Wow! Kids got skills.
Kids DH bike
- Thread starter Kntr
- Start date
What bike is this and can you go into detail how you altered the fork? I'm VERY small and thought about changing my 24" cruiser to a soft fork but was told I cant. I just cant spend a ton on a new bike. So I jump with a cruiser.
that's because kona doesn't make a 20" FS rig.
i've been wanting to build up a FS rig for my boy as well but it's very difficult to do around a 20" platform. i've see one of the bikes master of groms has produced (?) at snowshoe and massanutten. it's built around a scott spark jr 20.
http://scottusa.com/us_en/product/1675/11748/spark_jr_20
as far as forks go, you could dramatically improve your daughter's bike with a better fork. the stock 20" forks are crap. i've modded two manitou forks for noah and they've worked very well for everything from freeride/dj's/light DH. a full size fork will mess with the geo a bit but the added plushness is worth it.
his current fork is a manitou minute spv; i had to cut springs, drop the oil weight down to 2wt for the spv to work but this fork is buttah! feels like a kids monster T
i think i'm gonna hold off on building up the 20" FS rig because he should be able to fit on a 24" bike before too long.
i also run a magura hydro rim brake on the rear. it's lighter than disc and most 20" frames don't have disc tabs anyway.
if you're looking to do anything other than XC or DJ's, a v-brake IS NOT strong enough for little hands. the amount of leverage required for them to work well is nearly impossible for a small kid to create. on long rides where there is a lot of braking, a v-brake will make your kid's hands miserable.
the bike is a 20" specialized hot rock that i painted this winter to match his bmx mini.
as far as the fork mod: it's a manitou minute spv. it came with a spring in each leg, so i removed one of the springs to 1/2 the force needed to compress it. it was 130mm travel but that would rake the bike out too much so i cut the spring down a bit and then threw in a 1 inch section of 1/2" pvc on the underside of the spring which effectively lowered the fork down to sub 100mm. (it's kind of hard to explain this, much easier to just take the fork apart and look at it)
anyway, see if you can find an old beater fork and experiment with it.
commencal makes a mini dh with 24" wheels.
Been following this thread and yesterday there were 2 groms learning to jump and do wood structures. Both were riding hardtails, with POS forks and had no trouble due to suspension.
And my little one having fun on his Bullit, finally moved him up to 26" wheels and the difference is huge.
And my little one having fun on his Bullit, finally moved him up to 26" wheels and the difference is huge.
Quoted 'cos I think this is possibly the coolest pic I've ever seen
mad props to the young'un
Been following this thread and yesterday there were 2 groms learning to jump and do wood structures. Both were riding hardtails, with POS forks and had no trouble due to suspension.
Sweet, but my daughter is 6yo and DJs are a long ways off. DH and AM riding is what she is into. She needs a 20" wheeled bike and 24"s are way too big. The kid in the pic above is on the same bike as she rides now.
Last edited:
The suspension on that bike is just for looks, it's like riding rigid.
Try manimal's fork mod, don't recall anything DH worthy at a manageable price on 20" or even 24".
if you find a fork you want to mod pm me and i'll walk you through it in depth.
Will, pls check Your e-mail and/or PM and write me back.
It's pity how heavy and poorly made majority of kids bike is.
I don't talk about Scott, Spec, Trek or Giant kids replicas...
I can't imagine how does the kid enjoy riding 15kg "full suspension" bike? Forks have such firm spring, that sometime adult can't compress them :O Rear suspension has play our of box and rebounds like a kangaroo
It's pity how heavy and poorly made majority of kids bike is.
I don't talk about Scott, Spec, Trek or Giant kids replicas...
I can't imagine how does the kid enjoy riding 15kg "full suspension" bike? Forks have such firm spring, that sometime adult can't compress them :O Rear suspension has play our of box and rebounds like a kangaroo
see if you can find an old xc fork, it doesn't really which brand as they all can be modified. something with spv or an air assist is helpful to dial in the fork to the lighter weight of a kid. a full on dj or freeride fork is overkill for a 40-70lb kid and the extra weight is counterproductive.
i'd personally like to find an old SID and mess with it because it's just so much lighter than what he's got now. that minute is a beast...i think his bike weighs 25lbs complete.
My son is 8 I put him on a xxs giant boulder se with 26 inch wheels. It's just a little big for dirtjumping , but does great on the trail. I'll post some pics when I can get my wifes camera. I'm planning on switching to a 24 rear wheel and putting a 4 inch travel air fork on it next month to make it easier to jump. http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/mountain/2281/32126/
wow...you must have a normal sized 8 yr old. noah is 9 and the size of a 6 yr old. just had his dr. checkup and he came in at the 5th percentile for height
it'll be years before he can fit on a 26.
I fear this is a topic I will be looking into soon...our daughter is living the life of hearing "maybe you will be world champ like your mom" ugh...
We didnt want to get her on BMX so soon, but after watching her cousin race, she wanted to try it. I think there is some custom INTENSE girls DH bike in her future.
3 1/2 yr old, the goose in action, with her mom;
We didnt want to get her on BMX so soon, but after watching her cousin race, she wanted to try it. I think there is some custom INTENSE girls DH bike in her future.
3 1/2 yr old, the goose in action, with her mom;
Stiks i'm jealous my son is almost 3.5 and like Noah he is pretty short, yesterday was the first day really on a bike for him (12" same as Noah's original) and it only took about 20 minutes to get pedaling down...i was hoping to have him on a bike with no trainers by now similar to your daughter!!
as for frames, a CAD drawing and some contacts in South America might prove fruitful judging by the nice custom Dh frames coming out
as for frames, a CAD drawing and some contacts in South America might prove fruitful judging by the nice custom Dh frames coming out
We are good friends with the Steber family and as soon as Jeff and Jenn's kid starts riding a lot (and Jeff ever finds freetime) there might be 2 little prototypes coming soon hahaha.
Kids are funny like that. Our daughter has seen bikes, bike pictures, all our friends on bikes, shes been to races, etc...since she was born. But never showed any interest in riding a bike. We got her one of those 'skuut' bikes 2 yrs ago, but she never rode it, never rode her tricycle, just wasn't having it.
Then this past christmas, she got a new bike from a cousin, rode it a little, then couple months ago she asked to take the training wheels off and has been hooked ever since. Begged us to ride at BMX track and now wants to ride with 'mommy and daddy' at whistler (we have gone every summer since she was a baby)......might have to get an alley cat or something for whistler XC trails, dont think she could ride any bike on those loops yet.
fun stuff, cool thread.
Lucky 13 bikes http://www.lucky13bikes.com/home will build custom bike frames for not too bad of prices. I'm not sure about a FS but it could hurt to ask him. Reggie the owner/builder is a great guy if he can't build one then I'm sure he could point you in the dirrection of someone that could.
As far as kids riding bikes that are a little too big for them I think it may be better in the long run. I can remember when my brother started out mtn biking when he was about 10. He had a bike that was too big but it taught him to handle a bigger bike early . So when he actually fit the bike he already knew how to handle it. My brother by the time he was 16 was beating most the times of the expert/semi-pro men in DS/DH.
As far as kids riding bikes that are a little too big for them I think it may be better in the long run. I can remember when my brother started out mtn biking when he was about 10. He had a bike that was too big but it taught him to handle a bigger bike early . So when he actually fit the bike he already knew how to handle it. My brother by the time he was 16 was beating most the times of the expert/semi-pro men in DS/DH.
Attachments
Last edited:
Guys, I have been through this... it is great the kids riding with you and so much fun especially when the get stoked on doing new stuff.
We moved to the French Alps when my daughter was 8 and my youngest son 4... it was tough for them to go riding with everything so 'extreme' on the DH side. After riding for 2 years we sorted my daughter a small Intense 6.6 frame... we built it up with 24" wheels and an old set of 6" Manitou's and a set of 155 cranks... that bike was awesome... it still is (although original was stolen). My youngest son who is almost 10 now and is in his second year of riding that bike.
It really helps that my daughter is now supported by so many great companies - after each year she hands down her parts... my youngest son gets some funny looks riding a baby blue and pink bike!
We moved to the French Alps when my daughter was 8 and my youngest son 4... it was tough for them to go riding with everything so 'extreme' on the DH side. After riding for 2 years we sorted my daughter a small Intense 6.6 frame... we built it up with 24" wheels and an old set of 6" Manitou's and a set of 155 cranks... that bike was awesome... it still is (although original was stolen). My youngest son who is almost 10 now and is in his second year of riding that bike.
It really helps that my daughter is now supported by so many great companies - after each year she hands down her parts... my youngest son gets some funny looks riding a baby blue and pink bike!
Last edited:
ah come on... repaint it withsome spraypaint cant have that
:biggrin:haha - we can't it's still her bike!!! Besides you have to be good to ride pink if your a boy!! I think he's doing okay... Tahnée & Kaos Les Gets, June 09 on Vimeoah come on... repaint it withsome spraypaint cant have that
Tiny people that shred rule!
My shop sold scott for one season then dropped them because they were out of bikes 3 months into the year. They are such a turd of a company. (at least Scott USA that is.)
I did build up a couple of those FS 20" kids bikes though, they were pretty cool.
Which one did you want? Did you want frame only or a complete. I am not in the US but I can see what there is over here.
We sold out of all the Scotts last year and kissed them goodbye. It's a shame that a company with such nice bikes is so poorly run.
Not to derail, But.....
Seriously, I like that design, I really like how the chain is run. I would like to see that design in a full size.
+1 My daughter is small for her age, and bike weight is gonna be #1 concern for me. I'm thinking bmx mini to start out with, but that converted sc shiver to dc does look pretty hawt.Will, pls check Your e-mail and/or PM and write me back.
It's pity how heavy and poorly made majority of kids bike is.
I don't talk about Scott, Spec, Trek or Giant kids replicas...
I can't imagine how does the kid enjoy riding 15kg "full suspension" bike? Forks have such firm spring, that sometime adult can't compress them :O Rear suspension has play our of box and rebounds like a kangaroo
your kid probably doesnt need a fully just yet me thinks... get them a solid 20" hardtail, more bang for buck, and less disappointment when the bike sees city streets more than dirt trails.
The Specialized Hemi Jr. would make a great kids bike IMO. We have a few at the shop we got on closeout, so they're really affordable and super light. If I had a kid, that's what I'd get them started on. Unfortunately they don't make them anymore.
Last edited:
Did you even look at the pics I posted? She rides single trac already on a full ridged. She has a hard time in the rough stuff. She wants and needs a fully.
Hey Kanter, you want a Spark 20"? I will have a look. Is a frame only ok?