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24" Hades or Hotrock for kid?


The Ghost

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Does anyone have any comments on one of these over the other for a kiddo?
The hades is of course Titan and the Hotrock is Spaz.

Edited by The Ghost
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My kids progressed from titan 16 to 20 , so I started looking at 24's. All i can say is that they both heavy and can't see how the one is really better than the other. They very much the same. I rode neither so can't comment on the ride. All I can say is that I will buy a second hand titan 24 on the hub like I did with the 16 and 20's (I bought 2 sets of each size cos my boys are a year apart).

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I have gone through all the Titan Hades from 16" to 24 9R.

They are all solid (read: "Heavy!") and last well (because they are solid).

 

Retrospectively, 3 x 8 gripshift with cable disc brakes is ridiculous for the kids who have small hand which aren't very strong. I changed them all to hydraulic brakes and wish I could have changed to trigger shifter earlier. 

The gripshifts get very stiff after a while and they cant grip hard enough to shift. The disc brake cables also get dirty and very stiff, so are hard to use.

All of that adds up to a bike they don't enjoy using.

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Yeah, so far we have done titans, both Hades and Calypso for our boy and girl respectively, I like the bikes, I was just curious as I see one or two Hotrocks available too.

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Momsen has a very good range for the kids.

If you can get your hands on one of the older 24" without a shock, it is very light.

Kids that age do not needa shock if it is going to make their bike heavier.

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To be honest, if it is going to be a birthday present, maybe get a new one. They are all pretty much the same, and probably are built at the same place.

 

However, I would suggest second hand. Much cheaper, and your kid is gonna leave the bike out in the rain, do all sorts of silly stuff with it, and outgrow it pretty fast.

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The momsens are definitely lighter than the Titans . My son has a 20” momsen and the weight benefit helps him massively up the climbs. My daughters 24” Merida is 4kg heavier and my sons momsen .

 

When his time comes to upgrade , weight will be a big consideration as I can see the difference it makes to them .

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  • 2 months later...

The momsens are definitely lighter than the Titans . My son has a 20” momsen and the weight benefit helps him massively up the climbs. My daughters 24” Merida is 4kg heavier and my sons momsen .

 

When his time comes to upgrade , weight will be a big consideration as I can see the difference it makes to them .

 

We have the Momsen JR20

 

GOOD bike !

 

The shock actually works nicely, and we DO a lot of trails and downhill riding so it gets used !  :thumbup:

 

 

gripshift was replaced with a Sunrace trigger shift.

 

 

 

BUT, it IS a very heavy bike !!!  Certainly no lighter than any of the other 20'' bikes we have used - and I have lifted many of the different brands onto the bike carrier

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To be honest, if it is going to be a birthday present, maybe get a new one. They are all pretty much the same, and probably are built at the same place.

 

However, I would suggest second hand. Much cheaper, and your kid is gonna leave the bike out in the rain, do all sorts of silly stuff with it, and outgrow it pretty fast.

 

13 months ....

 

when we bought his 20'' his toes barely touched the ground ... photos of recent rides shows him sitting "on-top" of the bike, seat post almost fully extended .....

 

 

doubt he will get 18 months use out it before the seat tube is fully extended.

Edited by ChrisF
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Time to start looking for the replacement to the 20'' ....

 

 

Titan has a 24'' frame, with 26'' tires .... anybody with experience of these bikes (26'' tires in the 24'' frame) ?

 

other bikes that we should be looking at ?

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Time to start looking for the replacement to the 20'' ....

 

 

Titan has a 24'' frame, with 26'' tires .... anybody with experience of these bikes (26'' tires in the 24'' frame) ?

 

other bikes that we should be looking at ?

I got one for my son, and then got carried away with upgrades because 3x8 gripshift is silly.

I upgraded the wheels & tubeless tyres, bar, stem, pedals, hydaulic brakes and then a 1x10 gruppo. The fork isnt great, so am on the hunt for a cheap air shock.

 

He is LOVING it, but looks like he will outgrow it soon.

I need to find a 26" frame and fork that I can transplant everything to.

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post-615-0-46611500-1532153657_thumb.jpg

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I got one for my son, and then got carried away with upgrades because 3x8 gripshift is silly.

I upgraded the wheels & tubeless tyres, bar, stem, pedals, hydaulic brakes and then a 1x10 gruppo. The fork isnt great, so am on the hunt for a cheap air shock.

 

He is LOVING it, but looks like he will outgrow it soon.

I need to find a 26" frame and fork that I can transplant everything to.

 

Hehehe ....

 

this post looks like my crystal ball ... right down to over-spending and then they outgrow it ....  :whistling:   :devil:

 

 

Had a NICE session at Geko Cycles this morning !  Some nice sales-staff !!

 

Put the 20'' next to the 24'' next to the 24-9er ....

 

NOPE ! Maritz is getting tall for the 20, but still way to small for the 24-9er

 

 

Think we may settle on the 24V (V-brake model), and upgrade to trigger shifters.  If he continues to grow at this rate this bike should last about 2 years ....

 

Geko even suggested I bring in the Momsen to discuss a possible trade in ..... nice gesture, but I wonder how much they can actually give me .... R4k bike new, so maybe R2k secondhand, but they still need to make a few cents on the deal .... Sobering thought, and big part of the reason I wont be buying the much better specced Momsen for nearly 10k .... BUT, if I could get one of those Momsens 2nd hand .....

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I got one for my son, and then got carried away with upgrades because 3x8 gripshift is silly.

I upgraded the wheels & tubeless tyres, bar, stem, pedals, hydaulic brakes and then a 1x10 gruppo. The fork isnt great, so am on the hunt for a cheap air shock.

 

He is LOVING it, but looks like he will outgrow it soon.

I need to find a 26" frame and fork that I can transplant everything to.

 

Took Maritz to Geko Cycles  to chose his 24'' .....

 

The 24D above was one of the three options.

 

Then the 2018 24V with a blue and GREEN colour scheme ...

 

Also the 2019 24V, nice grey with a bright orange colour scheme .... thought he would go for this ....

 

 

He chose the 2018 24V .... GREEN ....

 

 

Practically - the top tube of the 2019 model is about 25mm higher than that of the 2018 model   :eek:

 

 

 

Ordered the 2018 model with trigger shifters ..... Pretty sure it may only last him 18 months ...  ^_^   :whistling:

 

 

 

You should see a Momsen JR20 in the classifieds soon ..... 

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We've got a 24" Hotrock in the fleet, about 8 years old so not sure how current my comments are. But its a solid well put together bike, we are the third owners. Reasonably light too.

I think previous dad upgraded the shifters as they are trigger shift now. Gripshift is worst idea for kids, ever.

Coincidentally we "serviced" the fork yesterday. Strip, degrease and relubed the springs/coils. Suntour XCT.

But the spring is still way too stiff for a 30kg kid. The preload adjuster doesn't make much difference.

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My son loves his hotrock.  Can't comment on the Titan, but can definitely recommend getting something with similar geometry to the hotrock.   

Some of his friends have got other kiddies bikes and they aren't great on the proper mtb trails.  His one friend borrowed his 20 inch bike and was suddenly riding so much better.

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