I picked up this bargain of ebay the other day (mint condition and I got it for £18.77!). I know it's no Isla Bike but it's fine for my daughters needs.
As I fully expected the forks are poo and probably very weighty - so I wondered if there were any aftermarket rigid forks for 24" wheels so I can take a few pounds of the weight.
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Perhaps a set of 24" carbon rigid forks from Exotic Cycles?
Bump for the evening crowd!
Thanks for the suggestions so far - carbons too dear, and the SE landing gear - I need forks for v-brakes. Ta!
you could also just look for a pair of older Recons or the like, don't need to be 24" specific
Go on Retrobike and see what you can get: SIDS go for silly money.
We have some Manitou Mars Elites and some Marzocchi X-Flys.
Both would work on a 24" bike, and both are simple to work on. The 'zocchi is the nicer/plusher fork.
Both cost £30/40 IIRC.
Thanks again.
Two problems with buying 26" forks - (unless you know a solution!)...
• If using v-brakes the bosses will be in the wrong place.
• If using discs it means I have to buy a new front wheel as well! (I have brakes already).
Looking like she's stuck with the original forks.
One of the biggest drawbacks with these types of fork is they generally don't move much,might be worth pulling the spring out and trying to get an extra soft one in a similar size from another manufacturer (very doubtful you'll get one from the original), maybe remove the elastomer if there's one fitted too.
I picked up some tatty Pace rigids for my lads 24" Hotrock.
I'm thinking of shortening them.
Exotic do alloy forks too...
Call Islabikes, they might have some spare...
Buy some from Islabikes ?
Just noticed previous post !
I reckon if you ditched the heavy forks and got the front to a single then it would be a great wee bike. Mine are on Islabikes 26 and 24. The youngest is quicker uphill by a long way, 3 yrs younger, smaller wheels and bike weighs chuff all 🙂
I put Reba on #1 offsprings 24 inch bike. Airspring is what you need. He already had disks so just a case of setting the forks with enough sag to "correct" the geometry.
Has made a huge difference for him. 500g lighter and sprung for his boyweight. Appreciate this is a slighty different case to yours I am sure i saw some 24inch alloy forks on the exotic website as per a previous post.
I picked up a mint Carrera Luna 24 for my daughter a couple of weeks back. I'm looking to get some weight off it (was 29.5 lb in original spec).
Have already swapped the tyres to some Schwalbe Table Top folders from Rutland cycling (£5.99 each off ebay) which dropped 350g of rotating weight, bar and stem have been swapped, fitted straight bars for better riding position and small weight loss (although standard items were surprisingly light).
I think the remaining obvious things to target are forks & wheels, forks being the easiest. As recommended, I'm on the lookout for some old SIDs or similar. The Luna has disc brakes so that makes life a little easier as a 26" fork is a straight fit, the standard issue forks have a very similar axle to crown measurement as a 26" fork with around 80mm of travel so geometry should be fine...