# Giant xtc jr 20



## aarontriton (Apr 4, 2009)

I just ordered a giant xtc jr 20 for my 5 yr old . does any one know the weight of this bike. I am hoping it shed some wieght by not having a suspension fork up front.


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

aarontriton said:


> I just ordered a giant xtc jr 20 for my 5 yr old . does any one know the weight of this bike. I am hoping it shed some wieght by not having a suspension fork up front.


22 lb Better then pretty much anything else (24 to 30 lb - weighted everything in a couple shops)

Seat and seatpost is 650g alone.

My goal is to get it down to 20lb - so that it weights as much as my race bike. f course one is for a 40lb girl, and another for a 200lb man.

Nice bike. Grown up parts sizing, so easy to service..


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## aarontriton (Apr 4, 2009)

thanks for the reply , but i ended up getting my son a Gary fisher precaliber. The Giant xtc jr was on back order and I was to anxius to wait . but my son just loves his fisher and he got used to the shifting in one day and know had a lot more confidence on the trails


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

My daughter is barely big enough to get on it now - so I am researching how to get a lighter wheelset, preferably with 8/9sp rear hub, so that I can use a light road derailleur. As I will reuse this bike for my son as well, seems unfair that I spend a mere fraction of what I spend on my bikes that I end up using for less time.


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

First round of upgrades done.

Got Race face 70mm stem (130g) to replace stock (180g), and put some Bontrager Crowbar riser bars, cut up down to around 560mm (230g cut vs ~320g stock). I got some used flat Easton (110g) that I will use once I upgrade the twist shifter to one without a pinch bolt (MRX bolt scars carbon bars)

Replaced stock crankset with Sinz 135mm square taper, 36t 110 bcd ring, BBG superlight drilled bashguard and some Token alloy bolts. Not much savings in weight there, but better length (140mm stock). Stock BB was 118mm, ~320g, replaced with Sinz expert 113mm, about 100g down.

Temporarily put on some XTR 970 rear derailleur, to replace Tourney (dang, it was heavy). Not for the long term.

Ordered Dahon Kinetix Comp rear wheel. Now need to decide on the drivetrain - SRAM twist shifter and SRAM short cage derailler, or SRAM attack and some Shimano road derailler. I will run either XT 11-32, or SLX 11-28 cassette.


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## khaotom (Mar 14, 2011)

I just bought one xtc jr for my 7 year old too. He's about 46" and the bike seat is almost at the lowest setting. I do see his knee come up real close to his chest and cringe at his riding stance. Will i improve things by raising his seat height or changing the crank? My wife is dead against increasing the seat height esp when he rides the single track with me.


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## Axe (Jan 12, 2004)

khaotom said:


> Will i improve things by raising his seat height


Yes. Longer stem can also be useful. My daughter is almost outgrowing this bike.. in a year.. not yet 7. It has a fairly short TT for a 20".



khaotom said:


> My wife is dead against increasing the seat height


 :skep:


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## Cinq (Jan 2, 2003)

Curmy said:


> ...I will run either XT 11-32, or SLX 11-28 cassette.


Have you considered getting a 11-34 cassette? They weigh a bit more but will offer better climbing possibilities. Especially with a one ring front setup, the difference to a grown-up bike with 2 or three front rings is huge. I am upgrading my son's Hot Rock 20 to 9 speed, using SRAM X/9 short cage derailleur and X/9 gripshift. I am still waiting for the parts, the 9-speed cassette I ordered seems to be hard to get...

Kind regards,

Clemens


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

Cinq said:


> Have you considered getting a 11-34 cassette? They weigh a bit more but will offer better climbing possibilities. Especially with a one ring front setup, the difference to a grown-up bike with 2 or three front rings is huge. I am upgrading my son's Hot Rock 20 to 9 speed, using SRAM X/9 short cage derailleur and X/9 gripshift. I am still waiting for the parts, the 9-speed cassette I ordered seems to be hard to get...
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> Clemens


I do not think that gearing limits her climbing. At the lower end it seems it is difficult for her to handle. If she makes it - she makes it in something like 34/28.


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## choyado (Jul 19, 2005)

Just ordered one...how much did it end up weighing after all of the upgrades???


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## choyado (Jul 19, 2005)

How much did it end up weighing after all of the upgrades?


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## maleonardphi (May 19, 2006)

I just picked up a used 2012 XTC JR 20 last night. Pretty good deal, a traveling fellow at Stanford was here from Sweden with her two kids, and it's time to go back home. So the bikes had to go. Missed out on the Scott Spark, but I think he'll be better off with the lighter rigid fork. I've got an older set of Easton Monkeylite XC low rise bars I'm going to cut down for it. Then maybe get some Kenda SB8 1.95 folding tires and some lightweight tubes. Other than that, just take the kickstand off and keep my eye out for a cheap, lightweight seat post.


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## FREDGOAT (Jan 9, 2007)

Check the Mow Joe from Schwalbe ,they are 330g and fairly resistant to skiding and pinch flats so far


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## BobandKaren5771 (Jan 16, 2017)

*Daughters XTC 20*

I bought a 2012 Giant XTC jr Lite Rough and ready as it been owned by two brothers the brakes were shot, etc but the frame was scruffy but no dents So I purchased it for £60 ($80) and stripped it and had the frame powder coated new wheels etc New everything except the rear mech which was off my Rift Zone and original bars 
The main thing she loves it and its been christened on a wet and muddy Boxing Day

I have changed the bars as the originals were flat

She has got the knack of the gears and is building up her speed nicely


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## terrasmak (Jun 14, 2011)

Just got one for my kids, looking at what others have done for mods. Drivetrain is my biggest concern, 1x something will happen with trigger shifter soon


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## maleonardphi (May 19, 2006)

Our XTC JR20 is probably close to 8 years old now, and has been passed on to my nephew. I'm not sure what has changed, but on our bike, the crank arms were really long (155 mm?) for my son at 5(?) years old. I found Sinz BMX cranks in 135 and 145 mm lengths. But they aren't made any more. You can pick them up on ebay if you keep your eyes out. Other than that, old 25.4 carbon bars, carbon seatpost from a friend who worked at Ritchey and had a warranty return post that had broke. We cut it down to 150 mm or so. Then I switched over to a trigger shifter. The grip shifter was garbage. 

Honestly, if I had to do it again today (and I will with our daughter), I wouldn't go the route I did with our son. You can pick up a used Cleary or something similar and have a much better bike, and no need to do all of these modifications to get the final product you're looking for. There are so many great kids bikes available today, there really isn't any point in dumping money in to a sub par bike. If you have the parts laying around though, that's a different story.


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## Axe (Jan 12, 2004)

Which reminds me that I need to sell mine. Sinz 140 cranks, bunch of weight upgrades. Served two kids well. 
Good point that nowadays good kids bikes are available out of the box. But this one was not bad.


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## terrasmak (Jun 14, 2011)

maleonardphi said:


> Our XTC JR20 is probably close to 8 years old now, and has been passed on to my nephew. I'm not sure what has changed, but on our bike, the crank arms were really long (155 mm?) for my son at 5(?) years old. I found Sinz BMX cranks in 135 and 145 mm lengths. But they aren't made any more. You can pick them up on ebay if you keep your eyes out. Other than that, old 25.4 carbon bars, carbon seatpost from a friend who worked at Ritchey and had a warranty return post that had broke. We cut it down to 150 mm or so. Then I switched over to a trigger shifter. The grip shifter was garbage.
> 
> Honestly, if I had to do it again today (and I will with our daughter), I wouldn't go the route I did with our son. You can pick up a used Cleary or something similar and have a much better bike, and no need to do all of these modifications to get the final product you're looking for. There are so many great kids bikes available today, there really isn't any point in dumping money in to a sub par bike. If you have the parts laying around though, that's a different story.


It's a few years old, picked it up for $60 . Figured the money I saved would go toward mods.

The cranks seem to be 142.5 from measuring, ill just grab some Turn 3 140's and play musical parts with the BMX race bikes.


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## maleonardphi (May 19, 2006)

terrasmak said:


> It's a few years old, picked it up for $60 . Figured the money I saved would go toward mods.
> 
> The cranks seem to be 142.5 from measuring, ill just grab some Turn 3 140's and play musical parts with the BMX race bikes.


Perfect. I think I spent $150-$200 6 years ago when I bought ours, then put another $100 or so in to it. I'll get it back from my nephew, and my daughter will use it when the time comes. So it wasn't wasted money.

And you're probably right about crank arm length. Jogging my memory, I think I bought 125 and 135 mm crank arms. I just remember it being a huge jump from his 16" hot rock (92 mm crank arms) to the 20" bike.


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## terrasmak (Jun 14, 2011)

maleonardphi said:


> Perfect. I think I spent $150-$200 6 years ago when I bought ours, then put another $100 or so in to it. I'll get it back from my nephew, and my daughter will use it when the time comes. So it wasn't wasted money.
> 
> And you're probably right about crank arm length. Jogging my memory, I think I bought 125 and 135 mm crank arms. I just remember it being a huge jump from his 16" hot rock (92 mm crank arms) to the 20" bike.


Money won't be wasted, I have a pair of little ones. Right now my 6 year old is riding 140mm cranks on her Free Agent Race Bike, the 5 year is on 130mm cranks on a semi built Redline.

Just looking forward to getting more ride time with the kids. I'm sure MTB riding will make them stronger BMX racers.


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## dantevn (Oct 19, 2020)

BobandKaren5771 said:


> I bought a 2012 Giant XTC jr Lite Rough and ready as it been owned by two brothers the brakes were shot, etc but the frame was scruffy but no dents So I purchased it for £60 ($80) and stripped it and had the frame powder coated new wheels etc New everything except the rear mech which was off my Rift Zone and original bars
> The main thing she loves it and its been christened on a wet and muddy Boxing Day
> 
> I have changed the bars as the originals were flat
> ...


That looks cool! What is the suspension you are using? I want to upgrade my son's XTC Jr to a Front Suspension Fork.
Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!


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