Christmas is coming, 24" bikes

97th choice
97th choice Posts: 2,222
edited November 2012 in MTB buying advice
Son has a 20" hotrock at present, looking to upgrade and so far options are as follows:

Specialized Hotrock XC

Specialized Hotrock

Giant XTC Jr

Carrera Blast

Leaning towards the giant, for no particular reason other than it's the same make as mine...
Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

Giant Trance
Radon ZR 27.5 Race
Btwin Alur700
Merida CX500

Comments

  • spongtastic
    spongtastic Posts: 2,651
    Carrera Blast.

    But buy a used one from ebay for about £100 and let him spend money at Superstar on his own choice of grips & pedals
    Visit Clacton during the School holidays - it's like a never ending freak show.

    Who are you calling inbred?
  • cat_with_no_tail
    cat_with_no_tail Posts: 12,981
    The Giant looks to be about the worst one there imho.
    Quill stem ffs, just put no effort into that whatsoever.

    The hotrock XC looks alright, bet that's probably the best weight.

    My money would be on the carrera though. Looks pretty sorted for a kids bike, and a decent price too.

    There is also a Cube:
    http://www.escapebikeshop.com/cube-team ... -bike.html

    and a ghost (which I also quite like):
    http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=81692

    What I don't understand though is how kids bikes end up so heavy. I mean, that Cube is 28lb. How? Do they make them from pig iron or something? Surely they should be concentrating on making these kids bikes as light as they can for the money.
    "Avan-TT"
    F*cking Fast 29er
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  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    Cat With No Tail wrote:
    The Giant looks to be about the worst one there imho.
    Quill stem ffs, just put no effort into that whatsoever.

    Didn't even notice that. :oops:
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

    Giant Trance
    Radon ZR 27.5 Race
    Btwin Alur700
    Merida CX500
  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    spongtastic wrote:
    Carrera Blast.

    But buy a used one from ebay for about £100 and let him spend money at Superstar on his own choice of grips & pedals

    Any thoughts on the clarks mechanical discs.....

    Also, I've never liked the twist shift gears, but with the carrera I could swap to X3 shifters?
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

    Giant Trance
    Radon ZR 27.5 Race
    Btwin Alur700
    Merida CX500
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    97th choice wrote:
    Also, I've never liked the twist shift gears, but with the carrera I could swap to X3 shifters?
    You're not riding it he is. I used to love mine, and for kids they're probably easier.
    I don't do smileys.

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  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    Rephrase, he's never liked them on his hotrock.
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

    Giant Trance
    Radon ZR 27.5 Race
    Btwin Alur700
    Merida CX500
  • spongtastic
    spongtastic Posts: 2,651
    97th choice wrote:
    Rephrase, he's never liked them on his hotrock.

    Change them for some X3s if he doesn't get on with them, but mine find twisters easier than thumb shifts.

    The clarks are OK, just need more care than hydros same as any mechanical disc.
    Visit Clacton during the School holidays - it's like a never ending freak show.

    Who are you calling inbred?
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    The Blasts are a good little bike, a local lad uses one (despite being about 16 and 5'10"!) and loves it, never had any problems with it.

    Would be able to change the twisters for anything X numbered (I'd get used, they are pretty reliable) and some decent grips.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    The Blast
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • cat_with_no_tail
    cat_with_no_tail Posts: 12,981
    I think the point of the gripshifters is that they're much easier for those with smaller thumbs (remember, the kid is probably only about 8) to save them having to put their wrists in an awkward position to shift up/down.

    As said, it should be easy enough to swap them out if required, but I'd be tempted to leave them on, especially if the bike is something for the lad to "grow into".
    "Avan-TT"
    F*cking Fast 29er
    Rapid Rose Roady
    Bionicon Beast
    Rockhopper Communter
  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    Good point, Just popped into the local H to check out a Blast, seems well specified, but flippin heavy.

    That said his 20" bike is heavy enough.
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

    Giant Trance
    Radon ZR 27.5 Race
    Btwin Alur700
    Merida CX500
  • spongtastic
    spongtastic Posts: 2,651
    97th choice wrote:
    Good point, Just popped into the local H to check out a Blast, seems well specified, but flippin heavy.

    That said his 20" bike is heavy enough.

    Keeps them fit. It's still pretty much the same weight as more expensive bikes.
    Visit Clacton during the School holidays - it's like a never ending freak show.

    Who are you calling inbred?
  • antonyfromoz
    antonyfromoz Posts: 482
    I just bought a second hand Mongoose Rockadile for my son but I was looking at the Trek range too - the MT240 looked alright at first glance and has pretty good reviews on the net. I know what you mean about the weight though - apparently Trek also make a 24" bike for kids that has no front suspension, which seems to be one of the major sources of weight, so that might be an idea. The US link is http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/collecti ... ds_fx_boys . No idea what they weigh though...
  • cat_with_no_tail
    cat_with_no_tail Posts: 12,981
    That trek looks even worse than the Giant.

    Hi-ten steel fork, horrible cheap componentry, and FFS, another manufacturer speccing £300+ bikes with farking quill stems.

    I like the idea of this "dialled" stuff, like changing saddle size, crank length, pedal size etc for the individual little shredder riding it. But knowing how fast kids grow at this age, if you do that, it'll be too small for them within about a month.

    Just seems to me like a lot of these manufacturers use these kids bikes as a dumping ground for their old, heavy, outdated shlt that they can't flog on even the lowest end adult bikes.

    For £300+ I just expect better. I'd expect it on an adult bike too.
    "Avan-TT"
    F*cking Fast 29er
    Rapid Rose Roady
    Bionicon Beast
    Rockhopper Communter
  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    Just snagged a blast on gum tree for 50 quid, result.

    Cheers for the advice.
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

    Giant Trance
    Radon ZR 27.5 Race
    Btwin Alur700
    Merida CX500
  • spongtastic
    spongtastic Posts: 2,651
    If it needs new tyres, these are the best I could find for the price, although it's gone up a bit.

    http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k645/a ... -wire.html
    Visit Clacton during the School holidays - it's like a never ending freak show.

    Who are you calling inbred?
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Very good result, that saving should go a long way to sorting any little issues and updating it....

    As for weight, other than a small saving on the frame, and small savings (compared to similar cheap 26ers) on rims tyres and forks, the rest will all weigh the same, so I'd expect a blast to be about 1lb lighter than a similar specced older Vulcan at most.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    Cheers, it needs new tyres, the front wheel needs trued and the headset and BB need adjustment, as does the indexing. But that's about all I could see wrong with it. The clarks brakes were all over the place but 10mins adjustment sorted that.
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

    Giant Trance
    Radon ZR 27.5 Race
    Btwin Alur700
    Merida CX500
  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    Any recommendations for a better fork, or just stick with it until he is big enough for a 26"?
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

    Giant Trance
    Radon ZR 27.5 Race
    Btwin Alur700
    Merida CX500
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Strip, clean, lube (thick grease) and rebuild....you'll almost certainly see a great improvement.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    Done that, it came as a bit of a shock to find that it is only held together by one footnut....

    Noticed that there is a rubber spacer that restricts travel to 50mm, removed it and now have 80mm travel and it seems less stiffness in the fork. Any reason why I shouldn't have done this?
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

    Giant Trance
    Radon ZR 27.5 Race
    Btwin Alur700
    Merida CX500
  • floosy
    floosy Posts: 270
    I would always suggest Isla Bikes... but its too lat now :(
  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    I'm so sorry.
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

    Giant Trance
    Radon ZR 27.5 Race
    Btwin Alur700
    Merida CX500
  • chrisw333
    chrisw333 Posts: 695
    I know op is sorted, but for others with similar requirement, the Felt Q24 has just come on offer at Wiggle?

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-q24-2012/
  • jairaj
    jairaj Posts: 3,009
    97th choice wrote:
    Done that, it came as a bit of a shock to find that it is only held together by one footnut....

    Noticed that there is a rubber spacer that restricts travel to 50mm, removed it and now have 80mm travel and it seems less stiffness in the fork. Any reason why I shouldn't have done this?

    did it change the fork length? if so you might have changed the geometry on the bike?

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