The 18″ Sunday Radocaster is a unique frame and fork set offered by Sunday for the serious up-and-coming shredder. If you are into BMX and an average size 9 – 12 year old, this review is a “must read”.

This is the first year the Radocaster has been offered, so we were very interested to see what it would ride like. It features Sunday’s well thought out proportional frame geometry and slew of other features, such as:

• Full chromoly throughout.
• 8mm hollow dropouts.
• Removable braking hardware.

Sunday build features like:

• A miter cut top tube.
• Reinforcing gusset at the down tube/head tube junction.

The fork:

• One-piece, integrated-ready steerer tube.
• Full-chromoly construction throughout.
• Responsive 25mm fork rake.

At BMX Groms we were stoked to test an 18 inch frame where the company had seriously taken the time to consider every aspect of the frame including the geometry. Young riders are progressing quickly and companies are going to have to put the same amount the thought and design time into smaller frames, as they do into the common “20 inch” frames.

Sunday Radocaster 18 inch BMX frame and fork set as tested by BMX Groms.

Bike Build and Finish

We had no problems building the frame and fork set up, all of our standard 18″ parts fit well. The frame uses a mid-bottom bracket and integrated headset. The finish looks good and the paint lasted well for our entire test which lasted for over a month. The frame comes in blue and the forks in black, unfortunately there are not other colour choices, but this is a higher end product for serious riders so we wouldn’t expect it to come in something like four colour choices.

BMX Groms Test

We choose two rad 11 year old BMX riders put the bike through some serious punishment.

Dorian Giordano, (Instagram: @dorian_bmx), was the smaller of the two riders. He regularly rides a 16″ BMX, so it was going to be interesting to see how he adapted to the larger 18″ Radocaster build. Unfortunately Dorian ended up with an injury just before our bike test, but he was still able to have a good session on the bike at Joyride 150 and give us some feedback. Dorian said the bike felt really good and that it was good for mannies, boxes and bike control and getting some nice height.

Nahum Billington, (Instagram: @chimpbmx), our other test rider usually rides an average geometry 18″ inch BMX. We were very interested to see how he adapted to Sunday’s proportional geometry. The Radocaster was a shorter frame overall, with a shorter rear triangle and a slightly longer top tube length. He adapted to the bike really quickly and on the first day was getting higher hops, better manuals, spins and learnt half cabs. In no time he was blasting 4 foot quarter pipe airs. When it came to hitting really large box jumps it took more of an adjustment, the shorter frame feeling more twitchy. However, at Joyride 150 Nahum found it easier to clear the box jumps on the Radocaster compared to his regular ride.

Nahum cranks an X-Up over a 7ft quarter on board the Sunday Radocaster 18″ BMX Frame.

Here is what Nahum had to say about the Radocaster:

The Sunday Radocaster is a really awesome 18” bike. The Radocaster frame gives the rider a bit more support because it is full chromoly. The shorter rear triangle on the bike lets you pop up unto your manuals easier. You can also  hop higher on the bike. The Sunday was also really good on the box jumps. The frame gives a lot more bike control because it is more twichy. I find on the bike you can spin a lot faster, than the 18” inch frames with long rear triangles. The forks are nice because they are full chromoly tappered forks, which lets you rely on them more. The color blue on the Sunday Radocaster is a good color for the bike. I also like the design of the graphics on it. Overall the Sunday is an awesome bike for riders that want a good bike with the right geometry.

Should you buy the Radocaster?

If you are a rad 18″ BMX rider who really wants to progress you should definitely be taking a serious look at the Radocaster. We feel that for the majority of riders the geometry will help them to progress. We actually watched our test rider Nahum, progress significantly during the month of riding the bike. If you are an insane trails rider who hits pro size transitions you may feel more comfortable on a longer frame, depending on your size.

Priced at under $300 in the USA.

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These kids shredding flat are definitely worth a watch. O yeah, the flatland BMX Ares Bikes look pretty sweet too.

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St. Martin is a flatland BMX company, however this BMX would be perfect for flatland or any other style of BMX as the geometry is not flatland specific. This 14″ bike fills a gap between the 12″ and 16″ sizes. Here at BMX Groms we believe it is important to put kids on the right size of bike in order for them to stay safe and progress. If parents had their kids on a soccer team they wouldn’t buy shoes a couple of sizes too big, so kids could grow into them. Yet many parents buy their kids a 20″ BMX so they can grow into it. The large heavy cumbersome bike slows progression and can cause accidents. The following is the press release from St. Martin:

“Yes, a 14-inch bike, not 12, not 16. The original idea came from Taka at Delirium Distribution, St-Martin distributor in Japan. He realized that there was a big gap between 12″ and 16″ bikes. Some children feel unconfortable on 12″ and 16″ bikes because they are already too tall for a 12″ bike or yet too small for a 16″ bike. We’ve worked 6 months on that 14″ bike project to reach the best balance possible, in order to make kids happy when they ride. The bike uses modern technical solutions such as integrated headset, a headset stem, cassette hub on rear wheel, forged alloy crank, 4 alloy pegs, unidirectional tires and 1-pc seat/seatpost combo.
And it also uses specific solutions for small riders : 1″ headset, 19 mm O.D. handlebar and grips, 24×9 gearing with short crank arms. A too short gear ratio is not good when combined with short crank arms. Rider may loose bike control because body and legs move too fast.

This nice and small bike will be available in Japan in March and in Switzerland and France in April.”

Hit the link for complete specifications: http://www.stmartinbmx.com/products/2014-mini-darwin-bike/

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