[OB1]

I'm posting this in here because XC guys know the ins and outs of weight savings. My little boys bike weighs more than half his body weight. So I need to lighten the load. He's running a Specialized Big Hit Grom. I believe more XC weight parts would be a great match for a tiny guy riding DH. Except for maybe needing a wider rim. Any thoughts or suggestions? Here's a lil clip of him riding last weekend. You can see how small he is. Under 10, and under 60 lbs.

 

[kidwoo]

Look for some kids cruiser bmx rims and tires. Most of the mtb stuff is josh bender holdover technology (IE weighs a ton).

You can definitely find some cheap and light mtb hubs from sram or shimano to build them up.

Pinner butted spokes and alloy nipples too.

 

[DaveW]

So you want lightweight wheels for a kid who is doing lots of large jumps and seems to be crashing a lot?

Awesome, have fun replacing them every other week.......


For customers at my shop that have been after light 24" wheels we tended to build up wheels with either Stans hubs or Hope Evo 2's with the smallest rotors we can get to work with their brakes, for the rims the ones that came on the Merida Dakar 624 team turned out to be pretty damn good when it came to weight/strength but I don't know if they will take the abuse your kids dishing out longer term.....

 

[OB1]

So you want lightweight wheels for a kid who is doing lots of large jumps and seems to be crashing a lot?

Awesome, have fun replacing them every other week.......


For customers at my shop that have been after light 24" wheels we tended to build up wheels with either Stans hubs or Hope Evo 2's with the smallest rotors we can get to work with their brakes, for the rims the ones that came on the Merida Dakar 624 team turned out to be pretty damn good when it came to weight/strength but I don't know if they will take the abuse your kids dishing out longer term.....

I'm not sure how much "abuse" a 60 lb kid is capable of putting on wheels. He has never bent a rim or broken a spoke. His rear wheel actually weights DOUBLE what mine does. And I'm a 200 lb downhiller. I think that's non-sense personally. It's like they make kids wheels out of tank parts.lol So I did find 24" ZTR Crest rims in 24h, 28h, and 32h. I guess I just need something like an XT rear and some spokes. I'm glad Stans sees the market for quality kids 24" rims. Some butted spokes like kidwoo said, and should be golden!

 

[kidwoo]

I'm telln ya.........check weights on cruiser rims.


Lots of kids race bmx. It's a much bigger market than 24" mtb rims.

 

[OB1]

I'm telln ya.........check weights on cruiser rims.


Lots of kids race bmx. It's a much bigger market than 24" mtb rims.

As a bmx racer myself, danscomp is the first place I checked for him. But they don't seem to have anything less than 36 spoke in 507 dia rims....unless you want to go super narrow. And that won't work well with 2.0+ mtb tires. So I went back to mtb. Do you have a 507 bmx rim suggestion in mind??

 

[kidwoo]

I don't without looking. I've been out of the game for a while but I know I had a few mini cruisers when I was a wee lad that weighed nothing. But you know the market for light 24s exists in the bmx world.......not so much in the mtb one. I haven't looked in the context of 2.0 tires either to be fair. Although at 60lbs I'm not sure you need tires that big. Some old school comp3s work fine in mixed dirt.

What's the weight on those stans rims?

edit: actually those stans rims look pretty good. 310 grams a rim.

these are 356 grams a pop and are the lightest listed on dans comp.

http://www.danscomp.com/products-PARTS/424001/BOX_Focus_24_Cruiser_Front_Rim.html


Nevermind


Okay how about this.......bmx shlt is cheaper

 

[TreeSaw]

We're starting to look for some too. My 8 year old daughter is going to be moving up to my Orbea D'Ella and isn't quite tall enough for 26" wheels yet but by the fall/next summer she's going to be ready to step up from her 20". Keep the suggestions coming!

 

[SkaredShtles]

That weight builds character.

Besides - he'll be on that 24" bike for two years tops.

Just let him ride that $hit and CTFD.

 

[HardtailHack]

Arrow do some XC rims in 24", come in at 450gr and will do custom drilling.

http://www.arrowracing.com/home.html

There's also some crazy light BMX cranks out there for kids too, a dude in Oz called Johnny Chopper whips up some nice light ones but still need a bolt on ring.