2025 Giant Faith 24 Bike

Parents of current and future mini mountain bikers are in a great place right now. The number of high-quality, youth-sized full-suspension mountain bikes is growing faster than the feet of the kids who pedal them. Earlier this year, Giant threw their hat into the ring with two Faith models equipped with either dual 24-inch wheels (tested) or a 27.5/26-inch mixed wheel configuration. Not only are the frame and wheel sizes fit for pint-sized punting, but suspension kinematics have been developed with lightweight riders in mind. They feature a new short-travel, adjustable dropper post and even wheelsets that are tuned for developing young rippers. Our 9-year-old in-house tester has been lapping the bike parks, trails and sketchy, home-made plywood-and-2x4 ramps with the Faith 24 all summer, and we're here to report on the experience.

Giant Faith 24 Highlights

• Aluxx SL Alloy frame with 130mm travel, Flexpoint platform
• Crest TR Elite Lite fork with FloTune Lite Damper, 140mm travel
• Microshift Advent X 10-seed drivetrain
• 140mm crank arm length
• Giant TRA WheelSystem
• PressFit bottom bracket
• Contact Switch AT Lite dropper post with 100mm, adjustable
• Maxxis Minion DHF/DHR II tubeless tire combo
• Giant 1x chainguide
• One size, recommended for riders 4'3" to 4'11" (130 to 150cm)
• Price: $2,500
• Weight as tested: 27.9 pounds (12.65kg) with included pedals

First Impressions

As we we opened the box and assembled the Faith (something you won't have to do because you'll get yours professionally assembled from a Giant dealer), three things hit us — the bike appeared to be well-spec'd, it wasn't a lead weight like many kid MTBs, and any Ridemonkey lurker from the early 2000s who now has groms of their own will likely froth over the raw aluminum finish. The orange ano suspension adjusters were icing on the visual cake of the Faith for the father of the tester. To level it up further, even the Maxxis tires logos are a stealth gray. The tester, however, asked, "why isn't it painted," with a slightly disappointed tone. Our excited response of "so it looks cool, like a prototype" was suspiciously accepted as levers were squeezed, tire pressures were adjusted and suspension sag was set. Call us impressed right away by the ease of setup, component selection and tubeless build.  

Build and Price

The Giant Faith will cause serious sticker shock for the non-riding parent who stumbles into their local Giant dealer looking for a classic holiday gift. Parents who are serious riders, however, will probably be more understanding of the Faith 24's $2,500 price tag as they imagine their youngster floating down A-Line on a family vacation to Whistler. The Aluxx SL frame is refined and svelte, the suspension is custom-tuned and developed for wee ones, the brakes use a 180mm front rotor and 160mm rear rotor, chainstay protection is robust, there's a chainguide and bashguard, the dropper height can be adjusted, the tire choice is proper, and the wheels with their 30mm rims, straight-pull Sapim Laser spokes and 72t boost rear hub. Should we go on? TL;DR - the build is not afterthought. The spec of the Faith 24 is a beacon to attract the serious parental mountain biker who analyzes every detail of a bike.

Build praise aside, let's not forget that this one-size-only bike is likely to fit a young rider for just one season (two, tops) making the $2,500 price tag nothing to take lightly.  If these bikes wouldn't be outgrown, their spec-to-price ratio would be very good, so we'll leave the financial implications and value propositions of the Faith up to you. Now that we have the back-in-my-day-bikes-only-cost-50-cents thing out of the way, we had the Faith built and ready to shred.

Geometry and Weight

Our tester at 4'6" is a shade under the middle of the recommended range for the Faith 24 which caps out at 4'11". There are no adjustments of any kind on the Faith to accommodate growing riders or nerding parents, so all angles, measurements and settings are locked in. Simplicity is a beautiful thing, and as a result the Faith 24 looks just like an adult bike shrunken down in every proportion. Some full-suspension youth mountain bikes out there have an odd look or long wheelbase or something that's not quite proportional to their pocket-sized passengers. The Giant just looks right, but that's at the cost of being adjustment-free. For kids who are a little bigger (4'9" and up) Giant offers a 27.5/26-inch-wheeled Faith for $100 more at $2,600. It is also a one-size model.

With Giant's included Pinner Light pedals, the weight of our Faith 24 was 27.9 pounds (12.65kg). As the Giant just looked right, the weight felt right, too. We realize that building an affordable full-squish bike for young riders is challenging, but when bikes weights surpass 30 pounds, shelling out $2,000 or is equally difficult. It's clear that Giant's Aluxx SL frame, the Crest fork and TRA wheels come together so the Faith 24 can tip the scales respectfully.

On the Trail

The first thing a young rider and their parent will notice about the Faith is buzz of the high-engagement hub on the Giant TRA wheels. Ours was loud and our mini pilot loved it! The neighbors and other trail users looking for a quiet day out may think otherwise.  On our way up the first climb, the 140mm crank length, 30t chainring and 11-48t cassette were well-paired with the 24-inch wheels. Granny gear (is that still acceptable to say these days?) was more than friendly enough for short, steep ascents that pepper the local trails. Our tester's personal bike has a two-year-old Microshift drivetrain which has proven bulletproof. The 10-speed AdventX group was flawless the entire summer, continues shift with a crispness and retains a secure clutch mechanism after plenty of abusive landings.

Giant's Contact Switch AT Lite dropper was easily engaged by our rider's compact clutches. Kids + droppers = curiosity, and we wish we had a seatpost activation counter on our test bike because it has to be pushing tens of billions of activations, if for no other reason than "because it's there." All those cycles later and it functions as new. On the topic of cockpit, the Giant Small Hand grips were soft and sized well for growing mitts. We kept the bars at their stock 680mm width and moved controls inboard a bit, rather than cut them down for this test. Tektro's single-piston brakes with HD-J285 levers are also a strong performer on a bike like this. The lever blades can be adjusted in for easy reach by the tiniest of rider, and their power, especially with Giant's smartly chosen 180mm front rotor, is more than ample. 

Giant's Crest suspension (learn about it in detail here) was originally setup as per the very handy chart on the fork leg which has air pressure suggestions for both fork and shock. It took one ride for our tester to feel that things were too soft. At 63 pounds, he's not a fan of bottoming out and his propensity for plopping and pumping resulted in PSI found in the next range up on their scale. Giant's starting point was great and will likely be comfortable for regular trail riding instead of primarily bike park use. Volume spacers can be added if needed (3 max) as well, but our configuration remained stock.

The Crest TR Elite Lite fork is still running buttery smooth after a summer of drops, jumps and stoppies in our dusty, dry conditions, and the FloTrac Lite shock mirrors the fork's performance with a balanced, hassle-free effort. The fork's FCV (floating compression valve) is more than a novelty and actually provides a usable range of adjustment, not just an open or closed setting. Spun to the middle of the range, an increase in damping reveals itself and fully firm is heavily damped, not locked out. The fork's dial has a nice, stiff rotation to it and even without detents, would retain position throughout a ride. Rebound clicks are obvious and effective. The shock's lever is just a climb swtich to lock out the damper. Similarly to the dropper post, flicking the lock switch to sprint around the neighborhood efficiently or climb to the top of a run was all the rage...until it wasn't. Once our mini-mobber forgot to unlock the shock and nearly had his remaining baby teeth rattled out of his full face. It was turned off and never used again.

When the shock wasn't forgetfully locked out, the Faith's single-pivot, 130mm rear travel did its job well. Rocky, dusty downhills or urban hucks to flat never caused hesitation for our focused flyer. Giant says the design is a flex stay with movement in the seatstay/chainstay junction. That may be true on their adult bikes that use this design, but it seems unlikely there is any significant movement going on under the heft of our 8-gallon pilot. Short of a top-off of air in the tires and running the occasional bolt check (nothing was ever loose), we haven't touched the Faith since assembling it at the beginning of June. 

What's the Bottom Line?

A summer on Giant's light, capable Faith 24 launched our tester into a new realm of riding ability thanks to a thoughtful build and its confidence-inspiring performance. Literally the only, possibly-not-even-real weakness we can report is the use of a PressFit BB and during our 5 months of testing, which included three days in Whistler, it was a non-issue, neary a creak to be heard. The price is the price, and that's something a hard-working grom, parent, fun aunt or uncle, or other family member willing to drop $2,500 on a two-wheeler will have to live with. If the price isn't an obstacle, you'll have a stoked youngster tearing it up on a mountain bike that has no corners cut in its build kit. There will be plenty of performance on tap and durability to spare as they progress and blow your doors off and there's security of Giant's large dealer network to support the bike should the need arise.

Vital MTB Rating - 5 out of 5 stars  

For more information on the Giant Faith, visit giant-bicycle.com.