# Which 24" FS for my Son



## Bertleman (Feb 10, 2004)

I just sold my Son's 20" Spawn Rokkusuta because he had outgrown it. I'm now in the market for a 24: bike and trying to decide between these 3
Spawn Rokk 24"
Commencal Clash 24"
Propain Yuma 24"

I'm leaning toward the Propain because it's the lightest and is the least expensive but I'm not sure about getting it shipped to the US. Anybody have experience getting a Propain to the US?
I like the fact that I can upgrade the wheel size of the Spawn and Propain when he grows.
The component specs look pretty even with all three bikes.
I have plenty of time to decide....we have snow on the ground.
Any other bikes I'm missing?


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## the.vault (Oct 11, 2006)

*Which 24" FS for my Son*

I think I just got your old bike.

Anyway..Norco and Kona upgraded their 24" bikes this year. The Rocky Mountain Reaper seems to be in the same class of bikes too.

This company has a lighter weight 24" frame with good travel.

https://slaterbike.bigcartel.com/product/mobster-dh-frame

I think Propain is supposed to start US distribution in 2020.


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## Bertleman (Feb 10, 2004)

sweet! I'm sure your son will love it.
I had not considered the Norco, as I had researched it before I bought the 20" but it does look pretty good with the updates. I'm not a fan of the Kona and the RM is too "Cross Country" for the boy...he fancies himself as a park rat. 
There need to be a kids bike shoot out this spring!


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## regiobike (Apr 23, 2017)

My 8 years old use a Marin Hawk jr 24" which accept also 26 wheels, amazing option. My 13 years old has a Hightower LT M


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## airwreck (Dec 31, 2003)

Ripcord
Trailcraft

Our boy is on a Supreme DH 24. Park Rat, no air or gnar, no ride. He had a 20" supreme dh also and rode the 20 Rokkusuta and Norco at Whistler. Our riding at home he has to get up the hill, doubt if a lighter bike would make much difference. Actually don't mind the heavy bike keeping him lower to the ground when he jumps.

If I were to buy something from the current offerings it would be the Rokk. I have a small kid though and the supreme dh is a better fit.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Hey man, you are looking at some nice bikes. We have one of these on your list but dumped cash into it to fix the spec (for good reason). I've seen plenty of kids shred, SERIOUSLY shred, on less than ideal 24" bikes so take the details with that in mind. A talented kid can shred nearly anything going down it seems. Regardless, things have improved a lot so we finally have some suspension and modern geo choices that have truly moved kids bikes into the realm of adult bikes. No bike is perfect tho.

1- Geo is king
2- Suspension is a close second
3- Rotational weight (Wheels and Tires) is a balance but important

We tried to get a bike that really nailed both of those with the fewest compromises and work from there. 

The best 24" FS bike (value and performance in mind) you can get out of the box is the upper level build of the new Norco Fluid 1 for 2500$. The lower level build is missing out out on critical stuff (more on that below). Really nice bike and everything on it is pretty dang nice stuff, near adult level quality (better in some regards).

1- Rokk - I had high hopes for this bike but the geo is really wonky. Especially the rear end. Its freaky long. Longer than many XL 29ers. The Rear end in 26" mode is about as long as a Pole's. Kids already can struggle manualing a bike and other critical stuff that they need to learn. Too many other brands don't have this issue. Suspension is decent but not the top end and the bike isn't cheap. After shipping (norco can be had at LBS) it's the same price as Fluid and doesn't have a dropper either.

2- Clash 24" - We bought this bike. The geo and suspension are a notch above the rest with no compromises. BUT the spec kind of sucks, particularly in the wheels. We were game to drop the 450$ for a second ultralight, custom Stans Crest wheelset (stock is solid for DH Parks). But now you are getting spendy. The brakes function but kind of suck too. So its hard to recommend going with this bike with that Norco out there (Norco wasn't released for us last year). Don't get me wrong, now that its custom 26-27lbs...its ultra sick, but we had to spend 3k$ total to get it there. That's XT brakes, Stans, X01 11sp 10-42 cassette, XT drive drive, 140mm cranks, KS Lev Integra etc. I have a couple of kids but yeah...that Norco out of the box for 2500$ is a super value. My 7yro can do lighter black diamond climbs really well on it too btw and nails every single small side hit on the trail. The bike has worked out beautifully as an AllMtn rig that goes up easily as well as the 10 million ripcords in town. Something about light kids on short bikes just works with the travel.

3- Propain Yuma - this bike is nice but the geo and suspension aren't ideal. Frame isn't very light. Cranks are still wrong. Nice bike for its time and really nice that they went with GX drive train, but there are better bikes out there now with fewer compromises (kids suspension instead of adult). Who knows when USA shipping will happen, hopefully May but who knows.

4- Norco Fluid 24 - this is such a good value. The only small complaints I have are:
- that the backend is a touch long but not bad
- the rear shock spec skipped the SUPERB Kids version of the Manitou McLeod Nino (this is an insanely nicely tuned shock...I know guys that like it better than their DPX2 on the adult version). The Fox will be nice...I'm not sure if its tuned for a 60-70 kid or not (not just a normal "Light rider tune" aka Ladies tune.
- Cranks are still too long (like most other bikes) and heavt - roughly a 100$ to swap for prevelo 140mm cranks and an XT BB.

The list of good stuff on the Norco is so long:
- The highend wheels are really nice (not ultralight but designed to handle anything).
- Tires are great DHR2/DHF. 
- Dropper is nice (lever too).
- Bars and grips are real nice
- Shimano brakes are a nice brake too...tho they don't have the short levers like Deore/XT's
- The 24" fork is wild nice. Its like an 800$ fork. The nicest damper and air spring that Manitou makes with a REAL kids specific tune. Reminds me of a Pike with Debonair and small stantions.

So you might be thinking of just skipping the nice level 1 build and going with the level 2. I've spent time with the level 2 bike and its not as great as I thought it would be. The tires and wheels are far from great, decent downgrade. The brakes suck. Dropper is still nice tho. Its down to a 10sp (tho nice range still). Shock is ok. That being said, the most critical downgrade is that the level 2 forks TS Air spring isn't anywhere near as nice as the dual chamber on (level 1 has the full blown Ex pert Airspring). It super noticeable...night and day difference, especially at low air pressure kids run (30psi). That fork is crazy nice but the single chamber air spring (TS Air) gimps the whole thing in my opinion. If I ranked them 1-being crappy and 10- being awesome....I'd say something like the stock ripcord fork is a 3...the Manitou Junit with expert air (dual chamber spring) is an 11....and the Manitou Junit with TS spring is a 7. Its better than the older stuff but a big downgrade.

Just my experience, yours might be difference but we do get to mess with a LOT of kids bikes being in mtb town with a few kids MTB teams. My kids are decent riders but far from the best. Moving up a nice FS 24" did instantly put my oldest on mellow black freelines that he was skipping on his Spawn hardtail. He was 7yro, 60lbs and 51" by the time he was on the 24"...he could have jumped on it a bit earlier but the bike wasn't out yet.

Good luck!


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## RMCDan (Feb 28, 2008)

IMVHO, "out of the box" nothing comes close to the Norco Fluid FS 1.

Propain told me in April 2018 they were going to have US distribution by that fall. I would not count on being able to get one.


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## heet (Oct 25, 2015)

For the OP -- we have the clash and it rules as svinyard says. Yes, it takes upgrades to make it reeeeally nice. I've seen the new norco in the flesh and it looks super nice too. Honestly, I'd go with ones of those.



svinyard said:


> 2- Clash 24" - We bought this bike. The geo and suspension are a notch above the rest with no compromises. BUT the spec kind of sucks, particularly in the wheels. We were game to drop the 450$ for a second ultralight, custom Stans Crest wheelset (stock is solid for DH Parks). But now you are getting spendy. The brakes function but kind of suck too. So its hard to recommend going with this bike with that Norco out there (Norco wasn't released for us last year). Don't get me wrong, now that its custom 26-27lbs...its ultra sick, but we had to spend 3k$ total to get it there. That's XT brakes, Stans, X01 11sp 10-42 cassette, XT drive drive, 140mm cranks, KS Lev Integra etc. I have a couple of kids but yeah...that Norco out of the box for 2500$ is a super value. My 7yro can do lighter black diamond climbs really well on it too btw and nails every single small side hit on the trail. The bike has worked out beautifully as an AllMtn rig that goes up easily as well as the 10 million ripcords in town. Something about light kids on short bikes just works with the travel.


So you put that prevelo crankset on the commencal clash without problems? Just used an XT BB and that's it? I figure that's a good weight savings c/w the X1.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

heet said:


> For the OP -- we have the clash and it rules as svinyard says. Yes, it takes upgrades to make it reeeeally nice. I've seen the new norco in the flesh and it looks super nice too. Honestly, I'd go with ones of those.
> 
> So you put that prevelo crankset on the commencal clash without problems? Just used an XT BB and that's it? I figure that's a good weight savings c/w the X1.


Hey man, yeah that Prevelo stuff is super nice. Its pretty much the same as the trail craft with same 30t chainring too. They all use a Shimano BB of appropriate size (we got for like 19$). The 140mm cranks have been excellent and did cut some weight as well, about 100g.

When putting the cranks on, we learned a couple of things:

1- We had to call Prevelo for the cranks. 86$ shipped. They are very cool people over there. Very Trailcraft-esk in that you can just get ahold of some cool dude and chat.

2- Getting the stock cranks off was REAL hard. A big breaker bar was needed to loosen them iirc.

3- When installing the BB, don't use any spacers (had to remove the BB to fix this).

4- The 30t chainring along with 10-42t cassette has been awesome. I thought perhaps there would be times when we wanted a 28t but that's not the case at all...he would be going SO slow at that point with the little wheels. He def uses the 10t cassette at times too on bigger jump run-ins where I don't have to pedal for the speed (29er) but he does.

The chainline looks good to me and it shifts excellent until my kid bangs his derailleur on something. I think the chain line might be better than the stock crank setup, but I'm not an expert on the topic.


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## ghabe (Mar 7, 2015)

svinyard said:


> 1- We had to call Prevelo for the cranks. 86$ shipped. They are very cool people over there. Very Trailcraft-esk in that you can just get ahold of some cool dude and chat.


You got a good deal at 86$ shipped! They quoted me 119$ plus shipping... it's still cheaper than Trailcraft, which sells the 140mm crank for 160$.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

ghabe said:


> You got a good deal at 86$ shipped! They quoted me 119$ plus shipping... it's still cheaper than Trailcraft, which sells the 140mm crank for 160$.


Fwiw I think the TrailCraft package comes with the BB too (20$ value approx).

Is Prevelo giving you a BB for 120?


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## 2melow (Jan 5, 2004)

svinyard said:


> Fwiw I think the TrailCraft package comes with the BB too (20$ value approx).


If reducing bike weight is important, Trailcraft uses an ALUMINUM spindle, which will be quite a bit lighter than the steel one Prevelo uses.


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

We just moved off the 24 onto adult XS .... (or finally sold the 24) 
We didn't have the same choice when we jumped in but ...

The old Norco 24 rear suspension (we had 2015) was (for 100mm) VERY GOOD.... no compromise on the shock as the frame was made for the tune and kids weights... ultimately it's only 100mm but it actually works really well... (so I would expect the new models will) - negative was is finding spare parts should it get damaged! 

Everything else was changed .... stock wheels were OK for messing about but otherwise every component was swapped

The propain is pretty capable... he has friends ride them and one gets free frames (so parts are all custom) and the other swapped the forks after a while (and is running Pike's now which work well/OK with kids weights) We run Pikes on Jnr's adult murdered out at 160mm but he's starting to need more travel... he might get my Fox36's with the MRP neg air ??? 

Overall though as Svinyard say's kids will shred on anything... 
Also if they can't manual well before the 24" then chainstay's are important. If they can manual well already then they will doubtless persevere and adjust.


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## TheRoadSouth (Aug 18, 2019)

I got my 7yo daughter the Spawn Rokk 24 and she loves the bike. Good on the downhills and she is able to climb it surprisingly well.


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## Bertleman (Feb 10, 2004)

Thanks a ton, @svinyard Super useful information. I'm leaning towards the Commencal because I can use PayPal credit and then use my cash for some upgrades. I have an extra dropper post too. I looked at the specs and it looks like the fork is the same on the Norco and Commencal.


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

"because I can use PayPal credit and then use my cash for some upgrades"

They are both great bikes (as are some others) ... but saving some cash for upgrades and repairs would be a good move IMHO. 
Some stuff you just won't work out until he's riding it.


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## Bertleman (Feb 10, 2004)

Now YT has thrown its hat into the game!
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/yt-releases-24-and-26-mini-jeffsys-for-kids.html


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Bertleman said:


> Now YT has thrown its hat into the game!
> https://www.pinkbike.com/news/yt-releases-24-and-26-mini-jeffsys-for-kids.html


And this is the king of kids 24" bikes at the moment, hands down. Duroc wheels, full Manitou kids Fork AND shock. Dialed geo. (Reach seems a bit long...but maybe that's good?). 27.8lbs with Maxxis DHR2's. You aren't getting anything close to that for 1899$. Norco's bike for that price is a big step down in spec. You'd have to go to the 2500$ version to get this (tho for 2500$ you do get a dropper).


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## TimTucker (Nov 9, 2011)

svinyard said:


> And this is the king of kids 24" bikes at the moment, hands down. Duroc wheels, full Manitou kids Fork AND shock. Dialed geo. (Reach seems a bit long...but maybe that's good?). 27.8lbs with Maxxis DHR2's. You aren't getting anything close to that for 1899$. Norco's bike for that price is a big step down in spec. You'd have to go to the 2500$ version to get this (tho for 2500$ you do get a dropper).


Not all perfect...


> Crankset
> SRAM X1 Eagle
> 165 mm | 30 T | DUB


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

TimTucker said:


> Not all perfect...


I know but nothing has the right cranks but hell for 1899$ you've got an extra 100-120$


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## GSJ1973 (May 8, 2011)

svinyard said:


> And this is the king of kids 24" bikes at the moment, hands down. Duroc wheels, full Manitou kids Fork AND shock. Dialed geo.


For more DH style riding, right? 130mm travel, almost 28 pounds, 800 gram tires, 66 degree head tube angle is pretty slack. Not sure my thin 55 pounder would make it very long trail riding with me on a bike like this!


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## Undescended (Apr 16, 2018)

Yea, FS likely ain’t the right choice yet due to weight, check out Nukeproof Cub Scout HT at ~25lb and $1k or less.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

GSJ1973 said:


> For more DH style riding, right? 130mm travel, almost 28 pounds, 800 gram tires, 66 degree head tube angle is pretty slack. Not sure my thin 55 pounder would make it very long trail riding with me on a bike like this!


Yeah I meant to say FS bikes. You'd be surprised what a kid can do on a well dialed FS tho with light wheels .


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

svinyard said:


> I know but nothing has the right cranks but hell for 1899$ you've got an extra 100-120$


Except they could have put SRAM 155mm ... still too long but at least a nod in the direction.


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## Angelcaro (Jul 17, 2016)

Have you considered the Rocky Mountain Reaper 24? My son rode one for a few seasons and it’s designed to also put 26” wheels on it when he grows a little.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Bertleman (Feb 10, 2004)

reviving this thread because YT says I can finally order the bike...the question is should I get him the 26" version? He is 140CM tall
YT says
PRIMUS JP 24 riders between 135 cm and 150 cm
PRIMUS JP 26 for riders between 145 cm and 160 cm
I'm tempted to get the 26, so he can grow into it since he is pretty close.
Any thoughts from my fellow


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

My kid is 53" now on his similar Commencal Clash FS bike. He looks great on it now. If he was 55" and I was buying it new...I'm probably go 26" for sure, or find a sick lastgen 27.5 Small w/ short chainstays and throw 26" Stan's 32h wheels on it with 155mm cranks and get the suspension tuned for him. 

My useless .02 on the bike:
The only complication is that the 26" and 24" bikes aren't the same at when it comes to the suspension. The 24" has all of the new JUnit kids fork and shock, I'm guessing the 26" is kind of the same old adult stuff with adult tune/guts and downgraded TS spring. After having a dedicated kids suspension, I'd likely not go back to the adult stuff if it was doable cost wise...and the YT stuff is pretty affordable relative to other similar bikes (like Norco Youth Sight). Our MTB coach was just commenting about how crazy well my oldest boys FS bike actually worked and tracked in the rough. Its definitely not a marginal difference at all. It'd probably run you about 300-350$ to get both fork and shock tuned for a kids weight (70lbs-ish). You should also ping Manitou (or Dougal on here) to see if you can get their "Expert Airspring" for the Machete fork. I've messed with both and it's a night-and-difference at low PSI over what the stock TS Airspring is (single chamber). Doing that would basically put the 26" suspension on-par with the highend JUnit OEM stuff spec'd on the 24".


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

"Any thoughts from my fellow"
I can't make it easy....
We completely missed a 26" frame altogether. He jumped from his 24" (Norco Fluid) to an Adult XS.

He's 5'10" now (177cm) a year and 1/2 later but couldn't say what size he was at the time. 

In a year and 1/2 he's gone from 26" wheels through running a mullet (27.5 front) on DH to 27.5. He's now stealing my bikes as well...

We just bought a frame for his 9th...he's now 35kg He stole my CC DB air and it's worked for him without any external mods..(I tried a monarch ML3 tune and that didn't) he can easily blow through 150mm of travel...

Fork wise he started off with an old Revelation (32mm)... with low friction seals and 2.5wt in the damper... sorta worked OK but had some top out with his weight/pressure. Stiffness wasn't an issue... but he needed more travel and took one of my Pike's. Surprisingly it works as is... (has a Luftkappa that may or may not help)


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Steve-XtC said:


> "Any thoughts from my fellow"
> I can't make it easy....
> We completely missed a 26" frame altogether. He jumped from his 24" (Norco Fluid) to an Adult XS.
> 
> ...


I'm leaning this direction for the next bike. I see a lot of groms around town shredding small 27.5 frames, some with smaller wheels. What frame did you go with when he was 9 and switched over, I want to check the geometry. Also he was 9yro and 35kg when he went to the 27.5 frame right? How tall was he?

Pike with a Luftkappa (dual chamber spring with focus on sensitive small bump) seems pretty sweet. Seems like a lot companies tried to copy that with the Debeonair/new Fox spring and Manitou's Expert Air. The Luftkapp springs ramp up heavier at the end than normal, so they tell me, and apparently upon install you'll normally remove a spacer or two. Did you have any issues with it ramping up harshly/not using deep travel? My buddy has a last gen pike and runs a bunch of spacers so maybe you had a lot of room to remove spacers as needed.


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## Bertleman (Feb 10, 2004)

the suspension is a concern for sure...especially because my son is light and only 4'6" there is a 3-pound weight difference as well. I'll see about the fork internals. thanks for the guidance


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

svinyard said:


> I'm leaning this direction for the next bike. I see a lot of groms around town shredding small 27.5 frames, some with smaller wheels. What frame did you go with when he was 9 and switched over, I want to check the geometry. Also he was 9yro and 35kg when he went to the 27.5 frame right? How tall was he?
> 
> Pike with a Luftkappa (dual chamber spring with focus on sensitive small bump) seems pretty sweet. Seems like a lot companies tried to copy that with the Debeonair/new Fox spring and Manitou's Expert Air. The Luftkapp springs ramp up heavier at the end than normal, so they tell me, and apparently upon install you'll normally remove a spacer or two. Did you have any issues with it ramping up harshly/not using deep travel? My buddy has a last gen pike and runs a bunch of spacers so maybe you had a lot of room to remove spacers as needed.


The fork I had 2 2015 pikes anyway and I had one with the deb airshaft and the other I got with the luftkappa already fitted. To be honest he just used the one not in use at the time having replaced it with a 36 (with MRP neg air and ramp control) ... I took out all the tokens... he typically uses most travel but not all though he's blown through it all and not said anything.. it does seem to ramp up at the end but not badly... it's hydraulic rather than a bumper

it really does work well .. I found out when he was going slow through a tech root rock section and I figured with my 170 36 I'd smash through ... (bit of dads not that old yet) ... yeah so ... he laughed his head off as I went flying over the bars after shouting "just smash through it like .....aaaahhhhhhhh" to be fair it was pretty funny  
I do have to keep explaining the 36's are too heavy for him .. or he'd whip them as well! I suspect they would actually work quite well with the neg air conversion but I'd need to take out the ramp control and I really think they'd pull the front down...

Frame full geo here 
https://www.bird.bike/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aeris-Mk1.5-Technical-Data-Sheet-V1.pdf

We know the frame designer (ride with him) and I'd thought he'd be a bit disapproving of what I'd done... instead he went home saying "I got a old frame spare I'm going to put one together for my 9yr old"

That said if you see the BB height you can only get away with this with kid length cranks.. it's one of the earlier long, low ... if anything he has to move weight further back because he hasn't much to move.

Anyway he's 35kg or thereabouts now... I'd guess he may have been 32kg when we put the pikes on ??? To be honest I never bother measuring or weighing him usually.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

svinyard said:


> I'm leaning this direction for the next bike. I see a lot of groms around town shredding small 27.5 frames, some with smaller wheels. What frame did you go with when he was 9 and switched over, I want to check the geometry. Also he was 9yro and 35kg when he went to the 27.5 frame right? How tall was he?
> 
> Pike with a Luftkappa (dual chamber spring with focus on sensitive small bump) seems pretty sweet. Seems like a lot companies tried to copy that with the Debeonair/new Fox spring and Manitou's Expert Air. The Luftkapp springs ramp up heavier at the end than normal, so they tell me, and apparently upon install you'll normally remove a spacer or two. Did you have any issues with it ramping up harshly/not using deep travel? My buddy has a last gen pike and runs a bunch of spacers so maybe you had a lot of room to remove spacers as needed.


I hadn't realised I'd typed 5'10" ... sorry that's 4'10" (177cm)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Steve-XtC said:


> I hadn't realised I'd typed 5'10" ... sorry that's 4'10" (177cm)
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I was about to send you a box of Sandwiches to feed the kid lol. 35kg and 5-10 would be pretty lean! Thanks for the rundown, that helps.


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

svinyard said:


> I was about to send you a box of Sandwiches to feed the kid lol. 35kg and 5-10 would be pretty lean! Thanks for the rundown, that helps.


LOL... sorry switching units is confusing. 
The UK is as mixed up as the bike industry...


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## [email protected] (Oct 23, 2017)

Hi,

Looking for suggestions for upgrades to the 24" Commencal Clash to reduce weight.

I ride a Santa Cruz 5010 C, and my son has been on a Spawn Yama Jama 24" for the last one year. He even did Whistler on it (3 days), with one day on a rented Rokkusuta.

So - given that most other viable options were sold out (Transition Ripcord, Spawn Rokk, Norco 24" FS 1/2) and my son really like the way the Commencal clash 24" looked, we went with that bike.

We assembled the bike yesterday - and the first thing we had to go was go and buy torx (star shaped) wrenches. Not sure why these guys just didn't use Hex for everything.

The front brake grinds on the side. I tried to adjust it a little but unlike a mechanical disk brake, on watching some videos online no idea how to actually adjust this side to side. Tried screwing around on the various things screws in the bike area and they didn't do anything. Took it to the local Trek bike shop. They spent 5 minutes adjusting it, but said that the rotor might need replacement. It's all too 'wobbly'.

I'll be taking the bike to my regular/santa cruz bike shop later today. 

While I'm at it, and since this bike is a boat (compared to the spawn yamajama) Out of the box, I think the bike needs a bunch of upgrades to shed some weight. I'm not handy, and the local bike shop will have to do most of the work, but still - I'll look for discounts on parts online to reduce the total bill.

Reason for the post:
If I were to want to do upgrades right away to reduce weight on the bike, what would be the few things I should do?

Even the wheel probably needs replacing - not sure whether it's tubeless ready. 

So - thinking Maxxis DHRs for front and rear for this bike. What else? Upgrade entire brake set? Wheelsets? Cranks? 

Suggestions please!!!


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

What year is your Clash 24"? The spec is upgraded in certain areas for the 2021.

Our custom Clash 24" with DHF/DHR2 and a KS Lev dropper is 27lbs. I could drop close to another pound with some lighter rotors, bars, saddle, pedals but it'd be marginal and expensive.

The biggest upgrade opportunity for the bike (assuming its not a 2021) is Stan's Crest Mk3 wheels @1300g. We did that and its insanely better than with the stock tanks. Wayne at SpeedBikeGear will make you a custom set for about 450$ shipped depending on component choices. Everything else you change will be fairly marginal compared to the wheels. Weight is important to a degree but rotational weight is a huge deal in our experience.

Most of this stuff is pretty easy to do if you watch some Park Tools videos etc.

https://www.speedgearbike.com/

If it came with 155mm cranks, thats another option to upgrade.


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## [email protected] (Oct 23, 2017)

It's the 2020. Kiddo liked the 2020 frame better. Thanks for the pointers!


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## CaptainDecisive (Sep 4, 2007)

If you have to replace a rotor anyway and want to shed a few grams then go for KCNC Razor or Ashima Airotor. The KCNCs I have are 75g at 160mm and 95g at 180mm. The stock Tektros are probably 120g/140g at those diameters. Replacing a rotor is dead easy to do at home. Get your kid to watch a video on Youtube and do it for himself.

Agreed on the Stans Crest rims. I got a 26" Crest set with Hope hubs for my boy's bike and they're great wheels plus only 1440g. At 24" especially it's your best option given the reduced selection.

Another easy weight loss is to grab some used carbon bars off eBay. Narrow bars, ie perfect for kids, go pretty cheap because modern adult bars are all much wider these days. Eg for 24" I used some Easton Monkeylites at 141g which were both wider and lighter than the stock alu bars at 204g.


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## 2melow (Jan 5, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> Hi,
> 
> Looking for suggestions for upgrades to the 24" Commencal Clash to reduce weight.
> 
> ...


As others have mentioned, the Crest MK3 wheelset will drop a ton of weight. Maxxis DHF/DHR tires are about 800g, so likely not a ton of savings unless you want to go to a Vee Crown Gem which is about 650g. Crown Gems are a 2.25 and if your goal is more gravity then stick with Maxxis. Cranks will save 150g, and probably a carbon bar, lighter stem, lighter seat post, pedals, rotors, etc. another 2 pounds.

If you strip it down to the bare frame, please weigh it and report a weight. I have a friend interested in building one up for the bike parks for his son for next season.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

2melow said:


> As others have mentioned, the Crest MK3 wheelset will drop a ton of weight. Maxxis DHF/DHR tires are about 800g, so likely not a ton of savings unless you want to go to a Vee Crown Gem which is about 650g. Crown Gems are a 2.25 and if your goal is more gravity then stick with Maxxis. Cranks will save 150g, and probably a carbon bar, lighter stem, lighter seat post, pedals, rotors, etc. another 2 pounds.
> 
> If you strip it down to the bare frame, please weigh it and report a weight. I have a friend interested in building one up for the bike parks for his son for next season.


I built ours up and the frame was about 3000g I think. It'll that take a solid slopestyle hit and only weights 27.2lbs atm. Climbs really well too.

If your trails aren't super rocky and you aren't park riding, you can run 24" Maxtion tires (light casing) at 560g. Similar to a HR2 tread. Then it gets really light.

The key is those Stan's Crest wheels, if you can get them custom built with 32h rims/hubs/spokes, then the bike kind of does everything super well and still really strong (for a 70lb kid). I haven't had to true the backwheel yet and the bike is definitely taking freeride style hits/cases.


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## 2wls4ever (May 11, 2006)

Great info in here! What do you think the ideal brake rotor sizes are for the 24" kids bikes? And who makes the best brakes with the correct size levers for kids? 

I have notice the shifting lever force is high for kids on most bikes. Any specific one stand out for shift lever force and ergonomics?


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## RMCDan (Feb 28, 2008)

2wls4ever said:


> What do you think the ideal brake rotor sizes are for the 24" kids bikes?


Depends. On something like the Clash I'd stick with 180, but 160 would be fine for a less aggressive bike. The suggestion to use Ashima rotors on a Clash is, with all due respect, insane.



2wls4ever said:


> And who makes the best brakes with the correct size levers for kids?


Hayes Dominion SFL. They're not cheap, but they're the best. I'm far from unbiased as my kid is sponsored by Hayes, but that doesn't make it less true. Hayes Dominion brakes are awesome in general. I put them on my bike last year and the XTs I had are garbage in comparison.


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## 2melow (Jan 5, 2004)

RMCDan said:


> The suggestion to use Ashima rotors on a Clash is, with all due respect, insane.


I have 160mm Ashima rotors on my carbon singlespeed (180 pound rider weight) and they are fine for everyday XC riding. If I was seasoning bike park runs repeatedly, the Ashima rotors would warp pretty fast I think. You would want some bigger rotors for sure.


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## Sonoma_MTB (Mar 18, 2011)

svinyard said:


> Yeah I meant to say FS bikes. You'd be surprised what a kid can do on a well dialed FS tho with light wheels .





svinyard said:


> Hey man, you are looking at some nice bikes. We have one of these on your list but dumped cash into it to fix the spec (for good reason). I've seen plenty of kids shred, SERIOUSLY shred, on less than ideal 24" bikes so take the details with that in mind. A talented kid can shred nearly anything going down it seems. Regardless, things have improved a lot so we finally have some suspension and modern geo choices that have truly moved kids bikes into the realm of adult bikes. No bike is perfect tho.
> 
> 1- Geo is king
> 2- Suspension is a close second
> ...


Long shot... Any chance your kids have outgrown that clash 24 and you're looking to sell?


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## SandrMilky (5 mo ago)

It can even be said cute


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