, slack head tube, and narrow q-factor make it the perfect bike for intermediate to advanced single-track warriors.

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