# 24 Inch forks, tires



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 1996)

Ok, this may sound familiar. My daughter has a 24" wheeled Specialized Hotrock. I swore I wouldn't upgrade it but I see some golden opportunities here now that she's riding a ton.

The fork is Suntour. It weighs about 5 lbs and it doesn't move. Are there better suspension forks out there? What about rigid forks. If I can find one, I think it will save close to 4 lbs.

The stock tires are Fasttrack 1.8s. Are there good 24 inch tires out there that are 2.2 in size? Then I can lower pressure for her and maybe tubeless.

fc


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## Cary (Dec 29, 2003)

Francois. For the fork, the best alternative is an old 80mm Sid xc or manitou skareb or r7. You will need a new front wheel to run a front disc. 

For tires, Kenda sb8 or Schwalbe makes a light bmx tire some use. 

Cary


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## coldbike (Feb 24, 2011)

Schwalbe Mow Joes are really light and fast and wear out really fast - except that kids don't usually weigh much and so their tires end up lasting quite well. My kid is riding on them and they seem to be just fine.
If I was looking for the lightest possible fork, I would think about rigid. I believe that a non-suspension-corrected 26 inch is what has the same crown height as the 24 inch suspended. You would need to either use disk brakes or move the cantilever posts. As it is I am rebuilding a RS Duke that has an air spring that I can lower the pressure on and make work for the kid. I am also having to rebuild the wheel with a disk hub.


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

francois said:


> Ok, this may sound familiar. My daughter has a 24" wheeled Specialized Hotrock. I swore I wouldn't upgrade it but I see some golden opportunities here now that she's riding a ton.
> 
> The fork is Suntour. It weighs about 5 lbs and it doesn't move. Are there better suspension forks out there? What about rigid forks. If I can find one, I think it will save close to 4 lbs.
> 
> ...


Contact Demo9 at little shredders bikes. Home Page
Just use the contact form and tell him you're interested in one of the 24 inch air forks.

I bought a Spinner 24 inch air fork off him, 1/2 lb lighter and much smother than any stock fork, even has a lock out.

Here's a pic on my son's Bayview Trail SE:


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## Asmodeus2112 (Jan 4, 2008)

I bought an RST F!rst 24. It has external rebound and compression. I opted to keep the V brakes as they are lighter and helped keep the cost down a bit.


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

As for rigid forks, the Surly 1x1 fork is a pretty decent one. Not too heavy, will accommodate up to a 26"x3" tire mounted on a 2.5" wide rim. I put one on my son’s 24" Marin Bayview Trail build I am working on, and will be putting a 24"x3" Nokian Gazzaloddi tire mounted on a 2.5" wide Surly Large Marge rim. The tire can be run at pretty low pressure on a wide rim, under 10psi, so it will give some squish factor. The fork is at least 1/2 the weight of the stock suspension fork that came with the bike.


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## kuan (Oct 18, 2008)

Dang. Last week I was convinced there were no 24" air forks. Today I know of at least two. Thanks people.


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

I have Maxxis Snipers on my son's 24" bike. Folding bead, awesome tread. I'm running them on Sunringle Rhynolites. I'm going to try and set them up tubeless soon.

Don't do what I did for the fork. I bought a brand new 2004 or so Manitou Axel on Ebay for 40 bucks. Fork is fine but it weighs a ton.


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

NYrr496 said:


> I have Maxxis Snipers on my son's 24" bike. Folding bead, awesome tread. I'm running them on Sunringle Rhynolites. I'm going to try and set them up tubeless soon.
> 
> Don't do what I did for the fork. I bought a brand new 2004 or so Manitou Axel on Ebay for 40 bucks. Fork is fine but it weighs a ton.


Are you sure on the tire? Just asking since I Googled them and Maxxis' own page says the 24 are wire and weight a ton at 650 grams.

Snyper


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## Asmodeus2112 (Jan 4, 2008)

NYrr496 said:


> I have Maxxis Snipers on my son's 24" bike. Folding bead, awesome tread. I'm running them on Sunringle Rhynolites. I'm going to try and set them up tubeless soon.
> 
> Don't do what I did for the fork. I bought a brand new 2004 or so Manitou Axel on Ebay for 40 bucks. Fork is fine but it weighs a ton.


I went with the SB8's as they were the lightest tire I could find that had a tread that would be ok on both hardpack and road.

I tried to set up the SB8's tubeless, but my standard Stan's rim strips are too narrow for these crappy Bontrager rims. I'm going to wait until I build some wheels to go any further. The tires, fork stem and handlebar dropped a bit over 3lbs off this bike. My daughter says it's much better now.


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

I didn't say they were light, I just like the tread.


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

NYrr496 said:


> I didn't say they were light, I just like the tread.


Sorry not sure why I thought I read light. Guess just used to it when reading kids tire recommendations


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## TigWorld (Feb 8, 2010)

Here's my take on 24" air forks for kids.

If you need to use v-brakes then you've got the RST F1RST Air 24", Spinner Air 24" or SR Suntour XCR Air 24" to choose from. Weight-wise the RST F1RST Air 24" at 1600g is about 200g lighter than the others. Any of these forks is going to set you back around $200.

If you've got disk wheels (or some fabrication skills to make a v-brake adapter) then I'd be thinking about some sort of 26" air fork like an older SID (or newer SID) or Manitou R7. A2C on a 63mm SID is only 15mm more than a typical 24" fork. The SID will be lighter and chances are the damping, action and tunability will be better. Parts are probably more readily available as well. Peoples experience with the 26" suntour, spinner and RST forks suggests that seals, bushes etc. are sometimes not easily available and that quaility may not be the same as a top model fork from Rochshox or Manitou. Second hand older SIDs go for around $100 where I live. Second hand 32mm chassis SIDs are often less than $300 second hand.

When the kids grow they can also use a 26" fork on their next bike.

My youngest has almost outgrown her BMX based MTB, so I'm putting together a 24" bike for her. That will be the last 24" we'll need so I am aiming for maximum re-use once she moves to a 26" bike. The only thing I won't be able to use off her new 24" bike when going to a 26" bike will be the spokes and rims (she may outgrow a couple of sets of cranks while on the 24" though).


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## Aresab (Mar 27, 2007)

TigWorld,
You beat me to a similar response! My son, now 9, is on a 14" Sette Reken with 24" rims that I built him since I wanted disc brakes ( http://forums.mtbr.com/families-riding-kids/need-help-24-inch-13-inch-xs-my-son-705860.html). The fork is an 08 Manitou R7. They can be found new on eBay cheap and he will definitly grow with them. I have a small FS waiting to be built, but he's way too small so we'll run with the hardtail.


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

I also put a 26" fork on my son's 24" bike. At first, I was a little concerned that the bike wasn't going to handle correctly. 
I put the stem on with negative rise and installed the softest spring I could find. It works pretty well and my boy has no issues riding/ steering the bike. 
Only thing that sucks is I finished this bike in July and he had a big growth spurt this summer. Looks like I'll be building a 26er sooner than I thought.


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## logbiter (Dec 30, 2003)

If you want to go rigid, titus ti has good deals on the on-one 26" forks. I just ordered a couple of the disc only, which are 440mm AC. The disc + canti are 420mm.


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## IAmHolland (Jul 8, 2010)

http://forums.mtbr.com/families-riding-kids/sons-24-bike-779684.html

I opted for a 26 inch fork, running 80mm though and not 63mm. The bike is slack, not sure if your daughter can handle that. The pictures of the bike, it has been upgraded further and made lighter with Easton EC70 handlebar, Carbon seatpost, WTB Rocket V, and a bunch of Ti and alloy stuff.

The 24 inch specific forks sound great though.

Tires, Schwalbe Rocket Ron, 24x2.1. I'm running it ghetto tubeless.

Edit: CarbonCycles.CC :: Components :: Products :: Forks - Recumbent / Folder :: eXotic Carbon Rigid Fork for 24 Inch Wheel - Disc Only :: CC-F03-24 for a carbon rigid fork. I don't know the specs on your fork. I'm not sure if this fork can handle a really wide tire.


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