Some of the most important parts of a Prevelo are ones you'll never see.
Take the bearings, the steel balls that let the wheels spin. Many kids' bikes use loose-ball, cup-and-cone bearings because they cost less. Every Prevelo hub uses sealed cartridge bearings instead.
We don't do it because it looks good in a product photo. To show you the difference below, we had to take the hubs apart, and you can see it doesn't make for a great product photo. A detail like this is hard to sell. We do it anyway, because it's the right way to build a bike.
What's the difference?
In a cup-and-cone hub, loose steel balls sit in grease between a cup in the hub and a cone threaded onto the axle. The cone is adjusted by hand: too tight and the wheel drags, too loose and it wobbles. There's no real seal, so water and grit can work their way in.
A sealed cartridge bearing is a self-contained unit. The balls, the inner and outer races and the grease are packed inside a steel housing with rubber seals on both sides, and the whole cartridge presses into the hub as one precise part. There's nothing to adjust.
Performance that lasts
Your kid will feel the difference: wheels that spin freely and coast a little farther. And the longer they ride, the bigger the gap gets.
Loose-ball bearings sit open to the world. Every puddle, sandbox and dusty trail works water and grit into the grease, and the wheels get a little rougher and slower every month. Sealed bearings keep that out, so they stay smoother for far longer and need much less attention.
Alpha Two rear hub: 110mm, 16-hole aluminum shell, sealed cartridge bearings, hex-key axle bolts.
Why it matters more for kids
A child produces a fraction of an adult's pedaling power. Friction an adult would never notice takes a real bite out of a kid's effort. That can be the difference between "one more lap" and "can we go home?"
Kids also won't tell you a hub feels gritty. They don't notice it. They just know riding got harder. So we build bearings that don't need watching: sealed, durable and long-lasting, so neither you nor your kid has to keep an eye on them.
Where you'll find them
- Hubs: sealed cartridge bearings front and rear, from the 12" Alpha Zero balance bike up.
- Headset: an integrated sealed cartridge headset, so steering stays smooth and tight.
- Bottom bracket: sealed cartridge bearings keep every pedal stroke smooth and shut out the dirt and water that wear open bearings down.
Alpha One: 85mm HEIR crank on a 68x113 hollow square-taper bottom bracket with sealed cartridge bearings.
Built for the trail, too
The trail is where sealed bearings really earn their keep. Mud, dust, creek crossings: the seals keep the worst of it out, so the wheels keep rolling smooth ride after ride, and your kid's energy goes into the climb instead of into gritty hubs.
Sealed cartridge bearings, high-engagement hubs, wide-range gearing: they're all little details we sweat. None of them jump off a showroom floor and shout "buy me." They show up where it counts: on the trail, under your kid.
We don't expect you to ever look at a bearing.
You'll never see it. Your kid will feel it.
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