Hi
My eldest is asking father christmas (3 months off I know) for a downhill/trail centre bike.
He loves his riding and just broke his wrist at cannock (it was going to happen) on his giant xtc with 100mm travel at the front.
He likes the kona stinky, but is it worth it? what others?
I intend to take him bpw and other trail centres and maybe morzine.
Sorry for the premature christmas thoughts but if I was to buy one or build one I need to start sourcing parts.
Thanks inadvance for thoughts.

Hardtail or Fullsuss?
Price range?

Full Susser,
Price? As cheap as poss.

was at a DH race on the weekend, there were lots of rippers there one was on one of these:
http://www.commencal-store.co.uk/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=14495047

My lad is 12 and rides a small Trek Session 8.
Amazing bike and has brought his riding on massively.
The frames come up quite small so it may be worth trying to get a sit on one.
If you can make it to Delamere any time I’d be glad to let you have a go on his.

New only or would you consider going second hand?

And does he really want DH or something more versatile?

downhill/trail centre bike.

He likes the kona stinky,

Don’t make him ride a Stinky round XC trail centres! or do you mean places with uplifts/push-up?

Tell us your budget and what size he is.

I would like something that he would be comfortable on around a trail centre and the likes of bpw with uplifts.
I thought a xs full suss build? then it would be light enough.
His XTC Carbon is 15.5″ frame on 26″ wheels but takes a battering when he’s jumping.
It would be second hand but good condition.
Thanks colp, your lad is very lucky.

Orange do the Five in 14″, seen a few well-kept ones come up for sale.

Great all-rounder and capable of riding all the places you mention.

XTC Carbon is a very xc hardtail, how about as a low budget alternative a hardcore hardtail that would be appropriate for trail and DH? Some thing like this but add a 35mm stem and shorter crank arms?

We’ve had young lads riding our DH trails on suitable built XC / AM full sus bikes. Something with 140mm air sprung suspension both ends gives loads of adjustability for lighter riders and still a good amount of travel for going bigger. Build up with good all-round parts and you’ve got a great bike for all sorts of riding.

Older Giant Reigns were one option I’ve seen used to good effect.

Ok, thanks I will look at that range of suspension.
Buying second hand or building to try and make it look like a Christmas present will be challenge as well.

He likes the kona stinky, but is it worth it? what others?

Yes, they are 🙂

I recently sold my sons old 24″ Norco B-Line on here, after a bit of upgrading (to reduce weight) it was perfect for everything from Chicksands to Innerleithen.

He’s 16 now, so had 5 years out of it.

Not sure of prices etc, but CRC were selling off 24″ Commencal’s recently.

That Mark bloke off that there Singletrack mag is selling this… not sure if it’s in the ball park of what you are lookign for or not…

“This is about to go up on Ebay. It’s Sam’s, now too small, small Bionicon Edison. It was once a £2k bike in it’s day. It’s still a great bike a perfect for a small person (betwixt 4’10” & 5’3″). It does that clever Bionicon thing of altering the angles on the fly. So it goes from a steep 72 to a super slack 66 head angle by pushing the big orange button and moving your weight about. Yes, it’s a bit weird but it’s great German engineering and it does work. It’s genuinely an all-rounder but now the kids are all growed up we’ve got no one to ride it. It’s got some good upgrades, like X0 shifters and block, Middleburn rings. It’s 9 spd and condition is average with nothing in any particular need of attention. Perfect for a teen looking to take riding a bit more seriously – Just asking for £300.”

Anyone want a small (suits 4'10" – 5'3") full sus Bionicon Edison? £300 and it's yours https://t.co/3MEi5e1pfg

— Mark Alker #FBPE (@singletrackmark) September 21, 2014

That’s a pretty cool bionicon. I will have a think about that.

If you’ve got the time and the inclination then a decent but tatty bike with a nice powder coat will bring an tired looking frame up a treat. New stickers are fairly easy to get hold of thanks to the interweb. You mention Cannock (my local area) and if you are local then look up Dirty Customs who are in Rugeley. Rob will take an old frame and strip, paint replace bearings and do the graphics for most frames. It will cost a bit but if you find the right bike it’s worth it.

Bung on new tyres and other contact points and whilst you won’t fool a savvy kid they’ll be please with a nice bike.

For general trail centre stuff I built up a Kona Howler with an RP23, Tora air forks, I-beam post and saddle. Nice lightish bike (30lbs) and handles anything except full on DH.
Had 24 inch wheels on it at first them moved up to 26 when he was 12.
He is very lucky BTW.
Here’s him on the Howler age 10 or 11

hi, i’ve got a 2006 stinky its a great, bombproof bike and can be had super cheap second hand. The only issue for your kid is they weigh a tonne, mine has a set of triple clamp domains on and a fairly light build for everything else and its still over 40lbs. i’d reckon even with a lighter set of forks a stinky might be a bit heavy

I’m currently building up a 20″ wheel full sus Scott Spark 20 Junior for my oldest (a tall 6yrs old).

Scott do make a 24″ wheeled version but it’s more XC than DH and will probably be too small for your lad.

I can’t offer much advice on frames / bikes but I’ve learnt with this build:

– Some parts for kids bikes can end up costing a fair bit because you can’t tap the vast second hand parts market e.g. shorter cranks, smaller chain rings
– For my next build I’ll definitely look for a frame that uses a standard rear shock e.g. RP23. I’ve found getting a replacement for a non standard one really time consuming and it would have been too expensive if I didn’t have some help getting one back from the USA
– A complete overhaul of a tired second hand bike could end up costing more than you thought as all of the little extras are added up e.g. modifying front forks, wheel build costs (probably less of an issue in your case), adapters / bolts that are needed, new bearings, maybe new tools. A full powder coat will be £50 – £70.
– Sourcing the right second hand parts is time consuming (both time spent looking, and a long elapsed time is needed as they don’t come onto the market that often). If you’re looking at 26″ wheels that will be a big help as decent 20″ or 24″ tyres, inner tubes, rims, etc are all harder to find and / or expensive.

I’m enjoying the process of learning and sourcing the parts, and I’m looking forward to the build, but it’s taken a lot longer than planned, and it’s definitely cost more than I thought.

I echo the points about weight. Most standard kids bikes are really heavy and the bike weight is a huge % of their body weight. A custom build with carefully selected second hand parts will be a lot lighter …this was my main reason for finding a tired / cheap second hand bike and doing a custom build.

Eg. The carbon bars I’ll be using are over 300g lighter than the stock bars, the cheap KCNC stem will save nearly 100g, the Schwalbe tyres and Intense racing light inner tubes will save 732g over the stock parts.

Hopefully that will help the thinking process.