What re-frame for my 13 year old?
bartimaeus
Posts: 1,812
My 13 year old has been really enjoying his XS Rockhopper, but it won't be too long before it is too small. For the moment a new 400mm seat post should give it a new lease of life, but I'm interested in ideas for a new and bigger 26" wheel frame with the aim of moving as much as possible across, especially the forks.
Existing setup is 2010 XS (13.5" frame) Rockhopper with 100mm Dual-Air Rebas - which replaced the original 80mm Dart 3s. Drivetrain is mostly Deore 3x9 but with XT shifters, and he's got a 55mm stem (I think) with 685mm flat bars. At the moment the riding position looks to be spot on - Alec loves the short/wide cockpit (he' nearly 5'2" so 685 is actually pretty wide) and with the decent 100mm forks the bike feels really planted and not too steep. It's also reasonably light... Just over 27lb as built with 2.4 front and 2.25 rear tyres and Superstar Nano pedals.
So an obvious choice is a bigger Rockhopper (will have to be similar age) either frame or donor bike. But what else is worth looking at? Some of the Cube frames look smart, but I'll need to look at geometry as some look pretty old school and a 15" XC frame will be set for 100mm forks already. Carrera frames (Fury, Kraken) look decent and are not too expensive on eBay but I'm sure there must be a number of 26" wheel frames worth looking for.
Hoping to spend only £100 for the frame... more for a complete bike if we can rebuild that as a 13.5 and sell it on.
Any ideas?
Existing setup is 2010 XS (13.5" frame) Rockhopper with 100mm Dual-Air Rebas - which replaced the original 80mm Dart 3s. Drivetrain is mostly Deore 3x9 but with XT shifters, and he's got a 55mm stem (I think) with 685mm flat bars. At the moment the riding position looks to be spot on - Alec loves the short/wide cockpit (he' nearly 5'2" so 685 is actually pretty wide) and with the decent 100mm forks the bike feels really planted and not too steep. It's also reasonably light... Just over 27lb as built with 2.4 front and 2.25 rear tyres and Superstar Nano pedals.
So an obvious choice is a bigger Rockhopper (will have to be similar age) either frame or donor bike. But what else is worth looking at? Some of the Cube frames look smart, but I'll need to look at geometry as some look pretty old school and a 15" XC frame will be set for 100mm forks already. Carrera frames (Fury, Kraken) look decent and are not too expensive on eBay but I'm sure there must be a number of 26" wheel frames worth looking for.
Hoping to spend only £100 for the frame... more for a complete bike if we can rebuild that as a 13.5 and sell it on.
Any ideas?
Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building
Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building
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Comments
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Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building0 -
The older Carrera frames (27.2mm seatpost) are pretty light, my 16" was just 1735g (link in sig below), the later they get (31.6mm seatpost and then with the stay between top tube and seatpost) the heavier they get. Typically they can be found for circa £35-50. Vulcan, Kraken and Fury are all the same.
Nearly everything you have now will swap over minimising the cost of the change.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.0 -
Here's what it looked like before the bar/stem change... these are 600mm rather than the 685s he has now. The 'wheelie' picture was the only one I had on my iPad when I posted (I wish I could wheelie as well as my lad!).
Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building0
