# Spawn Rokk 24" - first impressions and tweaks



## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

Pre-ordered the new *Spawn Rokk 24"* for my 53lbs 50.5" tall 8 year old. It arrived in mid July as advertised and I've been fiddling with it for the past couple of weeks. It's beautiful! It's ridiculously plush for a kid. *Bone stock, straight onto the scale, it comes in at 29.44 lbs.

*Mods I made right away:

- *Tires: **Maxxis DHF 3C EXO to replace **Brood Maxtion DH**. *No solid reason aside from the DHF's being a trusted kick-ass tire. The Brood Maxtions have been great on the 20" Rokkusuta. _0 weight difference (DHFs and Maxtions each are 750g on my scale)._

- *Tires: Tubeless. *_Save 200g per wheel thanks to the tubes._

- *Seatpost/Saddle: O**neUp V2 120mm dropper with SDG Fly Jr. *The 33mm stack height is super low compared to others, important cuz my kid barely fits this bike. 120mm is perfect for now, fully slammed to be as low as possible for riding down, and fully up happens to be just right for climbing. At 53 lbs, he's just barely heavy enough to get it to lower by sitting on it. Unlike his old KS Lev Integra, he can't use his hand to push down the OneUp dropper. It was a really tricky install but with some crafty engineering I got it to work; curious if other people had any issues with a dropper in this frame. _About 800g including saddle, dropper, wire, and remote, versus 435g for the stock post/saddle._

- *Brakes: **SRAM Guide RS instead of SRAM Level T.* We spend a bunch of days at Whistler Bike Park each season, so the upgrade is nice. As well, my bike and my younger son's 20" Rokkusuta already have Guide brakes, so it'll be nice to only have to stock Guide pads and a bleeding edge syringe. _0 weight difference.

_- *Grips: ODI SDG's instead of Brood 140mm. *Cuz the Brood's are 1.5 cm longer than any adult grip I've ever seen, and hence ridiculously wide for my kid.

- *Fork: **'Fix' the Rockshox Reba RL 27.5, and remove the stock token. *The fork had issues out of the box and would not extend to full length, especially at 30 psi, which is appropriate for a 53 lbs rider. Searching the internet, I learned the trick of removing the air cap and stretching out the fork vigorously until a sucking oil sound is heard. After that the fork worked so beautifully!!! 140mm travel is bottomless for a kid, so I took out the one stock token for now. We'll see if he ever bottoms out hard and I'll reconsider if so, but right now he's at about 95% travel on a 3 foot drop to flat concrete.

- *Mud guard: Ass Savers Mudder. *I love its clean crisp lines.

- *Bash guard: on the ToDo list. *Cuz the ISCG-05 one I had won't fit. The frame uses the outdated ISCG-03/old pattern. Puzzles me why. Will likely get a Blackspire Crusher.

After all those changes, the bike weighs in at 29.78 lbs. I'm super happy with it now and of course my son loves it. The suspension is super plush and he's rocking our local North Shore trails on it - both climbing and descending. Looking forward to our first Whistler Bike Park day on it this weekend!


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## cakemonster (Sep 30, 2012)

Thank you for the review. Very helpful. 

Trying to decide between this and a TC Maxwell.

Wish there was something a bit in between (lighter 120 or 140 travel).


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

cakemonster said:


> Thank you for the review. Very helpful.
> 
> Trying to decide between this and a TC Maxwell.
> 
> Wish there was something a bit in between (lighter 120 or 140 travel).


There is one but it might be a bit of a pain to get over to the US. VPace Moritz24"

https://www.vpace.de/produkt/moritz24-kinder-trail-fully/

I don't love the geometry or the look of it but its not a bad option if you can get one.. No idea why they have to make the rear ends so long for little kid bikes.


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

cakemonster said:


> Wish there was something a bit in between (lighter 120 or 140 travel).


Yeah, lighter would definitely be nicer... While I'm very conscious of weight, I try not to get hung up on it. At the end of the day, a kid will ride a bike well regardless of a few lbs difference. I load a 22 oz water bottle (additional 1.5 lbs) on my kids' hardtail and he's never said anything, nor experienced anything different than when the bottle's not there. Likewise on my own bike - i can't tell if my water bottle's full or empty. I just ride... and it's super fun!

I typically ride with a backpack containing all the tools, snacks, water, arm/knee pads (on the way up) for us so my kids don't have to carry anything... much easier and cheaper than trying to shave two or three pounds on the bike. Hee hee


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## TheRoadSouth (Aug 18, 2019)

Thanks for the awesome review, super helpful. Since you seem to also have experience with the Rokkusuta, what do you think about the Rokk vs the Rokkusuta?


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

TheRoadSouth said:


> Thanks for the awesome review, super helpful. Since you seem to also have experience with the Rokkusuta, what do you think about the Rokk vs the Rokkusuta?


The 24" Rokk versus the 24" Rokkusuta...


The biggest challenge I had is that my son is officially too short for either bike; the Rokkusuta's horizontal top tube length is 63mm longer which makes it much harder to reach the handles for an undersized kid.
The Rokk's got a better climbing ratio: 11 spd, 42t cog and 32t up front. Rokkusuta: 10 spd with a 36t cog in the back and 34t up front.
The Rokkusuta comes with Sram Guide R brakes which are superior to the Sram Level T brakes on the Rokk.
The Rockshox shock (and the Rokk's frame) and fork are way better than the X-Fusions on the Rokkusuta.
IIRC the seat post insertion depth is shorter on the Rokkusuta, limiting the dropper choices more than on the Rokk.
Those are the key differences that mattered to me. Hope that helps!


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## TheRoadSouth (Aug 18, 2019)

CeUnit said:


> The 24" Rokk versus the 24" Rokkusuta...
> 
> 
> The biggest challenge I had is that my son is officially too short for either bike; the Rokkusuta's horizontal top tube length is 63mm longer which makes it much harder to reach the handles for an undersized kid.
> ...


Thanks again, that is all very helpful.

I spoke with Spawn, in addition to that they also said:
- Rokkusuta 24" has a slightly more slack geometry (slacker head tube angle and more upright seat tube angle but reach measurement is very similar between the two). 
- Better drivetrain and a RockShox Reba 26" fork on the Rokk

Even with that, I am not 100% convinced of the 24/26 conversion concept due mostly to reach, but I'll need to make a decision soon!


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

TheRoadSouth said:


> Thanks again, that is all very helpful.
> 
> I spoke with Spawn, in addition to that they also said:
> - Rokkusuta 24" has a slightly more slack geometry (slacker head tube angle and more upright seat tube angle but reach measurement is very similar between the two).
> ...


Its actually the 27.5 RebaFork iirc, not the new kids specific 26" Reba. That 27.5 adult fork is still a nice fork and its easy to find someone to custom tune Rockshox stuff if you wanted to. The geo conversion stuff is always a compromise (reach never changes etc). The thing to consider about the Rokk is the backend is longer than many XL 29ers today at 438mm for 24" wheel setup. In the 26" mode the 450mm chainstay length is very close to even the Pole Machine's 455mm, which is very bizarre as that Pole bike is one of the longest on the planet. In practice, something closer to 390mm+- works really well.


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

svinyard said:


> Its actually the 27.5 RebaFork


Yes correct. Ours came with a 27.5 Reba RL.


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

Some updates after riding it for over a year:

- *Chain guide and bash guard installed.* The 77 Designz Free Solo (ISCG 03) and Crash Plate (ISCG 03, 32T). I love its simplicity and super light combined weight of only 46g (half that of something like the OneUp guide/guard)

- *Upgraded to a 150mm OneUp V2 dropper post.* The 120mm got too short as my kid grew. I managed to fit the 150mm entirely within the seat tube. I should have started with this size in hindsight.

- *Upgraded to Spawn's 26 inch wheels with Maxxis DHF 2.5 and DHRII 2.4 tires, setup tubeless.* I've always bought the next size up bike long before my kids need them so that it's available for them to try and ride as soon as they are able to. We goofed around with a mullet setup for fun, but then just decided to go big and size up both wheels. Turns out at a height of 52.5", he was loving and handling the bigger wheels with no issues.

We are still loving the bike and it's perfect for our enduro style riding. I'm so glad I didn't buy a dedicated 24" bike...


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## TheRoadSouth (Aug 18, 2019)

*Also love our Spawn Rokk 24"*

I wanted to update this thread as well. We ended up purchasing a Spawn Rokk 24 for my 6 (now 7) year old daughter. We also got a Rokkusuta 20 for my 4 year old girl.

We love both bikes. They have been battle tested at many bike parks, and most recently riding downhill on the blues at Northstar where it is infamously dusty, choppy and rough. The 20 inch wheels on the Rokkusuta make it tough riding there, but the four year old has the skills to make it down. The 24 inch wheels on the Rokk allow my seven year old girl to blast down the mountain, no problem.

Solid bikes, and no real complaints so far. Spawn's been pretty good and supportive the few times I reached out.


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## jaybert (Sep 10, 2020)

TheRoadSouth said:


> I wanted to update this thread as well. We ended up purchasing a Spawn Rokk 24 for my 6 (now 7) year old daughter. We also got a Rokkusuta 20 for my 4 year old girl.
> 
> We love both bikes. They have been battle tested at many bike parks, and most recently riding downhill on the blues at Northstar where it is infamously dusty, choppy and rough. The 20 inch wheels on the Rokkusuta make it tough riding there, but the four year old has the skills to make it down. The 24 inch wheels on the Rokk allow my seven year old girl to blast down the mountain, no problem.
> 
> Solid bikes, and no real complaints so far. Spawn's been pretty good and supportive the few times I reached out.


How tall was your daughter when she started riding the Spawn Rokk 24? Was on the list of bikes I was considering for my son, but he's on the short side (3' 10"). I was hoping to get him on a 24" that he could use for a few years vs. a 20" that he'd probably need to upgrade in a year or two if he got more serious riding.


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## TheRoadSouth (Aug 18, 2019)

jaybert said:


> How tall was your daughter when she started riding the Spawn Rokk 24? Was on the list of bikes I was considering for my son, but he's on the short side (3' 10"). I was hoping to get him on a 24" that he could use for a few years vs. a 20" that he'd probably need to upgrade in a year or two if he got more serious riding.


I think she was around 49in tall when she started riding it. I didn't check her inseam unfortunately. She could barely touch her toes on the ground so I cut the seatpost down a bit. It's been about 10 months since we got the bike and we are starting to raise the seat now for rides. Probably going to get a dropper soon. The bike has fit her well for a while now. 3' 10" sounds just a couple inches short of being able to handle it but it depends on their bike skills. The 24 inch wheels definitely open up a lot more terrain over the 20 inch wheels.


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## jaybert (Sep 10, 2020)

Thanks that was helpful! Given the bike shortages getting one this year might not even be feasible. Hopefully by the spring time he will have grown a couple of inches and be at least 4ft tall!


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## TheRoadSouth (Aug 18, 2019)

jaybert said:


> Thanks that was helpful! Given the bike shortages getting one this year might not even be feasible. Hopefully by the spring time he will have grown a couple of inches and be at least 4ft tall!


Yeah, I see on their site the Rokk 24 is currently sold out. By the time it's back in stock it might be closer to fitting. The other thing I did initially to make it fit a little better was put a flat bar on there and drop the tire pressure and increase the sag on the rear shock.


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## domingomtb (Nov 12, 2020)

*Seat Post Diameter + cable routing*

This build is sick! I am looking at building one up similar to this. What diameter dropper did you have to get and how did you route the cable?


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

domingomtb said:


> This build is sick! I am looking at building one up similar to this. What diameter dropper did you have to get and how did you route the cable?


I've got a 30.9mm dropper on it, which is the correct size for the seat tube. The top of the downtube has a hole & grommet in the usual place for a internally routed cable. Apparently if you leave the BB sleeve out, it's a non-trivial cable route, but I didn't like the idea of the rotating crank shaft constantly pressing against the cable housing.

The down tube and seat tube have centered breather holes in them at the bottom bracket, as opposed to enlarged holes skewed towards the top/front of the bike for easy routing in-front/above the BB. There was no way to get it routed if I wanted to keep the BB sleeve - but I was determined. I went in with an extended file/grinder bit to enlarge the seat tube's breather hole towards the front, and the down tube's breather towards the top. Even still, it's a real pain to get the cable routed and I pretty much have to remove the entire BB if I need to remove or reposition the seat post. Curious how it has gone for others...


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## Mort Drizzle (Dec 19, 2020)

Thanks for the review and write up! The Rokk looks and sounds rad but, alas, it’s sold out. I am looking at the Rocky Mountain Reaper as an alternative. Any idea how the Reaper compares to the Rokk? Tha no’s in advance ... 🙏


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## BP180181 (Mar 17, 2021)

Mort Drizzle said:


> Thanks for the review and write up! The Rokk looks and sounds rad but, alas, it's sold out. I am looking at the Rocky Mountain Reaper as an alternative. Any idea how the Reaper compares to the Rokk? Tha no's in advance ... ?


My 11-year old tried both the reaper and the rokk 24. we ended up selling the reaper - reach was an issue when she was 51" tall. She just moved up to 26" Wheelset on her Rokk (went with 155mm cranks and wider bars for the 26 set up). Called spawn today and they said Rokk is coming back in June.


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