# Specialized Hotrock 16 suspension fork



## Authentic (Jun 5, 2016)

Hey fellas,

I am looking for an options to equip my son's Hotrock with suspension fork and it turns out that there are not so much models and all of them designed for 20" bikes. I googled few by Suntour and chinese analogs, but don't want to waste 100 USD. Would love to hear about someone's fresh experience.

PS Kid is almost 4 yo and pretty lightweight (16 kg or 35 pounds), but I definitely see him struggling running over roots and stones.


----------



## shank3r (Aug 15, 2013)

16' bikes are inherently rough because of the diameter of the tire creates for a high angle of impact from almost any obstacle....

Perhaps waiting till your kiddo has grown into his next bike to spend the money forward on a higher end one than you would otherwise will work out better for you


----------



## Authentic (Jun 5, 2016)

shank3r said:


> 16' bikes are inherently rough because of the diameter of the tire creates for a high angle of impact from almost any obstacle....
> 
> Perhaps waiting till your kiddo has grown into his next bike to spend the money forward on a higher end one than you would otherwise will work out better for you


Good point, sir. Didn't look on that from this angle. However it will take at least a year or two to get on 20" bike just because of height. I have not made a decision yet and would love to hear a feedback if someone had already done this before.


----------



## hallin222 (Oct 13, 2005)

Maybe consider trying the largest volume 16" tire you can find, and running it at the lowest pressure possible without risking pinch flats or unsafe handling.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


----------



## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

Kids grow so fast it's not worth ploughing a lot of money into upgrading their bikes. And in my opinion they don't even need suspension. Just make the bike as light as possible and let them get on with it.


----------



## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

I can't see you getting anything to fit 16" wheels that doesn't make the bike heavier and unbalanced.. like Hallin222 says your best best is the largest tires you can find. 

Even if you did manage to fit a 20" fork and it didn't affect the geometry too badly it would probably not work well if at all with a 16kg kid.


----------



## RMCDan (Feb 28, 2008)

16"-specific suspension forks don't exist, AFAIK. You could use a 20" fork if the A2C difference isn't too extreme, but the only fork that would probably work at all for a kid that size is a MRP Rustler and those are $$$.


----------



## shank3r (Aug 15, 2013)

749 for a kids bike fork huh? ouch..

Rustler ? MRP


----------



## shank3r (Aug 15, 2013)

Here's a few pictures to compare a Hotrock 16 with factory fork to the Spinner Grind 20" air fork (On my kiddo's new Early Rider)

I'm still going to suggest you put the money that you'd otherwise spend on the 16" Hotrock upgrades into an envelope and use it to step up for a real deal spec'd 20" bike when the time comes.

If you do ANYTHING to the hotrock, add brakes and teach your kiddo to use brake levers and not the coaster brake.


----------



## GrayJay (May 16, 2011)

It should be possible to modify a manitou 3 or manitou 4 fork down to suit 16" wheel size. This is a lightweight and fairly easy conversion for 20" wheel size but will require even more work to fit the smaller rims, would likely require shortening not just the lowers but also shortening the stanchion tubes, modifying the pushrod (or fabricating a custom pushrod) and converting to a (single) coil spring. The stanchion tubes will need to be shortened because once you cut 5" from the lowers, there would not be sufficient travel remaining before it bottoms out.
forums.mtbr.com/families-riding-kids/suspension-fork-shortening-932945.html


----------



## PMK (Oct 12, 2004)

I agree with what GrayJay has mentioned about converting an old Manitou. Could be done, but is going to be more work than going from 26 to 20. As a guess, based on my own converting a Manitou 4 to 20" without modifying the inner legs, you might get 1" of travel.

In regards to what you have, our squadron of bikes has a 16" Hotrock with a coaster brake. I agree with the person that mentioned teach the kid to ride without using the coaster brake and spend the mod money on either adding brake posts and a set of V brakes to the rear, or find a different bike with rim brakes.

Now for the easiest way to get your kid over the rough terrain, change the gearing. The easiest change will be to add one tooth on the rear and lengthen the chain if needed. After that, if in the budget, swap out as many steel items for aluminum and be done with it.

Get the kid to master his momentum and standing when needed. As this carries over to the 20" bike, he will have an easier time of it.

All the best.


----------



## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

GrayJay said:


> It should be possible to modify a manitou 3 or manitou 4 fork down to suit 16" wheel size. This is a lightweight and fairly easy conversion for 20" wheel size but will require even more work to fit the smaller rims, would likely require shortening not just the lowers but also shortening the stanchion tubes, modifying the pushrod (or fabricating a custom pushrod) and converting to a (single) coil spring...


And you'd best do it fast or the kid will be out of the bike before you're done!


----------



## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

I put a Spinner Grind air fork (20") on my Spawn Banshee 16" bike. Had to grind off the vbrake mounts and use clamp on vbrake mounts (click here) to accommodate the smaller wheel size. The project was a huge success!



















The hardest part is obtaining the fork - I did just see someone selling one on this forum - search for it.

PS. I also customized it to add a 2x1 transmission for climbing hills easier as described in this post.


----------



## Raivyn (Oct 10, 2012)

CeUnit said:


> The hardest part is obtaining the fork - I did just see someone selling one on this forum - search for it.


+1

Just a few years ago it was impossible to get one, an if you found one they were $$$. Now you can at least find nice bikes with them already installed.


----------



## 53sled (Mar 11, 2016)

I used a regular 20" bmx fork to gain bb clearance on a hotrock 16, converted the crank and modified the wheel to eliminate the foot brake. still was heavy but it would fly off ramps fine.


----------



## PMK (Oct 12, 2004)

CeUnit said:


> I put a Spinner Grind air fork (20") on my Spawn Banshee 16" bike. Had to grind off the vbrake mounts and use clamp on vbrake mounts (click here) to accommodate the smaller wheel size. The project was a huge success!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The 3 year old grandkid is riding a Spawn I picked up for her. It too has a 2x1 setup. She asked why she did not have a fork that moved like on her sisters Hotrock 20. Seeing that Spawn, maybe I will build a Minitou 16 for her bike. Was not too bad building a 20 Minitou, and I did pick up another fork for spares and possibly for the Hotrock 24.

Need to take some measurements and see if it is worth it.

Thanks for the photo of the Spawn.


----------

