So it looks like one or other of my boys is going to be moving up to a 26″ bike shortly. I have a ‘small’ frame and plenty of wheels, forks, brakes etc. so going to build one up.

1. If ‘small’ is still a bit big, any deals on 13/14″ frames about?

2. Thinking of going 1×10, 30 front ring. Is this achievable economically, or should I just go buy a normal groupset (deore around £150, SLX a little more)?

Thanks in advance…

1. Hunt, and hunt well. We have had a few different XS small frames, and they can vary a lot. FWIW, Islabike, 13″ Trek, 13″ Specialized Hardrock (womens) and Cannondale F900SL all work well in this respect.

2. I would do 1×10 now – LD of this parish did it for his kid, and it works really well as far as I can see. He used just the granny ring I think, it slows the kid down at top speed 🙂

Our XS ‘first 26’ fleet
[url=https://flic.kr/p/pHkdip]Trek 4300[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/dHuA8F]Carron Valley[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

(mrs_oab is only 5′)

[url=https://flic.kr/p/mWaBsL]Callander House Falkirk MTB trails[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/kQaLyA]Cathkin Braes Mountain Biking[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

Cheers matt, some good looking builds there. That Cannondale was a good find!

To do 1×10 do I need a NW chainring and a clutch mech? Don’t want to be faffing about with tensioners or guides, might as well have a front mech in that case.

No you don’t need a narrow wide and clutch mech but if you’re flush or the lads into downhill or all mountain then obviously it would be good! Otherwise a standard 30t ring and rear mech (maybe with a chain guide?)

Just XC, but I can’t be doing with it falling off 🙂 – but as I’ve not tried this I don’t know how cheap I can do it and have it reliable.

Brassneck, drop me an email to the address in my profile. I’ve got some 1×10 stuff that I need to move on that I can do you cheap if you’re interested.