# 2013 Specialized 7 speed 24" Hotrock



## CrashCanipe (Jan 12, 2004)

Spent a lot of time thinking about the purchase of a bike for my 8 year old son. He has outgrown his 20" bike. Saw a great deal on the 2013 Hotrock 7 speed 24" bike ($300 vs the $380 MSRP) and picked it up. I posted the link below.

Some initial thoughts for anyone considering it:
- went back and forth on the 21 vs 7 speed. Given we don't have too many long, steep hills around I opted to save a little weight and went with the 7 speed. May regret it but we'll see.
- the bike straight out of the box weighed in at 28.3 lbs. A little beefy but not sure there is much out there that much lighter.
- I hit the parts bin from all my bikes and immediately sought out a way to reduce weight. I removed the kickstand and reflectors. I grabbed a carbon seatpost I had and got rid of the stock one. I thought about replacing the stem but the weight wasn't that bad. The handlebar on the other hand was a boat anchor. Grabbed a reasonably light aluminum one the same size and replaced it. Finally, I'm sticking two Schwalbe Rocket Rons on there to take another pound out. It is now down to 25.7 pounds.

I'm sure there is much more I could do to take weight off but this isn't too bad. I wanted to post weights for others looking for a 24" wheel bike since I see a broad range on mtbr. If anyone else is familiar with the bike and can suggest other porky components that are reasonable to replace, I'm all ears.

Specialized Bicycle Components


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## pearsth (Mar 31, 2009)

Nice, I bought the green one for my daughter. Which bar did you buy? Did you go with riser bars or leave it stock?


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

I'm currently running Sinz cranks on my son's 24" bike with a Salsa 34 tooth chainring with a Tooth Fairy chainguard and a Jumpstop so he doesnt drop his chain. This lightened the bike considerably from the stock crankset. 
On the rear, I put Shimano 10 speed cassette shifted by an X7 shifter and derailleur. Works mint.
Check Ebay for Kalloy parts... They make reasonably light parts that don't cost a whole ton of money. I think I paid seven dollars for riser handlebars.


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## CrashCanipe (Jan 12, 2004)

I don't even know the type of bar. It was an old light aluminum bar that was exactly the same 24" wide flat bar that came on the bike. The bar that came on the bike is HEAVY. 

I think the cranks and cassette are the next items. Thanks for the advice NYrr496.


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## pearsth (Mar 31, 2009)

I replaced the BB in my son's 2010 Hotrock A1 FS after it wore out. The original was heavy. You should see some ways to gain there.


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

NP. Hope it helps.


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## XCScott (Aug 31, 2012)

Just got my son the 24" hotrock he is only 5 (but he's very tall) probably would have fit a 20" but he rides the 24 quite well off road. Haven't started upgrading yet, but the bike seems really solid overall!


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## CrashCanipe (Jan 12, 2004)

Took another 1/4 pound out today without even thinking about it. The saddle that comes on the bike is heavier than I thought (350g). My son was complaining that it didn't feel as good as the one on his old bike so I just switched the saddle.


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## [email protected] (Sep 3, 2012)

good choice


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## jamie_b (Jun 2, 2012)

XCScott said:


> Just got my son the 24" hotrock he is only 5 (but he's very tall) probably would have fit a 20" but he rides the 24 quite well off road. Haven't started upgrading yet, but the bike seems really solid overall!


wow! how tall is he? what is his inseam?
can he touch both feet on the ground with
the seatpost lowered all the way?


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## XCScott (Aug 31, 2012)

I think he is 48" tall not sure of his inseam. Yes he can touch the ground the seat is fairly low, but the frame is a unique design as well to suit the smaller riders the top tube swoops down much like some 29ers Ive seen. I was deadset on getting him the 20" Hotrock which was perfect at the time back in May, but the guys at my LBS told us we should try the 24" Hotrock, because at his height we would be back in buying him a 24" in a year, and he was right he got right on and took off across the parking lot no problem.

Here's a pic of him on it today.


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## jamie_b (Jun 2, 2012)

We were going through the same thing last fall with the Specialized Hotrock 16" coaster vs. Hotrock 20" coaster for our 4 y/o. 

She could fit on the 20" but she was more comfortable on the 16" bike. I wanted the redline pitboss but the wife didn't like the boy colors on it. 

The LBS said we would be back in a year for the Hotrock 20". I told them it was okay since she has a little sister. We got her the Hotrock 16" for Christmas. Now she is 5 y/o and ready for the 20" bike. 

We were looking at the Hotrock 20" coaster vs Hotrock 20" 6 speed. 

I guess we will have to check out the Hotrock 24" now!
Thanks

If the seat is lowered all the way down...what is the measurement from ground to
top of seat? Did you have to cut the seatpost or was it able to drop all the way down? 

Her inseam is 19" and she doesn't like to be on her tippy toes.


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## XCScott (Aug 31, 2012)

Took some measurements tonite. It's 26-27" to the top of the seat itself from the ground, but it could go down another 2-3 inches. His inseam is 23-24" He is on his tippy toes to straddle it and touch the ground. Hope that helps. 

Ordering the Kalloy bars on Crashes observation that the stock ones are heavy (they look like steel bars..yikes!!) Also found an older model, but mint LX rear derailler in my parts bin that I'm going to swap out for the crappy one that is on there!


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## jamie_b (Jun 2, 2012)

oh, okay thanks! I guess 20" hotrock 6 speed is the way to go for us.

I guess it won't hurt to check out the girls 24" hotrock while we are there. 

I know the standover height on the website is smaller on the girls vs. boys.
Heard that might be the standover height on the TT not the actual seat???

xcscott,
You dropping a few pounds on the bike like crash? 
What was your son riding before the new 24" hotrock?

crash,

what 20" was your son on before the hotrock 24?


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## CrashCanipe (Jan 12, 2004)

crash,

what 20" was your son on before the hotrock 24?[/QUOTE]

My son was riding a Fisher 20" bike - don't remember the model. The 20" still fits him fine but it is pretty beat up and the fork that came on it is horrible - immediately bottoms out on any normal bump. He's loving the 24". I will probably end up doing more replacing of components since I figure I will get three years out of it before passing it along.


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## pearsth (Mar 31, 2009)

Has anyone tried changing the rear freewheel with the stock derailer? I have 2 hotrock's in the stable for my kids. One is a 24" A1 FS 21 speed and the other is a standard 7 speed.

For climbing, I think the 7 speed is tougher due the lack of the small ring up front and the lack of an extra big granny gear on the back.

The A1 FS has a Shimano MegaRange for an extra low gear. I think this would be a great addition to the 7 speed.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003RLNOKC/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

Tom


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## XCScott (Aug 31, 2012)

jamie_b said:


> xcscott,
> You dropping a few pounds on the bike like crash?
> What was your son riding before the new 24" hotrock?


Going to do a few upgrades along the way.

He was on a dept. store 16" coaster brake POS, the first time we went to our local state park he did about 6 miles off road on that thing. We went for about 6 months like that before deciding it was time to upgrade. We don't have much in the way of climbs down here in FL so I knew the 7spd with v brakes would be fine for him.


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

pearsth, I'm not sure if I'm understanding your question completely, so I'll just tell you what I did on my son's two bikes.
His 20" Gary Fisher Precaliber came with six speeds and gripshift. The rear spacing was 130mm. I took an old XT hub, reworked the spacers so it would fit and was able to give him a 1x8 drivetrain with XT trigger and an xt derailleur. 
I recently built him a 24" GF Tyro. I stripped the entire bike to the bare frame. I used a Shimano Deore hub laced to Sunringle Rhinolite rims and a 1x 10 drivetrain with x7 shifter and derailleur. 
Both bikes worked mint.


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## sjroland (Jul 3, 2011)

Another one to look at- Cannndale started making kids bikes. Searching for Xmas for 7 year old. Cannondale 24" 7-speed looks really cool in the Lime Green like daddy but standover appears to be high.


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## pearsth (Mar 31, 2009)

NYrr496 - I am not going to get that into upgrading the bikes. My kids are not hardcore enough (yet). Regarding the freewheel, the one in the link has a 34T gear to get to a lower range on the 7sp for climbing. 

The current setup of of 7sp, especially compared to the 24 speed, is the lack of low climbing gears.

Tom


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

pearsth said:


> NYrr496 - I am not going to get that into upgrading the bikes. My kids are not hardcore enough (yet). Regarding the freewheel, the one in the link has a 34T gear to get to a lower range on the 7sp for climbing.
> 
> The current setup of of 7sp, especially compared to the 24 speed, is the lack of low climbing gears.
> 
> Tom


Yeah. That was the problem. So I built his 24" bike with a 34 tooth Salsa chainring and an XT cassette. The largest cog on there is 36 tooth. Combined with the 24" wheels, he climbs just about anything. 
I kept it a single up front to keep it simple.


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## albertdc (Mar 2, 2007)

NYrr496 said:


> I'm currently running Sinz cranks on my son's 24" bike with a Salsa 34 tooth chainring with a Tooth Fairy chainguard and a Jumpstop so he doesnt drop his chain. This lightened the bike considerably from the stock crankset.
> On the rear, I put Shimano 10 speed cassette shifted by an X7 shifter and derailleur. Works mint.
> Check Ebay for Kalloy parts... They make reasonably light parts that don't cost a whole ton of money. I think I paid seven dollars for riser handlebars.


Did the Sinz cranks go on the original bottom bracket or did you replace the BB also? My 5yo is on the Hotrock 20 and I was realizing today when he was riding some local singletrack how ridiculous the 36t front ring is. I think I want to change him to a 34 or even 32t...I think the BB and crank is similar between the 20 and 24" hotrocks, so I would love to know what you did.

Thanks


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

albertdc said:


> Did the Sinz cranks go on the original bottom bracket or did you replace the BB also? My 5yo is on the Hotrock 20 and I was realizing today when he was riding some local singletrack how ridiculous the 36t front ring is. I think I want to change him to a 34 or even 32t...I think the BB and crank is similar between the 20 and 24" hotrocks, so I would love to know what you did.
> 
> Thanks


When I built his 20" bike a couple years ago, I had to swap the BB to perfect the chainline. On the 24, I was able to re use the stock one. 
I am using a 34 tooth Salsa ring. You have to remember the tires are shorter than 26 or 29", so the ratios are a little shorter in the end. You may be able to find a 32 tooth ring at Blackspire. In my case, the 34 works flawlessly. 
BTW, the Salsa ring works fine with the ten speed chain.


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## albertdc (Mar 2, 2007)

NYrr496 said:


> When I built his 20" bike a couple years ago, I had to swap the BB to perfect the chainline. On the 24, I was able to re use the stock one.
> I am using a 34 tooth Salsa ring. You have to remember the tires are shorter than 26 or 29", so the ratios are a little shorter in the end. You may be able to find a 32 tooth ring at Blackspire. In my case, the 34 works flawlessly.
> BTW, the Salsa ring works fine with the ten speed chain.


@NYrr496 - Thanks. Sending you a PM (don't want to threadjack too much...)


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## Makakio (Jun 12, 2013)

Let's revive this - in the market for a Spesh hotrock 24 for my daughter. 

Thinking 7 speed as though we DO have hills, we'll be shuttling her to keep it fun (climbing just *isn't* fun at 7yo haha)... 

Weight saving mods are key - 28.5 for the 7spd is insane (read: that's HALF of what SHE weighs no joke). Bars, seat post, saddle, tires (can you go tubeless with the stock wheels??). Anyone do more??

Love the gearing tips - want to get it lower than stock.

Really excited to hear that some of you have already dropped 3.5lbs on it for minimal cost (12+%!) - would really like to see this bike get to 23lbs for minimal cost. Is drilling/removing material possible - or has material been weight-optimized on the frame?


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

The crankset, wheels, stem and seatpost are usually real heavy on these bikes. 
Maybe by swapping the crankset to save weight and improve the ratio you'll save enough weight with other bolt on parts to keep the stock wheels.


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## goodmojo (Sep 12, 2011)

I ordered the 20" with a rigid fork for my daughter's 6th birthday. I had her sized a few months ago and they said 20" but when I was picking up the bike they had a sizing chart that said at 48" they should be on a 24. 

I bought the 20", but then brought her back in and because she has really long legs the 24" fits fine, the seat doesnt even need to be slammed.

I bought the rigid 20 because I wanted to shave some weight compared to the suspension fork. However they dont have a rigid 24 in the right pink color (they only have black with pink).

Does anyone have weights on the two forks? When we go back to the store Ill probably have them weigh the bikes. My carbon fiber hardtail only weighs 21 pounds so it is a bit weird to have my @50 lb daughter on a 28 lb bike.

Should I wait to order a rigid 24 or just take the 24 with suspension?


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## Makakio (Jun 12, 2013)

I am also interested. Much of my searching suggests the forks spesh uses for the kids bikes are heavy junk. Yes, there's a price point issue, but I'd like all y'alls thoughts on the weight penalty vs performance!



goodmojo said:


> I ordered the 20" with a rigid fork for my daughter's 6th birthday. I had her sized a few months ago and they said 20" but when I was picking up the bike they had a sizing chart that said at 48" they should be on a 24.
> 
> I bought the 20", but then brought her back in and because she has really long legs the 24" fits fine, the seat doesnt even need to be slammed.
> 
> ...


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## goodmojo (Sep 12, 2011)

So I had them weigh the two bikes, the suspension fork bike was 29 pounds. The rigid bike was 26 pounds.

However the rigid bike has a triple up front.


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