I am looking for a small downhill bike for my 12 year old as he wants to get into racing. I dont want to spend too much as its his first bike upto £1000 new or 2nd hand. any Ideas???

Kona Stinky 24 is all I can think of off the top of my head.

kona stinky 2-4 ?? maybe too small for a 12 yr old

http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=52983

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/kona-stinky-junior-24-wheel-ideal-christmas-present-

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=75373&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_name=UnitedKingdom

specialized used to make a bighit grom, dunno if they still do

How tall is your 12 year old? I’d say the kona is too small, fitted my ( tall ) 8 year old, but not much room to grow, looked about right.

We own a Norco b line 24, comes up a little bigger than the kona stinky 24, nice bike, still fits my 11 year old.

We changed a lot of parts on it as it was very heavy, now still weighs 34 lbs. Needed some air forks too as my son weighs 4.5 st. He does love it though…

I think commencal do a kids dh bike, I saw it in the alps last summer and it comes up more like the norco.

I did see local kids there ride small 26″ frames with 24″ wheels and short cranks, presume that when they grow they will just change the wheels to 26″. Maybe that would work?

I do think all kids 24″ dh bikes are for around 9-12 year olds…..

14″ Orange five frame would be good for a 12 year olds DH bike too I recon.

…..take flows advice, 14″ orange 5’s are TINY. I had a go on one and went for the 16″ at 162cm. New ones are also ok with 160 forks….

Go for it! You should be able to build something for 1000 out of used bits. I also think there was a white 14″ orange 5 for sale on pinkbike, it may still be there.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Simone

Thanks for the advice pinkbike looks like a good place to look..

Abigale went from a Kona Stinky JR to a small Giant Reign. The XS Reign was too small. She has out grown that and is on a medium Reign

Katie is on a small Specialized Enduro.

Both bikes cost less than £1000 to build up

take flows advice

Someone actually agreeing with me 😯

Are you aware that this is a criminal act and you will be disowned by the STW massive 😆

12 year old is around 150cm tall (5’0″)

14″ Five gets my vote then, they look wicked in that size.

my 13 yo is now on a 26″ ariel (small), i looked at stinky 24’s too but they fitted him now but would be too small very soon. had a look at a commencal too which was a bit bigger but still he’d have outgrown it too soon.
the ariel is slightly too big but he handles it fine. its got a fox air shock on the back which is set up perfectly for him and a coil fork which could do with being changed to the softest spring but the wee s**t’s fast enough with only half travel being used!!

12 year old is around 150cm tall (5’0″)

In that case, the Stinky 2-4 would be spot on for now but not a lot of growing room. I’m 5’2″ and had one a few years ago. Would love another but with a 19.5″ toptube, whilst an absolut riot on the downhills for tiny folk, I found it hard work pedalling uphill or any distance as it was a little cramped. How about a Commencal Absolut SX in small – 140mm travel, will take forks from 120-160 and super-short 20″ toptube. I’ve had a couple – only sold my latest to free up some cash for a(nother) vintage Tazer rebuild.

Probably best just step away from this thread right now – I’m a sucker for tiny d/h bikes 😳

Remember there are two sizes of 14″ ‘5’. The Diva comes in long and short, the mens just comes in the longer size (the only between mens and Diva being the sticker)

I would think that a long 14″ would be too long for a nipper. A short should be good though. Even better would be the Stinky with it’s lower bb and standover courtesy of the smaller wheels

There is also a commencal supreme 24 and the Yt industries first play ( awesome value) . Having said that unless the lad is small, a 24 inch won’t last long as he will outgrow it quickly.

Edit, If you can find one, the big hit grom is an awesome little frame.

My 13YO son’s also got a B-Line, still fits him and his older brothers have often played with it.

Innerleithen

Chicksands

They are heavy in standard trim, and like moniex I also gave it a severe diet – down to 29lb from the 38lb it started at…, and Stinky 24’s are heavier 😯

First Mini-DH race

His XC bike is actually now a 26″ wheeled Dr Jekell, and tbh that would be perfectly happy on a lot of DH tracks.

Isn’t Ed Ox selling Nial’s Trek Session? Is that small enough?

Since we are doing pictures, a big hit grom:

117 by ianvincent, on Flickr

B r …..

How did you get the b line down to 29 lbs? I think ours has lost quite a bit of weight ( never properly weighed it mind you ) but I still think it is around 32 lbs maybe more 34?!

We changed tyres and tubes, now run Schwalbe big Betty and fat Albert, changed forks to fox floats ( originals weight 3 kg!) and changed brakes and cassette/shifters for pretty light stuff.. Also got some other bars and stem.

Maybe ours weighs less then I think, but I am sure it weighs over 30lbs though, unless the scales we used to guesstimate are far out ( which would be great! )

Cheers
Simone