# Trek Rosco 24



## JackpineWakesurf (Mar 12, 2019)

My 8 year old daughter is starting her second year on the club mountain bike team. I need to step her up to a 24" wheel bike and the local Trek store offers a discount to club members. Although it's not outfitted as well as I would like, I'm considering the Trek Rosco 24. I would probably go with the Vitus Nucleus 24 because it's a great value for the price, but I know I would have a hard time convincing my daughter to ride a green and yellow bike. I know color shouldn't matter, but when your 8 years old I guess it still does, and I want to keep the sport fun. Here are my questions. Other bikes I'm considering are the Diamondback Sync'R 24 (surprisingly well outfitted for the price) or the Orbea MZ 24 Team Disc.

1) General thoughts on the Rosco 24?
2) Has anyone put an air suspension fork on a Rosco or other 24" bike with wide 2.8" tires? Is there a fork out there that would fit?
3) F*&% Trek, get a different bike?

Thanks for your input.


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## eyeballs (Sep 16, 2016)

I don't like the idea of 2.8" tires for little ones, a huge waste of weight unless they are riding on snow or sand. 2.3" is more than enough. Why not strip down the vitus and paint it? Let your daughter pick the color and help.

There are actually a lot of good options out there. Early rider and pello also come to mind. I feel like the sync'r was fairly heavy when I looked at it. Vitus seems to have the best deal going now I think.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Short answer: Buy a hardtail you would love to ride, wait till SeaOtter to see new stuff (1 month), devil is in the details, that Trek sucks for a club rider. 

Look at the bikes, and buy them a bike that YOU would be stoked to ride if you were incredibly weak. A plus bike with 70d HTA, crappy gearing and mechanical brakes is pretty rough, especially for over 500$. Crappy bike like the Spesh Riprock...tho at least it doesn't have the coil fork, wonky geo and weigh 29lbs, so better than Riprock.

You'll need to bump up your budget to get a decent hardtail close to that Vitus. (Or I've seen other Dads swap the seat, grips, pedals etc to the girls favorite color...maybe that SPG package?)

That Diamondback Syncr 24 looks pretty nice. The cranks are the wrong size (fairly expensive fix) and I'm not sure if its an air fork or the coil version of the XCR. Coil is heavy trash and I would avoid it at all cost. 11sp is a nice touch.

Norco Charger 4.1 is a decent option for same price, tho you miss out on the 11sp, which sucks.

Prevelo makes a nice hardtail. So does Spawn...tho I'd wait for SeaOtter as I bet this years 24" bikes will have SRAM 11sp from them. Just wait another 4 weeks and you'll have some more options. Hopefully something similar to the Vitus 24". Keep in mind that the reason the Vitus is such a sweet deal is that the cranks are the right size, the air fork is decent, the tires and wheels aren't plus and decent, the HTA is 67 (in a hardtail it should be 65d imo), the drive train is ok for the price and the brakes are hydraulic. Keep all the little details in mind because a great bike with 165mm cranks like Cleary put out is just plain freaking sad and stupid....and they charge you 850$ for that trash. It would suck for your kid and with super long cranks and low BB, your kid will bleed lol. SO, the details are important.


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## Suns_PSD (Dec 13, 2013)

Order a 24" CF frame from Alibaba. Add some used, or new Stan Crest wheels, TC cranks, find a lightweight lightly used drivetrain and brakes. light rotors (pair $10), CF bars ($10), CF seatpost ($25), CF padded seat ($35) all from Alibaba. Small diameter foam grips from ebay ($8). Schwalbe 2.2 tires ($110). ON EDIT buy used 34mm stanchion, 26" tire, 80-120mm XC fork ($80) on PB and ebay all day long.

You'll have a sub 18# hardtail for about $1300 max. I calculated about 17.2 pounds for this build. A freakin' bargain.

Buying a darn 29# fat bike for a kid? To race? That's a terrible idea.

It's ALL about a fast rolling easy to pedal bike for these kids.

Good luck.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Suns_PSD said:


> Order a 24" CF frame from Alibaba. Add some used, or new Stan Crest wheels, TC cranks, find a lightweight lightly used drivetrain and brakes. light rotors (pair $10), CF bars ($10), CF seatpost ($25), CF padded seat ($35) all from Alibaba. Small diameter foam grips from ebay ($8). Schwalbe 2.2 tires ($110).
> 
> You'll have a sub 18# hardtail for about $1300 max. A freakin' bargain.
> 
> ...


This is a pretty sweet idea.

Do they make a Full Suspension 24" carbon frame yet? Ideally with more than 100mm of travel?


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## JackpineWakesurf (Mar 12, 2019)

Suns_PSD said:


> Order a 24" CF frame from Alibaba. Add some used, or new Stan Crest wheels, TC cranks, find a lightweight lightly used drivetrain and brakes. light rotors (pair $10), CF bars ($10), CF seatpost ($25), CF padded seat ($35) all from Alibaba. Small diameter foam grips from ebay ($8). Schwalbe 2.2 tires ($110).
> 
> You'll have a sub 18# hardtail for about $1300 max. A freakin' bargain.


This is an intriguing idea, unfortunately my budget is way less than $1,300.

You are all confirming what I think I already knew, the Rosco is a bad idea. It's nice that Trek wants to give the club a discount, it's just to bad they don't build a bike that I want to buy.

Buying the Vitus and painting it may be an ok idea. I've painted some Jeep parts and I'm not great at it, but I might be able to figure something out. Either that or just spring for the Sync'R if it has the air spring, which it better for that price, but I would need to confirm that.


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## Suns_PSD (Dec 13, 2013)

svinyard said:


> This is a pretty sweet idea.
> 
> Do they make a Full Suspension 24" carbon frame yet? Ideally with more than 100mm of travel?


Not that I know of, and I don't think I would purchase a dual suspension bike from China either way. I'd be concerned the rear suspension kinematics would be so terrible it would be Iike an early dual suspension bike was in America and they would be much worse than a hard tail. More so with higher travel.

If you need a dual suspension bike, the common frames available are all gonna weigh around 5# with a shock.
The cheap components stock is what kills the dual suspension bikes and makes the Trailcraft Maxwell so superior when its stock.

To the OP, buy the Vittus and change the color with Plastidip. Cheap, looks good, and totally reversible.

Good luck!

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


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## GSJ1973 (May 8, 2011)

JackpineWakesurf said:


> I would probably go with the Vitus Nucleus 24 because it's a great value for the price, but I know I would have a hard time convincing my daughter to ride a green and yellow bike. I know color shouldn't matter, but when your 8 years old I guess it still does, and I want to keep the sport fun. Here are my questions. Other bikes I'm considering are the Diamondback Sync'R 24 (surprisingly well outfitted for the price) or the Orbea MZ 24 Team Disc.
> 
> 1) General thoughts on the Rosco 24?
> 2) Has anyone put an air suspension fork on a Rosco or other 24" bike with wide 2.8" tires? Is there a fork out there that would fit?
> ...


Nothing says "I love you sweetie" more than a heavy turd of a plus bike with 850 gram tires and 600 gram rims. Skip the plus bikes. Team + 24" plus should never be used in the same sentence.

You speak the truth of the Vitus and the colors. Pretty hard to get excited about an olive drab bike with yellow decals. Probably designed by a 22 year old single British hipster fresh out of design school without kids (sorry chaps). My kids just gave the throw up face when I showed the bike to them. Color and getting kids excited about riding their bike is way more important - especially little girls.

Buy the best/lightest bike you can afford in a color she will like. Check pinkbike.com kids bike classifieds, lots of gently used gems on there!

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/list/?category=4


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## buildyourown (Dec 1, 2004)

I cant speak to the Trek but I can vouch for the Orbea. 
With a few tweaks its been a great trail bike for my daughter. Now 10.
I did put proper length trail craft cranks on there and real knobby tires. Though the stock Kendas would make a great xc race tire.
The fork is also surprisingly tuneable. It gets poor marks but it feels pretty good and I was able to get the air pressure low enough that she is getting all the travel.

The only way I would consider a plus bike is to bin the tires right away. Thats my bias. I think they are stupid for grownups too.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

How much were the trail craft cranks you swapped on the Orbea? Did you need to swap the BB as well?


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## eyeballs (Sep 16, 2016)

I like the plasti-dip idea. Seriously, let your daughter paint it (with some guidance) and she'll love it. If she's a perfectionist then you guys can peel it off and try again. Another option is to let her sticker-bomb the frame. Both my kids' 20-inchers have kid-sized front fenders with fun designs, another easy to add personal touch. Colorful pedals, grips (ODI can custom etch the clamp rings), etc. all make a difference. I actually think my girls love their bikes the most because of the little custom touches rather than how good it rides! AND have her help assemble it. The more work she puts into it, the more proud she'll be of her bike.

Where do you live? My kids have to wait until middle school to get on a team.


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## JackpineWakesurf (Mar 12, 2019)

GSJ1973 said:


> Probably designed by a 22 year old single British hipster fresh out of design school without kids (sorry chaps). https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/list/?category=4


Haha, now that's funny.



eyeballs said:


> I like the plasti-dip idea.


I think I'm liking this idea the most right now. She's definitely not a perfectionist and she would get way more excited if it's something she get's to be part of, and like a few people have said if we don't like it we can just peal it off and start over again.

We live in Sun Prairie Wisconsin, about 10 years ago a dedicated dad started the club bike team which feed into the NICA race team. It's grown to over 70 kids. It's pretty informal and if kids want to race they do the Wisconsin Off Road Series races. My daughter did one race last year. It rained the whole time and she was dead last in her age group (7-8) and came across the finish line with a huge smile on her face followed by the entire sweep crew.


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## SLCpowderhound (Jul 12, 2010)

eyeballs said:


> I don't like the idea of 2.8" tires for little ones, a huge waste of weight unless they are riding on snow or sand. 2.3" is more than enough. Why not strip down the vitus and paint it? Let your daughter pick the color and help.
> 
> There are actually a lot of good options out there. Early rider and pello also come to mind. I feel like the sync'r was fairly heavy when I looked at it. Vitus seems to have the best deal going now I think.


Not much love for the plus tires on here. I'll defend a little ground for the fatter tires. My daughter (now 9) has been on a Specialized riprock with 20x2.8's for the past few years. She rides with a local kids club here in Park City. After some modifications (converted to tubeless, new cranks, carbon fork) it has been a great bike. We frequently ride in Moab and St. George and the plus tires are absolutely unreal when climbing on sandstone, assuming they are at the right pressure.

She needed a new bike and we ultimately decided on the Norco Charger 4.1. While she really liked the plus tires, they are certainly heavier and drag a little more. Especially now with her getting much more confident descending having an air fork was a must. Just got the bike last night and stock it weighed in at just under 25lbs. Ordered some new tires (small block 8 @ 1.9 was way, way undersized), and with a few easy upgrades with parts I already have I should be able to get it under 23lbs with little effort.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

I think it's easy to confuse the value of Plus tires with a "proper mtb tire" because over the counter kids tires are either crappy tires like the charger comes stock with... Or the giant crappy tires the Riprock comes with. You can get most of the value of Plus tire traction out of a nice 2.3 aggressive tread mtb tire like a Spawn Maxtion paired with a decent air fork that you are getting...without the big rotational weight penalty.

Also note that plus bike geo is usually screwy as well with long backends paired with steep frontends. Not ideal 

This why the Vitus bike is so key. No need to throw out everything like the Riprock. You just get a cheap bike and then as the kid rides legit stuff, you throw on some Maxtions or whatever for 85$ and Bob's your uncle.


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## SLCpowderhound (Jul 12, 2010)

Yes. Completely agree. An actual MTB tire does wonders, both for weight savings and performance. 

To circle back to part of the original question. My daughter didn't love the color of the charger and she really wanted to have a water bottle cage. I was able to fix both of those issues by letting her pick out a new hydration pack. Haha.


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## Suns_PSD (Dec 13, 2013)

What do you guys consider the ideal 24" tire for single track with a not strong female?

I will say my little girl can pedal the heck out of these RRs and for what she is doing, it's rare that they slip.


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## buildyourown (Dec 1, 2004)

svinyard said:


> How much were the trail craft cranks you swapped on the Orbea? Did you need to swap the BB as well?


I got the fancy direct mount ones, so yeah I swapped out the BB. I wanted to get the lower gearing that direct mount allows.


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## JackpineWakesurf (Mar 12, 2019)

SLCpowderhound said:


> We frequently ride in Moab and St. George and the plus tires are absolutely unreal when climbing on sandstone,


I have ridden in Moab, but unfortunately we don't have any "slickrock" here in Wisconsin. I'm really leaning towards the Vitus, and I appreciate all the good comments and discussion on here. You guys are all a huge help.


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## JackpineWakesurf (Mar 12, 2019)

Based on others experience here on MTBR, I went ahead and ordered up a Vitus Nucleus 24 from Chain Reaction Cycles and I'm going to let her choose what color Plasti-Dip she wants to spray the bike with. 
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/vitus-nucleus-24-kids-mountain-bike-2019/rp-prod173140


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

JackpineWakesurf said:


> Based on others experience here on MTBR, I went ahead and ordered up a Vitus Nucleus 24 from Chain Reaction Cycles and I'm going to let her choose what color Plasti-Dip she wants to spray the bike with.
> https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/vitus-nucleus-24-kids-mountain-bike-2019/rp-prod173140


Nice work man, that's a nice bike. Maybe get some details of how that works with the bike. I've never seen it done.

Did you pay shipping? If so, how much? At one point shipping was free at CRC and then I think I heard someone say it wasn't but maybe was on Wiggle instead. Just curious.


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## JackpineWakesurf (Mar 12, 2019)

svinyard said:


> Nice work man, that's a nice bike.


Thanks! there are lots of Youtube videos on how to Plasti-dip a bike frame. We'll just watch a couple of them. It should be a fun daddy daughter project, and it will give here more ownership of the bike.



svinyard said:


> Did you pay shipping? If so, how much? At one point shipping was free at CRC and then I think I heard someone say it wasn't but maybe was on Wiggle instead. Just curious.


Yes, Shipping to the US was $43. They have free shipping but that doesn't include bikes. Even with shipping it's still the best component set for the money that I have found.


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## RX93 (Apr 30, 2018)

Nice bike! 

I just saw this thread too, trying to decide between a 24" and 26" bike for my friend's 9.5yr old girl. She's around 4'5" tall.. would you go 24" which fits her now or 26" which she'll grow into?


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

RX93 said:


> Nice bike!
> 
> I just saw this thread too, trying to decide between a 24" and 26" bike for my friend's 9.5yr old girl. She's around 4'5" tall.. would you go 24" which fits her now or 26" which she'll grow into?


You could prob swing the 26". It's also far more girl-friendly of a color which might be a big deal. I'm not a fan of going too big on bikes for development reasons but you are close enough for the 26".


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## Suns_PSD (Dec 13, 2013)

26" for sure. At 4.5" she is already at the very upper end of fitment on a 24" bike. 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


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## jochribs (Nov 12, 2009)

Has anyone tried to throw a 26" wheel into a Roscoe 24? 

I know that MX (I forget his whole screen name) did it sucessfully with a Riprock. 

Could be an idea...if it would fit.


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## Tjaard (Aug 17, 2007)

Yep, lots of people who don't like the plus tires here for kids.

No single tire or wheel type or size is perfect for everything.
So, I am not going to claim that they are the best option for every thing but a few things that are often brought up are factually incorrect:


Plus tires are heavy. Not always true, the 2.8 Big rollers on my daughters 20"Riprock were the same weight as many other 20" tires. That doesn't mean they are the same weight as Rocket Ron's but compared to other wire bead tires they are often similar.
Another example for high end folding bead tires: *Hans Dampf 24x2.35 is 770g, Vee Crown Gem 24x2.6 750g.*
Plus tires roll slower - Not true, other than on pavement, most tests show lower rolling resistance for bigger tires.


When you add the fact that most people find plus tires offer more confidence inspiring to ride and corner, and the fact that suspension is hard to fit/afford/find in 20 or 24" bikes, I think plus tires are an excellent option for many kids.

The best part is, if you don't like them, just get some skinner tires and slap those on.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Tjaard said:


> Yep, lots of people who don't like the plus tires here for kids.
> 
> No dingle tire or wheel type or size is perfect for everything.
> So, I am not going to claim that they are the best option for every thing but a few things that are often brought up are factually incorrect:
> ...


I strongly disagree; plus tires are def not "Excellent". Maybe doable etc, but not excellent or ideal in any way.

Like adult bikes, plus tires require weird geometry to fit (27.5+ usually requires a 29in bike). Hence why the Riprock has a backend that fits a 26" tire. I mean there are a bunch of heavy/crappy tires in any size but that doesn't mean Plus Tires are good. Also they come with super heavy wheels to support the big tire, that compounds the issue.

Those 20" 2.8 big rollers are ridiculous. Like 670g, that's more than an equivalent full on Gravity tire in that size. For a 45lb kid. That's awful for younger or newer riders trying to develop new skills and ride trails. You might not see it, but when you have them ride a proper hardtail back to back with a plus tire bike like that...the difference is apparent.

A 20" Vee Crown Gem is like 350g I think and 20$ iirc. More than enough for kids to be confident on. We've raced DH on 2.2in tires and they worked well enough. I've just seen way to many kids on the team struggle on those Riprocks to say anything positive about that stock bike. It is very interesting seeing the guys convert it to a lighter rigid 26" tho, kind of the 29er principal.


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## Tjaard (Aug 17, 2007)

First of all I do agree the stock Riprock had issues. But those are not due to the plus tires for the most part.

I also wasn't saying the Roscoe, or even any plus bike, is the best race bike. I'm not sure what "team" his 8 year old is on. Our local Nice team has a junior demo group for 8 year olds, but that is just learning to ride. no racing.

You can have reasonable short chain stays with plus tires. The Riprock doesn't because they chose to keep a kickstand plate and 135mm rear hub:madman:.

20 and 24" rims and tires are so small that a bit of extra width add very little total weight. Unlike a 29er where the tires are a much bigger percentage of total weight.

My oldest had a 24" Islabike. Superlight. Rocket Ron tires, Air suspension fork. Yet, she still preferred to ride the fatbike, which had an adult alloy frame, 26x3.0" Knard tires with tubes and a riding alloy fork.

The same when my youngest switched to the 20" Riprock, Even though it was much heavier (especially the fist rides, when I hadn't modded it very much) than the 20" Islabike, she rode so much better on it.

I think the issue comes down to a few things:
Where and how the kids in question ride.

I think for my kids, we never did very long rides or a ton of climbing. Our trails are rolling most of the time, and we eased up on the climbing by using road ascents and shuttles. Not just for my kids, but for the kids we ride with as well (on a variety of bikes). On the other hand at those ages (5-8) they weren't the most skilled or super crazy riders, not bad either, but no mini stars. 20" wheels especially have such poor rollover, that the better roll over/rolling resistance of the plus tires can easily make up for their extra weight on all but the most climbing focused of trails.

Now to be clear, I am not advocating 3.0" tires on kids bikes, but a nice light 2.6" on a 30mm rim? That would be a pretty sweet set-up for most little kids, especially if you kept the rest of the bike light and with good geometry.

I guess the best we can say is, tires are cheap, get the bike with the best geometry and parts, then experiment a bit with tires, including tire size?


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Good thoughts, and these are just my opinions at best. Tho I think they are decently founded being that we've worked/ridden with a bunch of groms on both locals MTB teams, have two kids that shred (decently), have raced a little DH and gotten a chance to mess with most of these bikes in person and see the kids swap them around. 

The Isla road bikes (Beinn/Cnoc) are just road bikes. Smart girl to pick the MTB =). I'd bet if she could ride a nice hard tail like Spawn/Prevelo/TrailCraft make...it'd be no contest. Now those bikes are twice the cost (at least) but a Norco Charger isn't. Any kid should easily be good to go on a decent 2.2/2.3 tire and i23 rim with an airfork and be better off in all departments. If they aren't, its not the bike at all and I don't think going to a plus tire is an advantageous move, but the opposite. BMXing, Pumptracking and skills park are the answer, along with more time in the saddle and skills work.

I think its important that we don't support the Riprocks/Islabikes etc to ensure dollars are going to supporting companies that are truly supporting kids. While also calling a spade a spade when it comes to the bikes real quality, judging it against adult standards. Especially since kids are riding adult trails and there is quality stuff available. 

Its getting better, but only because people are saying "no" to poor kids bikes and voting with their dollars elsewhere. The plus bikes are evaporating as air forks are being made more available at the OEM level. Next step...we just need that Norco Charger to be 550$ instead of 750$ and boom, game changer. We get there by having enough demand and people knowing/wanting/asking for high quality rides.


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