# Great Kids Hardtail- Ghost Powerkid 24 Disk bike



## mevnet (Oct 4, 2013)

It's been a frustrating few years waiting for my son to grow taller so I could get him a half decent bike. He rode a 20" to the ground, in a bit over a year, and since all components for the smaller bikes are a joke, I found myself fiddling with his bike every week. We do ride trails together and he needs more than a bmx or ss bike.
Looking for 24" bikes was a different story, there are decent bikes out there but some of them quite pricey. The Canadian distributor of Ghost bikes however has this Ghost Powerkid 24 Disk for an aggressive price. I think it is great value, more than decent components. My son loves it, and I get to enjoy biking with him. Getting rid of the twist shifters was his biggest wow moment.

Anyway, I put together a short video in case anyone is interested in the details










And here it is with a new set of Maxxis High Roller tires. Plan to replace the pedals as well.


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## POAH (Apr 29, 2009)

those tyres are pretty heavy for a kid to cycle with - must be pretty wide rims on a kids bike to take 2.5 inch tyres?


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## mevnet (Oct 4, 2013)

Been using Holy Rollers for a couple of years now on his bikes. Last for ever, fairly low rolling resistance and the profile is nice and round, great grip on sidewalk, park and bmx park as well as hard pack on trails. Previous ones were 20" 2.2s and they looked just normal. Could not find 2.2s in 24" and I went for 2.4s. They are BIG but only 50 grams heavier than the no name 1.95s that bike came with. Rims are nothing special, Alex rims.
Running 28psi and they provide the needed cushion on the back.


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## mevnet (Oct 4, 2013)

A few riders on the bike and my son is flying! Bigger wheels, lighter bike, easy to use shifters and one finger braking is giving him the confidence to ride pretty much all the sections of the trails that he was afraid of before. What a difference going from 20 to 24" wheels


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

mevnet said:


> Been using Holy Rollers for a couple of years now on his bikes. Last for ever, fairly low rolling resistance and the profile is nice and round, great grip on sidewalk, park and bmx park as well as hard pack on trails. Previous ones were 20" 2.2s and they looked just normal. Could not find 2.2s in 24" and I went for 2.4s. They are BIG but only 50 grams heavier than the no name 1.95s that bike came with. Rims are nothing special, Alex rims.
> Running 28psi and they provide the needed cushion on the back.


May only be 50grams heavier than the no names, but I would wager at least 1lb or more heavier than some Schwalbe tires


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## mevnet (Oct 4, 2013)

good point, I did look at the Schwalbe Table Top Sport MTB as an alternative but they seem to be as heavy or slightly lighter, and reviews talk about being prone to flats. This bike usually sees a lot of banging around and doing flats in the middle of the track is not what I am looking forward to. So I went (again) for the Maxxis


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## GSJ1973 (May 8, 2011)

mevnet said:


> good point, I did look at the Schwalbe Table Top Sport MTB as an alternative but they seem to be as heavy or slightly lighter, and reviews talk about being prone to flats. This bike usually sees a lot of banging around and doing flats in the middle of the track is not what I am looking forward to. So I went (again) for the Maxxis


Schwalbe Rocket Ron = 455 grams

Kenda Small Block 8 =430 grams

The Small Block 8 is a down right scary tire though, period. Especially for the front. Might work in areas with more moisture content in the ground. The extra 20-25 grams of tread on the Rocket Ron makes it a much better kids tire, IMHO.

Those Maxxis tires are 800 grams each as I recall. If your rides have you climbing at all, the 700-800 grams of rotational weight saving for a kid is pretty huge.


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## mevnet (Oct 4, 2013)

Thanks, I will do a bit of research based on that. I usually buy from CRC and the feedback on the Rons is nowhere close to good, nor they have the 24" tires.
I weighed the Maxxis and they come to about 630 grams per tire which is slighly more than my 26". I would have loved to have the 2.2s which would probably be another 50 grams lighter but CRC did not have those in stock. And I definitely agree that that saving that 200g rotational weight can make quite a difference. 
Who says that I am done buying parts for our bikes?


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## GrayJay (May 16, 2011)

My daughters bike is working great with 24" Rocket Rons. She has not had a single flat on them in 6-months of riding and the light-weight and supple casing make for great riding. 
We ordered them direct from Schwalbe 
Rocket Ron HS 406 | Schwalbe North America
(out of stock now for several months) but perhaps you can find a pair from another distributor. Listed weight is 445gr each, actual weight for those I got were 440gr so pretty close to the kendas. Only complaint I have with them is that they dont mount on the rim particularly straight, there is usually a lump in the tire that I cannot adjust out with careful mounting. Not an issue for dirt riding but it becomes a bit noticeable when riding fast on smo pavement.


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## POAH (Apr 29, 2009)

I've noticed that as well - no amount of faffing can get it straight.


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## mevnet (Oct 4, 2013)

Great feedback thanks. Looked for the Rocket Rons and they do not seem to be in stock. I will keep an eye on them


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## mevnet (Oct 4, 2013)

One thing that I noticed is that when in the lowest gear (granny+biggest cog) the chain touches the rear tire. Not enough to cause any trouble. Great volume on the 2.4 tire though, I kept lowering the pressure and I found that 26psi seems to be the good compromise between grip and drag. 
However I still believe that maxis holy rollers 2.2s would have been good enough for this 24" bike.


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