# RipRock ordered



## mtnbkaz (Feb 2, 2004)

I saw one of these in the LBS around Christmas but it was still a bit big for the kiddo. 5 months and a growth spurt or 2 later, it looks perfect and I have a RipRock Expert coming in later this week. I was thinking about a Camber Grom but I really don't know how much a 70 pound kid will benefit from a rear suspension and I'm intrigued by how the plus sized tires will help on our rocky trails. Figure we'll get a few years out of this bike, then the next one will just be a "full-sized" bike.

The only immediate mods I have planned are to ditch the Deore brakes for a set of XT's that I have sitting in the garage and replace the bar with a cut down carbon Haven that I also have sitting in the garage. The rest of the parts seem fine or can be updated as they wear out (cassette, chain)

Anyway, I'm curious how these bikes are working for others? I do have a couple concerns around the tires & tubes. On all of my kids bikes so far (the Hotwalk, 12" pedal, 16", 20") I've run the super thick flat resistant tubes so that I don't have to carry extra tubes for kid bike sizes. They've worked great and we've literally never had a flat on any of my kid's bikes. But I'm not sure if those tubes are an option for the 2.8" tires. Are there special plus-sized tubes or is everyone just running over-inflated 24" tubes?

Similar question, does anyone have experience setting up the RipRock wheels & tires as tubeless? I'm thinking that I might try to set them up, but given that the tires that come on the bike are probably the only 24" plus sized tires in existence, there aren't really alternatives if they don't seal well. (That and the fact that I don't have any schraeder sized tubeless valves. Grr... not a fan of schraeder)

Looking forward to the new bike birthday ride next week!


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## Chad_M (Jul 11, 2013)

We got the base model a month ago for my 7yo. Having gears really let him expand his riding range. So far really good.

http://forums.mtbr.com/families-rid...ialized-riprock-our-next-24-bike-1006499.html


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## mtnbkaz (Feb 2, 2004)

My kid has had the 6-speed Hotrock 20 for 2.5 years now. Adding gears was definitely a huge step towards expanding range on the trail. But he was also much younger then. And despite years on gears, he also tends to spend most of his time in either gear 1 or 6.  ("Uh... why don't you use gear 3 right now?") We'll see if having the 10-speed cassette forces him to use more than 2 gears. That and learning trigger shifters instead of just dumping 5 gears in one quick twist shift.

Any thoughts on the tires/wheels? The 20" is small enough that it definitely gets hung up on rocks. (Edited to clarify that I mean his current 20"x2.0 Maxxis Maxx Daddy tires.) The big 24x2.8 just seems to plow over obstacles. I'm hoping that provides a confidence boost for rolling over rocks & down ledges & such.


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## Kingfisher2011 (Nov 1, 2011)

I've ridden on 2.8"'s on a 27.5+. Those things were awesome. Relative to rider size, those things should be able to plow and roll over just about anything a little rider would encounter. That and make up for the occasional bad line choice. 

I've been keeping a close eye on the Riprock threads. I just picked up a Felt 20" MTB for my 6 year old (almost 7) so it'll be a year or two before he's big enough and ready for a 24", but I'll be taking a long look at the Riprock if it's something he's still interested in. At the pricepoint (~$1000 or >) I'm wondering if going with something like a Trailcraft where you've got less weight, etc. but narrower tires is the right play. I just dont know. Luckily I don't have to know for a while.


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## RMCDan (Feb 28, 2008)

mtnbkaz said:


> That and the fact that I don't have any schraeder sized tubeless valves


Silver anodized aluminum valve

Also comes in black, gray and bronze.


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## mtnbkaz (Feb 2, 2004)

@Kingfisher - maybe I'll weigh the bike when it comes in but the Riprock didn't feel particularly heavy - especially the air fork model. The Specialized kids bike frames are pretty light, and I've had all of them from the Hotwalk on up (Hotrock 12, Hotrock 16, and Hotrock 20 geared). I just saw that the bike has a 27.2 seatpost, so I'll replace the stock one with an old Thomson. That and the carbon bar will drop a few grams but I guess at that point there isn't much weight on the bike to reduce other than the rims & tires, which are pretty much unique to this bike.

@RMCDan - have you used those stems? they look nicer than cutting stems out of old tubes like I would probably end up doing.


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## Kingfisher2011 (Nov 1, 2011)

All good man. I didn't mean that to sound so weight weenie. I'm still trying to figure out just how concerned I should be about that crap for my son. We all learned on bikes that would be considered boat anchors by today's standards. His Trek Jet 16 was a BRICK, and his Felt I believe is about a 1/2 lb lighter. He has no trouble with it at all. I think it's just knowing that something like the Trailcraft is out there and comes in a full 20% lighter than that! Ultimately it'll come down to what he wants when the time comes, paired with his ability. If he wants to rock a fat tire, I wont stand in his way.

Keep us posted, I now the kiddo is going to love it. Fat tires are awesome.


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## RMCDan (Feb 28, 2008)

mtnbkaz said:


> @RMCDan - have you used those stems? they look nicer than cutting stems out of old tubes like I would probably end up doing.


Yep, have them on my bike. I had to trim off part of the locknut, but that was pretty easy and may not be an issue on other rims. They are very high quality for the price.


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## mtnbkaz (Feb 2, 2004)

@KF - Steel bikes are way heavier - and I totally agree with the Trek & Felt. I'm not a fanboi of Specialized in general but they've done a great job on the kids bike line, imo. 

I also agree that we can overthink the whole weight thing (or coaster brakes, or twist shift haters, or....) But unlike when I was a kid, my kid rides actual trails - and long grinding climbs are definitely the most whine-inducing part of the experience. I don't go crazy swapping out parts but given that I have a pile of used "high-end" junk parts in my garage, I'll toss them on the kids bikes when it makes sense.

@Dan - thanks for the info, I may pick some up

Anyone actually setup a Riprock tubeless? or will I be the first to try?


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## mtnbkaz (Feb 2, 2004)

Well, the bike came in. The red frame looks really nice - much better than the pic on Specialized's web page. 

I swapped on some XT brakes, a carbon Haven bar cut down to 26", a RaceFace stem, and Thomson seat post. All of those parts were just sitting in my garage so I didn't spend any money on them. (Sunk cost that was depreciated years ago.)

The one thing that I did have to spend money on was a new SLX shifter. The one that came with the bike was an iSpec model (and a special ISpec at that - from what the LBS said) and my XT brakes weren't compatible so we had to swap out the shifter for a normal clamp SLX. 

The crank seems like it might be heavy and may be a candidate for an upgrade down the road. Maybe a Sinz crank like his 20" has. I'll have to check if they make a 4-bolt version. Not sure of my options in a 152mm. The bash ring/chain guard is simple enough and should be effective. They also have a small chain retention device that bolts onto the seat tube. 

It took about 2 seconds to figure out the shifters, of course. Although he still has a tendency to put it into the hardest gear, stand, and hammer. He calls it his "fastest" gear. We'll see how fast it is when he tries to climb out of a wash in 11t. 

With the big tires, it looks almost as big as my 26" - even with big 2.4" Trail Kings. I left the stock tubes in for now. Figure I can toss a 26" tube in in a pinch (no pun intended). I'm still thinking about trying to set these up for tubeless but will keep it as is for now. 

The total weight doesn't feel too bad but I think most of what is left is wheels and tires. Not much to do about that. 

Overall, it's a pretty sweet setup. Can't wait to hit some trails this weekend.


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## mtnbkaz (Feb 2, 2004)

Well, the first real trail ride went pretty well. Overall a lot faster than the same ride on the 20". I think that's a combination of easier rolling through the rocky parts, better control from the disc brakes (the rim brakes freaked him out a bit on some of the rocky chutes), and clearing a couple extra climbs on the ride from the easier gearing. But that also helped keep the attitude & enthusiasm positive. 

One question I had for others on the Riprock - what tire pressure are your kids running? We did have some rear traction issues when standing & hammering up a climb. I think I'm at ~18psi right now. I can probably go a bit lower but not sure how much lower to go on the 2.8's. As he grows, he'll naturally get more weight over the rear tire over time, so hopefully traction will get better. But given the lack of tire choice for this bike, it's something to keep an eye on. Maybe Specialized will make the Ground Control in a 24x2.8?


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## TexasBorn (May 17, 2016)

So I've got a Comp at the LBS I'm looking at to switch my son from a HotRock 24" XC Disc. I love the appeal of the 1x on the RipRock. The 3 gears up front is just way too much IMO for a kiddo. Especially while learning the trails.

I'd love your opinion on why you went with the Expert over the Comp? I know you had parts laying around to further sweeten the ride up,but curious never the less.

As far as PSI goes, the guy helping me today said to be around 10psi for the kiddos on these. I'm going to ask him tomorrow about switching out the tubes from Schrader to Presta, b/c I loathe Schrader. I'm also curious too about running tubeless to see if it lightens the bike up some more.

These heavy Hotrocks are very limiting and discouraging to the kids if you're on another more than pea gravel/dirt trails. Any kind of rock garden or climb and he has to overcome so much more than he should. The fat tires, I'm hopeful give him a big confidence boost!


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## mtnbkaz (Feb 2, 2004)

Sounds like some tire pressure experimentation is in order. The shop had it a bit higher still and I let a bit of air out to ~18psi. (Hard to tell for sure - the tire guage I had only went down to 20.) Even 18 feels soft. I'd think 10 would be pretty squirmy in the corners - even for a 70 lb kid. Guess we'll test & see.

Regarding bike trim level, I was originally planning to buy a Camber Grom, so the cost of the Expert didn't seem like a problem in comparison. I also get a bit of a loyalty discount from my LBS so I wasn't paying MSRP.

I think the Expert is worth it for the better drivetrain and brakes (and IMO, the base model is not at all worth it given the heavier coil fork & lower level drivetrain parts). I swapped out the brakes, negating that advantage, but the biggest thing was actually the frame color. Red is the preferred color at the moment and that alone was worth a couple extra bucks.  Frame color is probably also the biggest factor in why I didn't buy the current Camber Grom. If it came in red, I might have spent the $2k on it.

I totally agree with you on the 1x drivetrain. There was another thread that discussed this - I don't see any reason (other than pure cost) to use a front derailleur on a kids bike. Maybe they're trying to keep the standard 24" to be more or a "road or mountain" spec while the Riprock is targeted solely at trail riding? Anyway, none of the mountain bikes in my family use a FD anymore - why should the kids bike be any different? 1x is simpler, cheaper to maintain, and the 10-sp 11-36 has a great range. It's already helped us clear a couple climbs that the 1x6 20" bike had trouble with.

Interesting to hear you think the Hotrocks are heavy. The 24" may be much heavier being a bigger bike. I only have experience with them up to the 20" model, but always found them to be pretty light. The stock handlebar on the 20" was something like 650g (I swear it was bar-stock steel) so I literally dropped a pound by swapping it out. And of course removing the boat anchor kick stand is a must. But apart from that, the 20" was pretty light.


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## mtnbkaz (Feb 2, 2004)

*couple pics attached*

















couple pics

Side note, but it sure is a pain to get phone pics onto this forum. Export to dropbox or wherever, edit orientation, resize to below the forum's limits, upload to forum, add to post.


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## TexasBorn (May 17, 2016)

Great pics! : )

So I picked up the blue comp today at lunch and am stoked for the little guy to see it tonight.

As far as weight goes, you were right. My misperception about the HotRock vs RipRock I guess was just me comparing them to my road and mtn bikes. The 2 kid versions are essentially 24lbs.

As far as tire PSI my LBS felt pretty confident 6-10psi is good for a 60lb kiddo. So we lowered the tires down from 20 to 10 to start with.

Next we moved to the fork. I love that it has an air set up, and not spring like the HotRock. It came from the manufacturer with 110psi, and the LBS lowered it down to 60 as a starting point for my son. It was very bouncy when I compressed the shock, but I imagine it won't be for my son.

As far as running tubeless they looked at me like I was crazy, then a lightbulb went off and they smiled, haha. So I'm going to probably take it back this summer while we're on vacation to have them play with it and see if they'll hold a seal or not.

Or now, we'll just leave it and start riding,, hopefully this weekend if there's no rain here

: )


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## mtnbkaz (Feb 2, 2004)

Sweet! If it were my bike, I would have picked the blue frame. But like I said, red is currently the preferred color for the kiddo...

I'm going to give it some time & see if we get any/many flats before attempting the tubeless project. Post back if you try and I'll do the same.


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## TexasBorn (May 17, 2016)

Will do.

And please do the same with the PSI in the fork. I'm interested in that too.


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## mtnbkaz (Feb 2, 2004)

I already dropped the fork pressure - but I don't remember what I set it to. At the lower pressure, it seems valved pretty good for light-weight riders. Tune-ability is another reason to upgrade to the air fork on the comp or expert - not just weight.


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## floxy (May 17, 2008)

I picked up a RR comp for my son and he really likes it. As other mention I did take psi out of the tires and fork. Took the fork down to 80psi. No way he's going to bottom it out with the big tires and terrain we're riding. 

Has anyone tried getting the tires tubeless? I'm guessing there's quite a big of weight there and it would help with climbing. 

Overall, very happy with the purchase.


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## Erock503 (Oct 20, 2014)

TexasBorn said:


> Great pics! : )
> 
> So I picked up the blue comp today at lunch and am stoked for the little guy to see it tonight.
> 
> ...


Wow, these rip rock are coming in at 24lbs? That's awesome with the plus tires! Have to rethink my little guys upgrade route if that is the case. His brothers 24" hotrock was over 30lbs stock!


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## Chad_M (Jul 11, 2013)

Can anyone with a Riprock verify if they have an issue back pedaling with the chain in the largest cassette gear? It seems like ours the chain drops off the largest gear. It might be a function of chain line - seems like a common problem on 1x setups.


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## theskyking (May 6, 2012)

*ok on the road?*

Quick question for those of you who have kids with a riprock. Do they do OK on street family bike rides, or too much drag with those big heavy tires? We'll do a lot of on AND off road rides, just want to be sure they are OK for both. Thanks!


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## Chad_M (Jul 11, 2013)

No noticeable drag on the road.


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## theskyking (May 6, 2012)

We got it and love it:


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## JeannieW (Aug 1, 2016)

That's the best decision you've made, haha! 
Your kids will absolutely love it, I'm sure.


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## timvickroy (Feb 23, 2011)

I have two boys that are showing an interest in trail riding. They are both a little over 4 feet tall (4'2"-4'3") and are about enter the third and fifth grades. Would the Riprock 24 be a good fit for them? Thanks!


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## Kingfisher2011 (Nov 1, 2011)

Depends on the legs. My son is right at 4'3", and is pretty lanky it was too tall for him. You'll have to go try it on.


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## timvickroy (Feb 23, 2011)

timvickroy said:


> I have two boys that are showing an interest in trail riding. They are both a little over 4 feet tall (4'2"-4'3") and are about enter the third and fifth grades. Would the Riprock 24 be a good fit for them? Thanks!


Just a follow up. I ended up ordering a pair of Riprocks for my two boys. They arrived last week and we picked them up on Saturday. We went on two off road rides on Sunday and they loved the bikes. Fat tires, front suspension, disk brakes, 1x8 gearing and aluminum frames! What's not to love!?! They were going over bumps and up and down hills with ease. What a great upgrade from their little BMX bikes. My boys are actually both 4'4" (54") tall, by the way, and they fit perfectly.


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## Icamera (Sep 3, 2016)

My 10 year old is having a blast on his RipRock Comp. We are day dreaming about setting it up for winter riding. Obviously not a deep powder machine, but here in Western Massachusetts a lot of our winter falls short of that. Anyone else thinking about studs?


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