# Lightest 24" Kids Mountain Bike?



## cooperdrummond (Apr 29, 2014)

Thought I would share some pictures and specs from my brother's new titanium 24" race bike. Weighs in at 16lbs 13oz - with the current wire bead 2.1" small block 8 tires. Frame was built by a company in Asia called Go-Riding, one of the nicest titanium frames I've seen! Running the 36T Wolf-Tooth No-drop ring in the front, with XTR 11-36 cassette + Hopes 40T expander ring. Brakes are the Bengal Helix 7b, great lever adjustment for kids, and decent weight. Stan's No-Tubes 24" Crest rims with Industry 9 hubs/spokes. Full list of specs below:

- 24" Titanium Helix Frame - 1392 Grams
- 24" Titanium Fork - 537 Grams
- I9/Stans Wheelset - 1270 Grams
- Bengal Rear Brake - 260 Grams
- Bengal Front Brake - 245 Grams
- Quaxar 160mm Rotors - 68 Grams (each)
- Kenda 24x2.1 Wire Bead - 580 Grams (Approx. each)
- Seatpost KCNC TI Pro Lite - 135 Grams (cut)
- Saddle Tioga D-Spyder - 155 Grams
- Origin 8 Crankset,w/ machined arms - 455 (arms only)
- Eggbeater 11ti Pedals - 167 Grams
- Circus Monkey Scandium Bar - 105 Grams - (cut to 500mm)
- XTR Shifter/Cassette/Derailleur
- Loaded 70mm Stem - 117 Grams

- 16lbs 13oz Total Weight

Pictures Below


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## zombinate (Apr 27, 2009)

I would assume that is about as light as it gets, both in the bike and to the wallet.


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## tigris99 (Aug 26, 2012)

Omg gorgeous bike!!! And didn't know you could get a mtb weight that low lol without carbon fiber and ss. Nice job, though far outta range of what I could ever afford for myself much less my kids.

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## GrayJay (May 16, 2011)

Fantastic bike. The 310gr rims are by far the lightest 24" rims I have seen available. Interesting spoke lacing pattern on the 16 spoke rims. As you likely already know, this bike could get almost 1/2 pound of additional easy weight savings if you swapped to folding bead schwalbe Rocket Rons. 

The frame itself is not crazy light, plenty of off-the-shelf 24" aluminum frames are comparable weight and could be build into a similarly lightweight bike. The frame itself is less than 15% of total weight of the bike, the majority of weight savings needs to come from rest of the components, great job on the component selections here.


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## xc71 (Dec 24, 2008)

Really cool build looks great. Where is this kid riding other than the Bonnyville Salt flats that they are pushing a 36 front ring?
Bombing rocky/rooty downhills on 500mm wide bars has got to be sketchy.


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## Shayne (Jan 14, 2004)

Interesting that you custom build (i assume) the frame but use a tall fork and end up with a really high front end.

Ditching 2 chainring bolts is a pretty sketchy way to save weight.

The milled crank is cool but surprising that it's still over 400g. A TNT is around that weight will no extra work.


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## cooperdrummond (Apr 29, 2014)

GrayJay said:


> Fantastic bike. The 310gr rims are by far the lightest 24" rims I have seen available. Interesting spoke lacing pattern on the 16 spoke rims. As you likely already know, this bike could get almost 1/2 pound of additional easy weight savings if you swapped to folding bead schwalbe Rocket Rons.
> 
> The frame itself is not crazy light, plenty of off-the-shelf 24" aluminum frames are comparable weight and could be build into a similarly lightweight bike. The frame itself is less than 15% of total weight of the bike, the majority of weight savings needs to come from rest of the components, great job on the component selections here.


I was surprised at how light the rims were! I believe they weighed in at 303 and 305 grams exactly. I am ordering a lighter set of tires, should put it close to 16 lbs. I know the frame isn't the lightest in the world, but I could get exactly what I needed, and it will last a really long time, along with providing a really good ride for him.


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## cooperdrummond (Apr 29, 2014)

xc71 said:


> Really cool build looks great. Where is this kid riding other than the Bonnyville Salt flats that they are pushing a 36 front ring?
> Bombing rocky/rooty downhills on 500mm wide bars has got to be sketchy.


TMBRA Race series in Texas, and We'll be racing in Colorado, Wisconsin, and at the National Championships in Pennsylvania. He rides the 36T ring on absolutely everything, can even do 25% grade trail climbs around here on it. I had him running a 36T 11x36 on his 20" bike, and with switching to a 24" wheel figured he would probably need a 40t on some climbs. Only thing he ever complains about is not enough gears to go "fast"...


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## cooperdrummond (Apr 29, 2014)

Shayne said:


> Interesting that you custom build (i assume) the frame but use a tall fork and end up with a really high front end.
> 
> Ditching 2 chainring bolts is a pretty sketchy way to save weight.
> 
> The milled crank is cool but surprising that it's still over 400g. A TNT is around that weight will no extra work.


I'm not sure with what you mean "tall" fork? If you what to see a tall fork, go look at a stock 24" bike with a goofy suspension fork on it.

On the chainring bolts....I had bought an aluminum set, but they were to short for the wolf-tooth ring. When I was looking for the original set, I could only find three of them, so until I can order the longer ones from wolf-tooth that's all it will have, not a weight saving attempt there!

And yes the crank is pretty heavy. I had made one that was around 340 grams, but one wreck and it broke...the Orgin 8 crank is heavy, I saved a decent amount of weight machining it though, and it is still very strong.

The handlebar that I had bought him was 540mm I was watching him ride the trainer one time, and noticed how far in his hands were on the bar, I ended up cutting it down to the place where his hands need to ride, and it ended up being about 500mm. Its actually perfect for him, and he handles it really well on descents.


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## cooperdrummond (Apr 29, 2014)

I'll be honest here and say, weight savings wasn't the only goal here. It was also to make a strong, efficient bike that would be suitable for his level of racing. I would not have any trouble building this bike to sub-15 pounds, but then you would have to start worrying about him wrecking or hitting a tree and snapping a brake lever/bar/stem, etc... He likes jumping and hopping, and is actually pretty hard on it, so it needs to be able to with-stand what a kid can throw at it.


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## TigWorld (Feb 8, 2010)

Nice job on the bike. Fantastic that Stan's are making 24" crests. Where did you get them from?


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## cooperdrummond (Apr 29, 2014)

TigWorld said:


> Nice job on the bike. Fantastic that Stan's are making 24" crests. Where did you get them from?


I was super excited to find them! They are available in 24, 28, and 32 holes - you have to call Stans to order them, not on the website at this time. $85 each I believe.


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## cooperdrummond (Apr 29, 2014)

Thought I'd share a few pics of his old bike, (20"). It weighed 15lbs 9oz!


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

I'm not a weight weenie by any means, but those are some sweet-ass builds.

:thumbsup:


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## Scoots_36 (Apr 28, 2014)

I just checked Stan's site and they are listed on there at $85.


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## tigris99 (Aug 26, 2012)

Damn thats insane lol. Though I don't have the finds to get my sons mt60 that light, I shaved a ton off of it over the last few weeks. Not sure what stock weight was but his now weighs about 20~21lbs im guessing. all I know is it used to weigh within a lb of my 29er and its alot lighter now lol.


But in a couple more seasons hell be ready for 24" which then im going nuts, not as far as u at like 16lbs but at or below 20 with suspension forks is the goal.





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## cooperdrummond (Apr 29, 2014)

tigris99 said:


> Damn thats insane lol. Though I don't have the finds to get my sons mt60 that light, I shaved a ton off of it over the last few weeks. Not sure what stock weight was but his now weighs about 20~21lbs im guessing. all I know is it used to weigh within a lb of my 29er and its alot lighter now lol.
> 
> But in a couple more seasons hell be ready for 24" which then im going nuts, not as far as u at like 16lbs but at or below 20 with suspension forks is the goal.


I believe the MT60 stock weighed in at just under 28 pounds. Its amazing how much weight you can save on a kids bike with just changing the bar, stem, seatpost, and seat.


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## TigWorld (Feb 8, 2010)

tigris99 said:


> ... at or below 20 with suspension forks is the goal...


That should be pretty do-able. My daughter's 24" FS MTB is just on 21lbs.


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## Tjaard (Aug 17, 2007)

Very nice build! Awesome color matching too! Did you find all that, or did you have the parts re-anodized?

Just to point out to people looking to get a light bike on a cheaper budget; remember that a titanium seat post really doesn't weigh much less than an aluminum one at such a short length! Even for a frame there wont be much weight difference in this small of a size, so you could build a bike of similar weight at less cost.

To the person commenting on the bar width: for a child who's shoulder width and arm length are perhaps 2/3s of an adults, a 500 mm bar would be comparable to an adult riding with a 750mm bar.


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## cooperdrummond (Apr 29, 2014)

Tjaard said:


> Very nice build! Awesome color matching too! Did you find all that, or did you have the parts re-anodized?
> 
> For people looking to get a light bike on a cheaper budget, remember that the a TItanium seat post really doesn't weigh much less than an aluminum one at such a short length! Same for even for the frame.
> 
> ...


All parts are stock, no anodizing done. Actually the seatpost is CNC aluminum, "TI Pro Lite" is only referring to the titanium bolts. Aluminum posts are usually lighter than TI posts, and like you said, a similarly sized aluminum frame would be a comparable weight.

And the bar width is very adequate for his size. You can not compare the width of the bar hes using, to the width of the bar an adult uses, without first looking at the difference in body size and dimensions. Its just like the weight of the bike - to you and me a sub 17 pound bike would seem like a feather. He only weight 52 pounds though, which is 1/3 of what I weigh, so it would be comparable to me riding a 51 pound bike... it just depends on how you look it it all.


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## melchionda (Sep 25, 2012)

*which fork did you use on the MT60?*

which fork did you use on the MT60?



cooperdrummond said:


> Thought I'd share a few pics of his old bike, (20"). It weighed 15lbs 9oz!
> View attachment 889450
> View attachment 889451
> View attachment 889452
> ...


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## mikemikemike (Feb 10, 2008)

Lucky kid! What's his dad riding?


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## Squashman (Jul 7, 2013)

That by far has to be the coolest bike I have seen. That darn near beats a Salsa El Mariachi!


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## kylerodland (Dec 12, 2007)

What an old but good thread! I'd love to get my hands on that frame. Where did you get it? 5 years later they may not have it anymore but I'd like to look at least.


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## cooperdrummond (Apr 29, 2014)

kylerodland said:


> What an old but good thread! I'd love to get my hands on that frame. Where did you get it? 5 years later they may not have it anymore but I'd like to look at least.


I actually sold it less than 6 months ago!

I had the frame custom build in Hong Kong, there were no options for anything like this when I had it built. It was very well made and turned into an excellent build. I hated to see it go. Sorry I can't be more help.


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