Yeah, £70 each for the 24" mk3 Crest. The mk1 are on sale $43 each (£35) from Stans directly in the US, but want $100 shipping, so £150 for a single pair.
I wonder if the Deviant will go up tubeless... Alienation have new tubeless-certified rims, but they're also £70 each.
Following with interest.
Have a blast frame sat at home ready for a build and have been trying to figure out wheel options that don't cost the earth!
gravitysucks: I'm sticking with the stock wheels for now. Means using 7-speed but I'll keep my eye out for sales or used rims. The tyres that came on my Blast were incredibly heavy.
I've got a cyclist cousin in LA, and visit the states a few times a year in a C17, which is not short of boot space...
downshift: buy all the 24" crests you can and sell them here for a (small) profit!
Between all the moaning about wheels I actually did a little bit of work on the bike. I'm determined to do most of the build with my son so fitting it in means this is taking a while though.
New purple eBay seatclamp is on, stock seatpost with new Madison Y04 saddle. Mech (Sora medium cage) and shifter (Altus 7-speed) are on. The outer I bought was [i]just[/i] long enough to be a full outer, routing nicely through the existing cable stops (once drilled out with a 6mm bit) with a 6mm P-clip (metal clip with a rubber sleeve) screwed into the bottom bracket holding it in place. As discussed above I needed a cable tie to hold the cable tight against the downtube.
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3719/33396507026_47269cd233_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3719/33396507026_47269cd233_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Front brake (eBay Deore M615, picked because the lever has reach adjust) is on, although the hose "might" need shortening. Discovered that front 160mm PM/IS adaptors are not alike and the Superstar one I have touches the caliper. Luckily I also had a Shimano branded one which is ~1mm thinner in a critical place.
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3773/32623039363_d89d8ecc64_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3773/32623039363_d89d8ecc64_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
The highlight of the day has to be the cranks finally arriving. Suntour XCT JR-T202, 152mm cranks with 104mm BCD and 9/16th pedal threads. So pretty much short adult cranks. The original big and middle rings attach as expected, with the granny ring riveted to the middle: there's no mounts for a granny ring. I want to mount a single ring and bash, so this is perfect.
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/607/33054050730_9c130aa666_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/607/33054050730_9c130aa666_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3898/33437098325_cf7f6bbf00_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3898/33437098325_cf7f6bbf00_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/SWHSpg ]New cranks (rear)[/url]
The cranks weighed in at 900g out of the box, 580g with the rings removed. Adding my ring/bash/bolts it weighs in at 700g. Not exactly lightweight but not that bad. All I need are some purple anodised crank bolts...
Deviant will go up tubeless
My kids light 20' build has Alienation deviants ghetto tubeless.
(DT 240s hubs with 1.8mm competition spokes)
I went ghetto as rim tape wasn't sufficient to get the Mow Joe to mount tubless due to the baggy and floppy nature of that specific tire.
The double wall rim bed profile however is absolutely fine for rim tape.
So the pedals just arrived, Stolen Thermalite plastic ones in hot purple. They might be a little too big, but more importantly they just don't seem to be spinning smoothly, it's like they forgot to grease the bearings. Turn the axle slowly and you can feel it "clicking".
that's cause they are shit pedals lol I bought a pair, they didn't last long.
Ha! I emailed Stolen to see if they can be opened up and greased, if they say no I'll just return them and find something else.
Nice man at Stolen says yes if you prise off the outer cap then you can just unscrew some nuts and strip the pedals completely. At which point I discover that the inner race is missing about a third of the bearings.
Debating whether to return to CRC for a replacement pair, or get something like the Wellgo KC001 (smaller, lighter, but not purple).
Of course now I'm wondering how much it would cost to custom anodise two pedals...
Gusset Slim Jim's come in a nice purple.
I'm going to order a set of those 152mm cranks, presumably square taper? Any idea what bb I need to match? Cheers
Yes, square taper. The original BB from my Blast was destroyed in removal and it's in my LBS's recycling box, but several posters on page one here said you want 118mm wide.
Someone on Amazon (mega-bikes or something) has the cranks for £18 plus a few quid shipping, but it took almost two weeks to get here. xxcycle.com want a few pounds more but I think would have shipped quicker and were very helpful when I asked to check the chainrings can be removed.
Cheers Ross,all ordered. Our build will start when the 75€ cube frame gets here from bike discount.
Does anyone know if I can swap the 7sp cassette on the blast to an 8sp without changing the rear hub?
My one at least is a 7 speed freehub which are smaller than 8 onwards.
rossburton - Member
My one at least is a 7 speed freehub which are smaller than 8 onwards.
Thanks. Looks like its rear wheel rebuild time and a new hub.
Just finished this
[img] http://imgur.com/FINahsl [/img]
12.3kg
Not telling how much the parts cost, because I don't want to know!
Very slow building so far. Put the wheels in without cassette or rotors to check saddle height and reach. He [i]just[/i] fits so this will last a while.
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Should have a good hour of building with the boy tomorrow afternoon so hopefully it will be finished this weekend.
I really like the Spank Grom grips, thin and narrow for little hands, and good colour accents on the lock rings too. Still need to sort out the reach on the brakes obviously.
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These anodised skewers were a good find on eBay for £5 the pair. Can't remember if the skewer should be on the brake side or not though!
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Ooh, I like those grips, think I'll get a pair of those for the lads bike.
They come in a range of colours but the green ones are basically impossible to find in the UK, the distributor is expecting stock next month. bike24.com (German) had some in stock and I was ordering tyres from there anyway so the postage wasn't too expensive.
What cassette are you putting on that ross? I'm also thinking of sticking with the stock wheels in the short term, but 1x7 doesn't sound like much of a range of gears for little legs. Can you get a decent spread of cogs at the back?
chainreaction have the grips in black, blue, and red, but out of stock of green at the moment. £9.99.
Wow, totally transformed that frame Ross!
Nice work.
Wonder if this thread will be cached somewhere 20 years from now so you can show your lad the work you went to building up one of his first bikes?! 😀
poopscoop: even if the forum is gone, I'm keeping the photos!
Garry: my cassette is a 12-28 or something, which paired with a 32t chainring and little 24" wheels shouldn't be too bad and isn't unusual for quality single ring kids bikes. SRAM do 12-32 for a bit more range, but my long term plan involves the spare hubs I got from eBay and learning how to build wheels... whether the plan is "next month" or "at some point" depends how the first few rides go.
What cassette are you putting on that ross? I'm also thinking of sticking with the stock wheels in the short term, but 1x7 doesn't sound like much of a range of gears for little legs. Can you get a decent spread of cogs at the back?
The shimano MF TZ31 cassette (14-34) is the widest you'll find. Pair it up with either a 30 or 32 tooth chainring depending on how hilly you regularly ride and it'll be enough. The only downside of this cassette is that your kid may spin out on faster rides, but you don't need to go single ring at the front if you don't want to.
Love those grips. Great project build there.
Isn't 12-32 a bigger range than 14-34?
Yeah 13-32 is better, but I've not seen it available for a threaded sprocket (thinking of short term solutions re: Garry_Lager's post on p.3)
However I've just noticed that sunrace do a 13-34 threaded.
Personally as our 24"er is only going to be used by one member of the family, I'm not going to invest much in it, relatively speaking, so the wheels aren't going to get changed (unless there's a lotto win or large inheritance in the next few months)
My Blast's stock freehub has a standard (but narrower) splined cassette holder, so the SRAM 12-32 will just slide on.
My hope is that I would be able to hand the Blast down to my daughter after the son has grown out of it, but at the rate she's growing I'm worried that I'll be doing all this again next winter...
Cool, didn't realise that they had freewheels. I just assumed that they were threaded jobbies.
It's going to be so much easier when they're on 26'ers 🙂
Thanks both - that 12-32 looks right.
Might just stick with the triple in any case until I can sort the wheels out properly.
Great build thread and I'm following with interest. I built up a Scott Spark 20 Jr a while back (build thread is on STW if you're interested and I've added a full parts list) so I appreciate the work these labours of love take.
I'm hoping to get more done on my current project this weekend - a 24" bike.
Another hour before the boy got distracted and wanted to play on his iPad. Not quite the father and son build experience I was hoping for but what can you do.
Anyway, rear brake fully installed and hose shortened (why have I paid for this before, it's trivial). Cranks on. Still to go: pedals (in the post still), front rotor and hose shortening (need to get more olives and rotor bolts, LBS had ran out), chain. Then done!
Weight so far is around 9.5kg. I'm hoping for less than 10.5kg when it's finished.
An Islabike Beinn 24 is 9kg, but this should be a better ride on anything that isn't a smooth road.
The big open question now is how to hold the front brake hose to the fork nicely as the fork doesn't have its own clamp. A cable tie looks ugly and moves. Can you buy glue on clamps?
I've used one of these before.
[url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brake-Guide-Suspension-Forks-Colour/dp/B006WMM9JA ]Holds it on with rubber o rings[/url]
These?
www.sjscycles.co.uk/cables/mpart-selfadhesive-cable-guides-3m-pack-of-3/
Could also use one on the downtube as well.
Perfect! Went for the o-ring one to avoid gluing stuff to the carbon fork.
15 minutes of very enthusiastic helping by my daughter (age 6, so inheriting my sons bike when this build is done) and we have pedals and a chain. Now revising how to adjust rear mech as I always forget...
It's going to be so much [s]easier[/s] [b]more expensive[/b] when they're on 26'ers
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-bike-singletrack-built ]Trust me[/url]
I can believe that, MoreCashThanDash 😀
Spent a quality 30 minutes last night with a beer and the Park blue book remembering how to adjust mechs. Now mostly shifting fine although I'm still not 100% happy with the upshift from 2 to 1. Had to play games as it's a 7 speed shifter and cassette but a 9 speed mech, so the H screw needs to be really wound in. Future-proofed that bit of the drivechain though, so worth it.
So frustrating: just waiting on a delivery of a Shimano olive to shorten the front hose (LBS has been out of stock for a week and isn't expecting more for another week at least), some rotor bolts, and the jig to saw the steerer down. Whilst I'll hack the bottom off a seatpost in the vice by eye, I'm not going to do that for the steerer!
Waiting for the proper tool for the stearer wil be worth it in my experience. I made a mess of the first cut without it but with the tool it was perfect in a couple of minutes.
Either use a cutting guide or some decent pipe cutters for the steerer - both do an equally good job.
Measure, measure, measure, cut. Somehow still managed to cut the steerer 5mm shorter than I intended. Luckily I gave it an inch of spacers!
And apart from needing the cable clamp to arrive, the build is now finished.
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2857/33447954311_a43e73d3e2_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2857/33447954311_a43e73d3e2_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Executive summary is: replaced the suspension fork with a carbon rigid fork, left it at 7-speed for now but dropped the triple front mech. Replaced almost everything apart from the seatpost, wheels, cassette. I have a pair of spare hubs and am learning to build wheels, so I can at some point go tubeless rims and 9-speed.
The cockpit is a resprayed Answer carbon bar, unbranded stem from eBay, Spank Grom grips, Deore levers, Altus shifter, Hope Head Doctor because that's how much I hate star nuts (and for the splash of colour).
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2842/33536568116_fb22a832e9_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2842/33536568116_fb22a832e9_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
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The forks are Carbon Cycles 24" forks, with Deore brakes and skewers in an annoying almost-but-not-quite shade of anodised purple. Replacement wheels will happen at some point, so these are the stock wheels with Rocket Ron folding tyres. A whole kilo of bike was the stock tyres.
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2809/32762935773_af75ab47ae_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2809/32762935773_af75ab47ae_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
The foot end of the drivechain is Suntour XCT-JR 202 152mm cranks, with a RaceFace narrow-wide 32t chainring and matching bashguard, and Wellgo KC001 pedals. More on these later.
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2873/33448019051_bce9f95dba_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2873/33448019051_bce9f95dba_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
The wheel end of the drivechain is a Sora medium cage mech (trying to keep the cage as short as possible, and this will take a 32t cassette) with full outer cable routing, the stock 12-28 cassette (there's a 12-32 on the workbench in case we need a bit more range), and another Deore brake. The Sora is a 9-speed mech so when the wheels are upgraded I just need a new cassette and shifter.
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2835/33420242702_8375ceb86d_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2835/33420242702_8375ceb86d_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Saddle is a Madison Y04, the stock seatpost (a bit heavy and rusty so will be replaced at some point), and more anodised hotness from eBay for the clamp.
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2932/32762959133_1d884399ed_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2932/32762959133_1d884399ed_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
All in all the bike now weighs in a 10.1kg, down from 13.7kg originally. Obviously I'm now looking for a light carbon seatpost to knock that last 100g off!
So those Wellgo KC001 pedals are basically awesome, and it's a terrible shame that Wellgo appear to have discontinued them. There's a few resellers on eBay in China, the pair I got are genuine Wellgo in a proper box so I can't comment on the relabelled ones. They're a good size for kid feet, have studs but are not sharp, use cartridge bearings and look rebuildable, and weigh a svelte 135g each. The stock, huge, V8-style pedals the bike came with were 270g each.
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3940/33536532566_893625ebf3_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3940/33536532566_893625ebf3_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Finally as tales of woe goes I thought "non-drive side crank thread shafted, LBS had to angle-grind it off" was the winner, but almost had a contender this afternoon when taking a rotor off my bike to donate it to the Blast. This happened to my T25 driver (last time I buy a Stanley tool because "what could go wrong").
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3932/33448302811_fcecfc6383_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3932/33448302811_fcecfc6383_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
I had visions of having to drill out the bolt on my lovely Hope hubs, but luckily a competent Makita bit got the bolt off fine.
Likes!
The bike build rather than the knackered tools.
Someone is going to mention cost. I've been tracking part cost and weight, but haven't dared to add it up yet.
It shouldn't be [i]too[/i] bad thanks to so many generous souls on here who had parts for sale. Thanks everyone!
Is it just the photo? The sweep of the handlebar seems to be forward rather than back?
Bike looks great, would have loved that as a kid.
Obviously I'm now looking for a light carbon seatpost to knock that last 100g off!
I don't know about you but I don't trust my kid with QR and carbon seatposts! Way too much chance of him over tightening..and crack!
We went Titanium ... I think we paid £20+ post... as someone had cut it short it didn't go for much on eBay 😀 and it was the right length for us so saved me cutting it.
Most cheaper carbon seatposts weigh more that a full Ti anyway as the weight isn't in the tube but the (usually steel) clamps and bolts at the top...
Saddle is a Madison Y04
187 grams and £15 and the Kevlar really seems to work .... the fact it hasn't torn in a year is amazing given the number of crashes...
Another hour before the boy got distracted and wanted to play on his iPad. Not quite the father and son build experience I was hoping for but what can you do.
It's normal... or actually you did exceptionally. Most primary schools wouldn't even TRY and keep a kids attention for a whole hour! (OH is a primary teacher)
If you want to keep a kids attention longer then you need to create an addiction to something, dopamine works great... which is exactly what game designers do... visual straight through to the reptilian brain and instant dopamine rewards... I say this as I was already worrying about my kids behaviour around the iPad... then I saw a video (not about kids but millennials in the workplace) and it all makes sense...
Sorry no answers except limiting use of iPad's etc. but it's worth watching
But on the original point.... been there and done it and that's just their attention span - it feels disappointing but 1 hour is actually really good!
Regarding bars, Yeah that's the angle of the photo with a wide lens. It's a flat bar with a small backsweep.
Terrific finished article. Love the grips and pedals, might source some for LittleMissMC. Never occurred to me to respray those bars.
Don't worry about kids and carbon seatpost, never had a problem with eldest yet, or younger one now. Maybe mine rarely bother to adjust them till I remind them. Or use a bolt up seat collar rather than a QR.
Don't worry about kids and carbon seatpost, never had a problem with eldest yet, or younger one now. Maybe mine rarely bother to adjust them till I remind them. Or use a bolt up seat collar rather than a QR.
Mine adjusts his all the time.... its easy to get some grit in the QR so it becomes tighter etc. but quite a few times I've had to put more effort than I'd like in undoing the QR he's hammered in with the flat of his palm...
In my experience carbon just goes - no warning.... (tightening a seatpost dropper trigger on the trails with a tiny allen key on the trail tool)
Not adjusting the seatpost isn't a viable option for us... he's flying off multiple dropoffs bigger than his wheels and his ability to shift back and forward and back again before the next jump of dropoff is crucial to not having a OTB incident.
One of his favourites is littered with helmet plastic and foam from numerous people who didn't have their weight in the right place...
First ride! Okay it was up and down the road, but that's a start.
The shock at having a bike he only just fits on instead of being obviously too large for was almost an early disaster. Giant cranks and long reach was quite a struggle. Had to lift the seat, fine tube the L screw (shifted fine in the garage but on a real hill, not so much), etc. Tempted to hunt around for a 30mm stem. But after a few minutes he was riding around and using the trigger shifters just fine (old bike had gripshift). He's very happy with the Deore brakes, the modern levers work really well if you push them right in to the bars.
Hopefully this weekend a trip down to Bissoe or similar!
ace20 rims are about 410-420g and not particularly great either. they are quite narrow and soft alloy.
Not just soft, very soft!! My lads Hoy 24" came with Ace20 rims and they have worn to the wear marker before he got through a pair of brake pads. So, does anybody have any ideas for a reasonable replacement rim or rear wheel???
Interested in the forks - where did you source them?
thanks
EV
El Vino, they're from http://www.carboncycles.cc/?s=0&c=43&p=195.
800g with the full length alloy steerer, IS mount for the disk brakes.
Not just soft, very soft!! My lads Hoy 24" came with Ace20 rims and they have worn to the wear marker before he got through a pair of brake pads. So, does anybody have any ideas for a reasonable replacement rim or rear wheel???
There's lots of dirt jump/BMX rims but they're incredibly heavy. Report back here if you find anything...
The best deal I'm aware of is the mk1 Stan's Crest 24" rims, available in the US for $43 each discounted (as they have the mk3 now). If you know someone going to the US shortly then order a load and bring them back to sell here! Postage is $70, which mostly destroys the discount: for an extra tenner you can get mk3 from a UK supplier.
Thanks Ross, Crests are a bit pricy, might go with one of these wheels, 1.3kg https://www.taylor-wheels.com/bike-wheels/24-inch-bike-wheel/taylor-wheels-24inch-bike-rear-wheel-double-wall-rim-7-10-cassette-black-silver
Those aren't disc wheels..
Those aren't disc wheels..
Well spotted, the bike doesn't have disc brakes and I wasn't going to upgrade....
Bump this fine thread to ask how one drills out the cable stops? Is it just a case of using a long drill bit and sort of angle it in there? They're obv right on the frame so doesn't seem to be much space for the drill.
Bump this fine thread to ask how one drills out the cable stops? Is it just a case of using a long drill bit and sort of angle it in there? They're obv right on the frame so doesn't seem to be much space for the drill.
That's what I did on the kids Cannondale frame but its a bit hit and miss but more as it breaks through the very thin "stop".... It would probably be better to use a small file or dremmel but I got away with it then cleaned it up with a needle file
I was too lazy to buy a long bit and used a standard 4mm bit then a 6mm to carefully nibble away at the narrow end of each stop. Good spray of WD40 on the bit to keep it smooth and a file to clean it up.
Thanks - I'll give it a go.
Have our kid's done now with the exception of the rear brake hose being zip-tied round the top tube, plus horrible forks are still in situ.
Rather than drilling, I used some of these that clamp into the cable stops. They work great.
You can see one in this photo.
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ads678: what mudguards are those and do they work?
Does anyone know what internal/external size the seat tube is on a 24" Blast, please? Thanks.
Mine is a 27.2 internal, 31.8 external.
Found it! 27.2 seatpost and 31.8 clamp for anyone else that needs it.
(Beat me to it by 15sec! Thanks Ross).
Well spotted, the bike doesn't have disc brakes and I wasn't going to upgrade....
Given its disk ready why not ???
For me the biggest plus of changing to disks initially was....
1) Wheels go on and off without having to release the cable
2) Wheels don't need to be trued to within 1mm every ride to prevent rubbing and still work
A year on and they are being used for the stopping power but that wasn't why I initially ditched the v-brakes.
ads678: what mudguards are those and do they work?
Ross, sorry missed this. It's one of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/zefal-no-mud-universal-mudguard/rp-prod143861 and yes they work pretty well.
I had one on my 26" mtb as well, it's for a 26" wheel but seem to fit quite well with 24's as well.
Just bought my eldest a Blast 24, and middle boy a Blast 20. Going to be stripping some weight off the 24 ASAP and this thread has given me some good ideas 🙂
Forks are crap, so going to stick a pair of 700c disk forks on it for now (a-c not far off the original sus forks). Got some shimano hydros knocking around so may chuck them on too.
I'd like to go 1x at the front, does the original crankset allow mounting of "standard" 104bcd chainrings? The BCD looks to be 104 but the mounting bolts/holes look odd.
Anybody have an answer to chainring question?
I'm about to start the same weight loss program with my youngest son's handed down Blast 24 and losing the rusty triple set up is first on the list for the bin 🙂
Mine is an older model Blast and the chainrings were rivetted on, so you probably need a new chainset to go 1x unless they've changed it. The Suntour Junior XCT is a good option. Cheap and square taper with removable chainrings.
As above, on closer inspection the rings are rivetted on. I've bought one of those chainsets Rickos has posted - £24 inc postage, bargain. Hoping I can re-use the existing BB mind as that seems nice and smooth.
Here's mine - changed the forks & tyres and put his old saddle and post back on as they fit his backside better 🙂
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