ChrisF Posted February 15, 2021 Share Agreed, the suspension is tricky as the smaller forks are not as plush or adjustable as the adult forks. Also as kids are so much lighter they tend to not get the full use of the fork. Its really down to the fork, I have seen kids sending it on real proper 24" forks and getting it dialed in, but also seen so many Spez/Scotts where its not setup and just running tubeless would have helped for the roots etc. Setting it up will probably be the key JIP x2 Maritz did the 12km loop of the Hermanus trails on a 20'' ridig bike ... He ENJOYED it. Following him I was cringing seeing how the bike hopped over the roots .... The 20'' Momsen had a pretty decent fork (compared to other options). I took some videos of him riding over small bumps with both bikes. YES - a decent fork actually do help them. Sadly it does come it a big weight penalty. TIRE PRESSURES ... 99% of parents totally over inflate the tires on their kids bikes .... I was looking at a kid on 24'' bike with plus size tires on Saturday. Riding over obstacles you could see the tires were totally over inflated !! The side wall did not even begin to move, and the bike was bucking over every little obstacle .... When Maritz was 30kg we were running 0,9bar pressure. Never pinched a tire, and it just handled so much better. next bit of fun .... With his first 26'' bike the fun was to dial in the air-shock .... they are just too light !! He has now finally picked up enough weight that we had to up the shock pressure just a bit. Kuys 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthieup Posted February 15, 2021 Share the tricky part is getting 24' tubeless tires. Let us know if oyu find something locally.Vee tires has one option that comes standard on the momsen 24' junior bike, but it is all sold out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuys Posted February 15, 2021 Share the tricky part is getting 24' tubeless tires. Let us know if oyu find something locally.Vee tires has one option that comes standard on the momsen 24' junior bike, but it is all sold out Yes, thats a problem. I got hold of Maxxis Recon 2.2 but they not dedicated tubeless. But because of the low pressure they may be fine tubeless. I also ordered Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.35 proper tubeless from zee Germans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pure Savage Posted February 15, 2021 Share JIP x2 Maritz did the 12km loop of the Hermanus trails on a 20'' ridig bike ... He ENJOYED it. Following him I was cringing seeing how the bike hopped over the roots .... The 20'' Momsen had a pretty decent fork (compared to other options). I took some videos of him riding over small bumps with both bikes. YES - a decent fork actually do help them. Sadly it does come it a big weight penalty. TIRE PRESSURES ... 99% of parents totally over inflate the tires on their kids bikes .... I was looking at a kid on 24'' bike with plus size tires on Saturday. Riding over obstacles you could see the tires were totally over inflated !! The side wall did not even begin to move, and the bike was bucking over every little obstacle .... When Maritz was 30kg we were running 0,9bar pressure. Never pinched a tire, and it just handled so much better. next bit of fun .... With his first 26'' bike the fun was to dial in the air-shock .... they are just too light !! He has now finally picked up enough weight that we had to up the shock pressure just a bit. I just know my boy is 22kg at the moment, if you add 1.5kg to the front of the bike, it will make it really hard to hop pavements etc. As the % of total weight comes down suspension makes more sense. ChrisF 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l4y3rcake Posted February 15, 2021 Share Fair question. The reasoning is to give her a bit more confidence over roots and rocks. They are not so strong in upper body to man handle 'n rigid front end through technical terrain. With a rigid fork they get deflected off line easier. That's the reasoning, lets see how it pans out in real life. If it feels too heavy , I can always get David to make a rigid fork and only later move over to the suspension fork. What's making the project fun is the unknowns and to make a decision and then see how it pans out. I want to see for myself and not just make decisions based on some else's opinion. The intention is to give feedback once the bike is running to see how these decisions panned out. Thus closing the loop. 100% agree. The Momsen has the same fork and my little guy can jump that thing with ease, so weight isn't such a big issue with the fork. I had exactly the same argument as Savage around whether the kids are actually gonna benefit from the suspension fork and the results are incredible. He rides better than me, not that that's an accomplishment. Edited February 15, 2021 by l4y3rcake ChrisF and Pure Savage 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shebeen Posted February 15, 2021 Share the tricky part is getting 24' tubeless tires. Let us know if oyu find something locally.Vee tires has one option that comes standard on the momsen 24' junior bike, but it is all sold outmy experience of 16/20inch bikes is that the bigger issue is the tubeless capable rims, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince Albert Cycles Posted February 16, 2021 Share She is a lucky girl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuys Posted February 18, 2021 Share For wheels I tried to go as light as possible, and what was available, Got Stans Crest rims locally from Two Wheels Trading And Hope RS4 hubs 2nd hand off BikeHub Big thanks to Dominique from SummitBikes and Mike from International Trade helping me to get the hubs converted to QR Wheelset was build with Alpina bladed spokes by Andre Bezuidenhout Wheelset mass = 750g (rear) + 610g (front) = 1360 g (including rim tape and valves matthieup, DJuice and Long Wheel Base 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJuice Posted February 18, 2021 Share Frame painted yet? Going to be awesome, very lucky child! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuys Posted February 18, 2021 Share Frame painted yet? Going to be awesome, very lucky child! should be painted in the next week or 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuys Posted March 8, 2021 Share no words necessary... DJuice, openmind, ChrisF and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJuice Posted March 8, 2021 Share no words necessary...Beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles71 Posted April 16, 2021 Share Can't wait to see the finished product, very nice - sub'd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuys Posted April 19, 2021 Share Finally I have a decent photo of it: DJuice, CdT85, Jackie Thamsanqa Maholwana and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuys Posted April 19, 2021 Share Bike is running really good! Weighs less than 10 kg, and thats with a 2kg fork I did expect a bit more from the fork though. Will try some stuff to get it to work a bit better. Its actually coil combined with air, the air act as additional spring stiffness. But even with the air completely deflated, its still to stiff for her. I'll open it up sometime and see if I can get a softer coil made, or remove the coil and run only the air, and also make sure its well lubricated with proper grease and oils inside CdT85 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted April 19, 2021 Share At 30kg Maritz was too light to get proper use from the fork. Yes, it absorbed the bad bumps. But it does not work like we are used to. Lowering the pressure only works up to a point. He is now 34kg and just beginning to get normal use from the fork Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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