# Decent 24" MTB, options?



## Matti (Aug 27, 2008)

Hi,

Looking for a 24" bike for my son, preferably light. 10 speed rear (or 9), 1 speed front, air front suspension (Spinner or RST). What options do I have? 

The Islabike is a bit expensive, and also out of my reach (don't live in the U.S. nor the U.K).

I haven't found any other bikes out there than the Islabike that would fullfill those requirements. The Cannondale Race 24 is close, but I don't see the point of having three chainrings in the front.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
matti


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## GrayJay (May 16, 2011)

Start with a used frame and build it up with the components you want. It will likely be nicer and cheaper than buying a complete new bike you are not satisfied with, replacing half the components and throwing the original junk parts away.


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## Matti (Aug 27, 2008)

Thank's for your comments Jay. I would however quite like to start from a complete bike, and leave the build option as a last alternative.


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## Wveddy (Dec 26, 2011)

I think what Jay was saying is to buy a used 24" bike in good condition and complete, then swap out components as needed. Trying to find a kids bike with a 1x10 and airfork is not easy. Most kids bikes are 6sp or 7sp and loaded with heavy cheap components. Get a good frame and switch to an older SID fork, lighter cockpit and drivetrain. this will be cheaper and net a lighter and better bike than even the most expensive kids bikes. My daughters A1 Hotrock with a SID is about 23lbs, and that is with the stock crank and BB. Search on here for 24" builds with air forks. There are lots.


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## dizpark (Jun 4, 2012)

Matti!

A ready-made bike that you specced, almost does not exist. As far as I know Islabikes Creig 24 may be the only one. Pity they do not ship outside UK anymore. Pricewise, I do no think it is overpriced. If you wanted to build a similar bike yourself, you would end up paying about the same or more (unless you are ready to tinker with ghetto solutions, like adapting 26 inch forks etc., and/or have access to cheap used parts). If you are happy with disc brakes, Creig 24 is the best. Ohm the other thing - the gearing is for real mountain biking, on the flat asphalt those legs will be spinning like crazy. 

In the same price range is Scott Scale RC Junior with the nice F1rst Air fork. I do not know if these are available locally where you live (Finnland??). Unfortunately, there are still quite a few things that are wrong with this bike. It has a triple on the front, which alone would not be a problem, but more problematically it is specced with 165mm long cranks which are way too long for kids and seriously, very bad for their knees. So changing to a single chainring with the more appropriate 140-150 length cranks may be quite an undertaking, that could involve changing the bottom bracket, and may involve tinkering with crank shortening. (tell me if you want to know more about the ways to do this). If you can get a used Scott Scale RC Junior locally, it would required minimum tinkering. One more thing the Scott comes with V-brakes, which may or may not be the thing that you want. 

Unfortunately, Canondale Race 24 is not close, it is not even in the same league  Essentially it is your average front suspension 24 mtb, with two strange exceptions. It has a nice air fork and it comes in two sizes!!!, which is very decent. The rest of the bike is underspecced - tourney derraileur, revoshift shiofter (which actually is rather nice), but worst of all it has a freewheel hub, which limits you to heavy 7 speed freewheel cassettes.

I am going down the route of building up a bike based on a used frame. It involves a lot of tinkering and head scratching.


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## squareback (Sep 19, 2011)

Check out the new Felt bike line. FINALLY.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2


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## dizpark (Jun 4, 2012)

squareback said:


> Check out the new Felt bike line. FINALLY.


So what is there that you like? If you are refering to Q24D, it is absolutely the same Felt Q24 as that of yesteryear's but with mechanical disc brakes (a downgrade in my book). All the good and bad things of the classic Q24 are there.


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## squareback (Sep 19, 2011)

dizpark said:


> So what is there that you like? If you are refering to Q24D, it is absolutely the same Felt Q24 as that of yesteryear's but with mechanical disc brakes (a downgrade in my book). All the good and bad things of the classic Q24 are there.


Just a 24 with disc brakes. And I'm ok with mechanical, they just need a lot of attention.

But if Christmas is coming, and Santa needs a 24 inch disc bike to be under the tree, this is an option you can pick up the phone and get.

It was incredibly hard for me to find a 24" disc. You can look back several years in this forum (when my kids were smaller) and I never did find one, including posting many "wanted" ads on Craigslist SF Bay area.

I'm not a big Felt fan at all, but I think the KHS is too expensive, and all of the good options from Europe, I was unable to convince anyone to ship to the US.

I finally ended up with a 26 wheel, fantastic Mongoose frame (3.5 pounds), in 13 inch for my kid, with a slammed 40mm stem, and various other things to fit him. I never did find a 24 with disc.

In fact, the Mongoose frame has just come back from the powder coaters, and we (father/son) are building it up tonight. I will post pics, I am very impressed by this frame.


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## GrayJay (May 16, 2011)

Wveddy said:


> I think what Jay was saying is to buy a used 24" bike in good condition and complete, then swap out components as needed.


 If you were to start with a new or good condition used Scott or similar high end 24", you would still probably want to replace good bit of the heavier and mis-fit parts. I think it actually makes more sense to start with the decrepit older bike that has a decent frame but with broken components and a rusty chain that you can get nearly for free. Harvest the frame and perhaps the V-brakes, rims and headset, throw the rest of the junk away. Then, spend your money on getting components that are even nicer, lighter than you would have got from a stock Scott or Islabike, such a a set of lightweight Schwalbe tires, light air fork, appropriate kid crankset, lightweight wheel build. This approach can be very cost effective if you have access to decent used components for things such as derailleur(s), shifter(s), stem, bars, seatpost, pedals and can result in a better performing, lighter bike at a fraction of the the cost of a new high-end 24".


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## Matti (Aug 27, 2008)

@dizpark: Finland is correct, and most bikes are available to us as well. Have not considered the Scott, it's a bit pricey.

The second hand market for 24" bikes is not that huge around here, and I would end up paying a fair amount in shipping to put together a bike out of separate components.

Actually leaning towards the Orbea MX 24 Team, and change the fork to a RST for example. Would end up with a decent weight bike with quite nice components.


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## XJaredX (Apr 17, 2006)

My LBS owner took a small (XS?) Specialized SX frame and built it up with 24" wheels. Turned out awesome


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

I built my son's 20 and 24" bikes myself . It was the only way to get them with the drivetrain and weight I wanted. 
Just starting his 14" 26er build now.


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## CJH (Apr 21, 2004)

dizpark said:


> ...and may involve tinkering with crank shortening. (tell me if you want to know more about the ways to do this).


I'm interested. I've read a couple of online articles. Interested to hear if your info is the same.


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## dizpark (Jun 4, 2012)

GrayJay said:


> . This approach can be very cost effective if you have access to decent used components for things such as derailleur(s), shifter(s), stem, bars, seatpost, pedals and can result in a better performing, lighter bike at a fraction of the the cost of a new high-end 24".


I dont disagree with you in principle. But there are conditions, that you have outlined yourself. You need to know what you are doing. You need to be inclined to spend time tinkering with this. If you are new to this, you will spend enourmous amount of time just reading up on the subject. Access to cheap/used components is very different in different markets. And i really dont quite agree with this 'fraction of the cost' thing. Even if i have a case full of used parts from my ex-bikes, I have paid for them at some point. 
Of course the perspective is totally different, IF i have a case of good, light parts lying around. If that is the case, it would be totally dumb not to attempt a build myself.


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## dizpark (Jun 4, 2012)

Matti said:


> @dizpark: Finland is correct, and most bikes are available to us as well. Have not considered the Scott, it's a bit pricey.
> 
> Actually leaning towards the Orbea MX 24 Team, and change the fork to a RST for example. Would end up with a decent weight bike with quite nice components.


Yes, i know the scott is pricey, but it would require the least tinkering to get it right. It is the bottom bracket and front chainring mostly. Of course there are always lighter components that you can wish to install like stem, seatpost etc. The best part i like about the scott (but only the top end Scale RC JR) are wheels - this is something that they have got right, and almost nonone else does. These are light double wall alex rims, with 24 spokes at the back and 20 spokes in front. You cant get that with any other ready made bike.

I have looked at and handled the orbea bikes. I completely forgot about that option. Indeed they have gotten a lot of things right with the mx 24 team. And it looks like they use the same frame for all of their 24 bikes, and that nice rigid aluminum fork is not suspension corrected, so as a result mx 24 team looks like it has a lower front end than the MX 24 XC. So if you will install the rst f1st air, the geometry should be correct. But that is something that needs to be checked out. I weighed the bike and it was almost 10 kg - not superlight, considering it has a rigid luminum fork. I think the stock components -stem, seatpost etc are not very light. But indeed it is quite bit cheaper, but you have to factor in the cost of f1rst air.


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## dizpark (Jun 4, 2012)

squareback said:


> Just a 24 with disc brakes. It was incredibly hard for me to find a 24" disc.


I see you point. The rarity of 24 with disc brakes never occurred to me. But then the manufacturers must have read your pleas, because Trek now has Trek Superfly 24 disc for 2014. I don't know about the pricing, but spec wise it looks like a better deal (or a better start for a further build). The biggest difference with Felt is that Trek has a cassette rear hub (as opposed to freewheel on Felt, but then again I don't know if Trek's hubs are any good) and hydraulic shimano brakes (albeit entry level non-series). Also judging from previous form, the trek frame will be a bit lighter that that of Felt.


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