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Okay collective wisdom, let's talk axle-to-crown.
One of our Blasts currently has an Exotic carbon 24" fork, which has a 33.5cm axle-to-crown distance. At the time this seemed a better choice as the original fork looked too long at ~42cm (also being a rubbish coil shock has no sag), but now I'm wondering if the slackness would help with stability and confidence going down.
So, what forks are people riding on their Blast 24, and what is their axle-to-crown?
Not a Blast but my eldest has 475mm a2c XRC100 on his Scale RC24 frame that's designed for a 24" rigid fork.
Its slackened the front end out to a crazy 62deg (unsagged) HA but works surprisingly well up and down. Kind of 'Geometron' type front end geo really.
Might not be for everyone and probably would be a little unweildy on less tech rides.
I've got Fox Float 80's on my kids Blast. Not sure what the a/c is - will measure them tomorrow. From what I remember they're not far off the original fork dimensions.
475! 62 degrees! That's so on trend it hurts. 😉
Okay people, a quick vote. Too slack, or cool slack?
Just for reference I measured the fork on this:
I know its not a blast but the fork is a rigid one intended for a 24" kids bike, it measures 370mm A-C, the listed HA is 68*, not sure how that compares to the stock blast bouncy fork, 62* sounds slaaaak...
Okay people, a quick vote. Too slack, or cool slack?
Depends what for.... if you were raising the front for working suspension then that will help with DH confidence and obviously take a toll on climbing and to some extend undo lots of your hard work and investment.
If you stick with rigid then I wouldn't bother ... 66-67 works with travel... Jnr's Full suss Norco had 69 deg before I added the new fork and raised the front by sticking on a tapered fork. I didn't actually measure the new HA but comparing it to my T-130 with an extra 10mm added to the shock its probably a bit slacker...
My 160mm hard tail 26er is probably closer to that... it is horribly heavy and running a 11-28 but it's a freakin nightmare on any climbs. (Part of the reason for it is giving me more exercise whilst riding with Jnr but its now getting a challenge to keep up - after a few hours I'm knackered - either I get fitter or I'll have to fix his brakes to rub)
At some point you might end up doing what I did and just go for 2 bikes?
can fully endorse 10-speed Zee kit, available for a reasonable price, has a very short cage so isn’t in the way of rocks,
Suprisingly despite running the M8000 mech and previously the M780 Jnr (unlike me) has yet to total a rear mech on rocks or roots. The range is a bit pointless when he's racing DH but it does mean I can swap over wheels easily between bikes. The Zee I had planned is on my only 26er so I don't have any other wheel choices...
Eldest daughters first 'proper' bike (tall 9 year old). It started life as an eBay special, 14" Giant complete bike that was quite unloved but had serviceable wheels, rear mech, chainset. Second hand bits from the lovely STW massive, a few new bits, respray and she has something that is unique for her. Great fun.
This morning I sorted out the seat (correct angle and push forwards) and it's looking a lot better. Then I saw this:
Nice looking bike, with a good slack headangle. 🙂
I still don't get why you'd want such a slack HA on a rigid ???
At the time this seemed a better choice as the original fork looked too long at ~42cm (also being a rubbish coil shock has no sag), but now I’m wondering if the slackness would help with stability and confidence going down.
Adding some extra height and slackening off the HA might be a byproduct of getting some working suspension on the front... and will obviously take its toll on pedalling and climbs... but then you are trading one off for another the bike ends up much better at one and less good at the other.
Adding some extra height onto a rigid fork is not going to do much for confidence descending but affect the pedalling more. You seem to be losing far more than you gain and also what you have invested time and money in. (Or am I missing something????)
Time, yeah I'm not getting that back. Cost, well the new fork precisely matches the a-c of the existing fork on the second Blast I just bought which is being powder coated now, so if I decide it's too long for the old Blast it can go on the new one instead, which presumably was designed around the longer fork (though I'll be able to check that when it comes back).
Has anyone had success getting Rocket Rons (cheapo performance model) going up tubeless? I didn't have any success with my old Islabike rims and my attempt at sealing with tape but it does turn out I'm not very good at that. Currently wondering whether I should rebuild the stock Blast wheels with new hubs and throw a Stans rubber strip in...
Has anyone had success getting Rocket Rons (cheapo performance model) going up tubeless?
They work fine with the right rims.. you need more sealant but our seated fine on Stans Crest.
With the valve cores out Jnr can actually seat them himself with a fairly average track pump.
After you get them to pop they will leak air through the sidewalls... I stuck in about twice the normal sealant first time (it might have been overkill) then you need to give them plenty of shaking about.
I didn’t have any success with my old Islabike rims and my attempt at sealing with tape but it does turn out I’m not very good at that.
I gave up trying to get his rims came with his Norco seated. I since bought a Beco airshot-alike so maybe I'll try again but nothing seemed to work... thin tape/2 layers off gorilla etc.??
Why would you bother rebuilding the stock Blast wheels replacing the hubs which are fine and keeping the rims which are dreadful ( too narrow, gap in the joint where they are pinned together)
I couldn't get the stock rims to go tubeless even with a ghetto rim strip ( 20" inner tube split in half), loads of sealant and pop bottle inflator.
ballsofcottonwool you do have a good point. The hub is 7-speed so I want a modern hub, but the spokes are a bit of a mess and no doubt won't be the right length, and the rim is a bit arse... probably is better to just find new wheels. Either way, glad to hear they do seat with the right rim.
Those meanies at Islabikes won't sell me a wheelset unless I have a Creig, boo. Any suggestions for a good/value wheelset? Those Condor rims at 20 quid each are a reasonable start but are there any prebuilt ones around?
And we're off! One frame collected by a happy girl from the powder coaters (Blastclean, near Falmouth).
This morning I collected it from Unit Cycles (Truro) who faced the headset, bottom bracket, and rear brake mounts.
Just fitted the headset and bottom bracket whilst my daughter is out so she didn't have to hear the swears.
I had the same issue with Islabikes last year trying to get wheels - unless i gave them a frame number they wouldn't sell.
Got some Condor rims and old Deore hubs being built up next week, I'll report back on weight comparison to Islabike wheels once they're built.
I had the same issue with Islabikes last year trying to get wheels – unless i gave them a frame number they wouldn’t sell.
That's interesting! I wonder if they monitor the forums and spotted the number of requests from people on here...
Let's try "Isla Isla Isla".
Has any body bought one of these wheels mentioned a few pages back?
My littlest has a Carrera Abyss and I'm thinking of changing the rear wheel as the current one takes an old school screw on freewheel.
It's basically a hybrid but I've put some proper tyres on it, changed the crank to a Thorn 150mm (or thereabouts) with a 30t n/w ring and changed the stem and bars.
Just weighed the wheels I've had built around the Condor 24" MTB rims and some old Deore hubs I found on eBay. Built-up wheels (hubs + spokes + rims + tape) are ~900g and ~1100g. The wheel builder said the rims are most likely Alex rims from looking at them, which is fairly likely.
For comparison the stock Carrera wheels are ~1kg and ~1.2kg, with a 7-speed hub, fairly unlikely to go up tubeless, and rust patches. The Superstar Fuel/Crest combo are 721g/902g but are also £300 a set so that's ~400g lighter for ~£200.
Also to anyone in Cornwall I can't recommend Shed Cycle Service in Illogan enough. He quickly built the wheels up, but also knew the colour scheme I was going for on the new bike so without asking did blue nipples to mark the valve position and invisible-but-we-know-its-there hot pink rim tape.
Right, i'll jump in here too now!
Blast collected (£31 off ebay).
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Stripped it yesterday and dropped the frame off at my local powder coating place.
Complete bike weighed 13.6kg so got to improve that. The forks alone were 2.15kg! Poor little kids.
For comparison the stock Carrera wheels are ~1kg and ~1.2kg, with a 7-speed hub, fairly unlikely to go up tubeless, and rust patches. The Superstar Fuel/Crest combo are 721g/902g but are also £300 a set so that’s ~400g lighter for ~£200.
Noone pays non-sale at Superstar (do they?)
Sure, they do have good sales now and again: assuming sale and stock align 🙂
Yeah its also worth noting the QR version of the current fuel rear hub is a bit pants... the free hub is only held on by the springs on the QR... so if you transport with wheels off you need to be careful or have to reseat the free hub at the other end... (only on the QR version ... I have a 12mm actually is really nice - given I got the whole wheel set for £100...(when he stars aligned with a sale)
Just weighed the wheels I’ve had built around the Condor 24″ MTB rims and some old Deore hubs I found on eBay. Built-up wheels (hubs + spokes + rims + tape) are ~900g and ~1100g. The wheel builder said the rims are most likely Alex rims from looking at them, which is fairly likely.
For comparison the stock Carrera wheels are ~1kg and ~1.2kg, with a 7-speed hub, fairly unlikely to go up tubeless, and rust patches. The Superstar Fuel/Crest combo are 721g/902g but are also £300 a set so that’s ~400g lighter for ~£200.
The set I built used a Mk1 rear Bulb hub (spares box) a used OEM hub off ebay (~£5) and came out a similar weight to your deore set a little under 2kg for the pair, that was using PG spokes.
It was a similar £££s per gram type calculation, I almost certainly could have saved an easy 200g by buying nicer hubs and I could have had DB spokes for double the price and saved a bit of weight, but I really don't think she would have appreciated the difference and for the price the rims are a competitive weight, not the lightest granted but to save another 100g per rim you are looking at quite a bit more spend...
I suppose if you've got kids already racing at the sharp end a 1600g wheelset is a worthwhile investment for them, but for more "average" kids just riding about with their tubby Dads 1.9-2kg is acceptable IMO...
Back from the powdercoaters and BB installed with lots of swearing!
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Looking nice!
Are you putting on any graphics or keeping it clean?
Custom graphics on the way!
Very fun build so far!
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Has any body bought one of these wheels mentioned a few pages back
Yes, had one on my lad's Hoy Bonaloy after the original Alexa rim wore through. It seems to be standing up to the abuse well enough.
Between a few trips away over the summer and my daughter having her arm in a cast the latest build has been quite slow, but in the last week we've gone from a bare frame to something that actually looks like a bike (albeit without going bits or stopping bits).
Just need some brake calliper bolts, adaptors, and a chain.
That looks class!
Picked up one for boy. Intend to do a rolling restoration. First off, replace the shredded BB...
Had to go a all Archimedes on it.
This seems to be a common trend with upcycled bikes like the Blast! My LBS used an angle-grinder to get the crank off...
Nice work Tom, awesome physics bodging! Those blast BB's are a sod!
Teaser:
My birthday build is all finished for my daughter. The Blast started life at 13.6kg and has finished at a tidy 11.2. Fun build.
Pics to follow once the Birthday girl approves this weekend!
Not sure who was grinning more...me or my lass!
Birthday bike went down great!
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Super job!
Well it's practically done at last.
Carrera Blast frame, Exotic fork, Condor 24" rims on Deore hubs, M615 brakes, 32x11-16 drivechain with Zee mech and SLX shifter, Suntour cranks, Wellgo pedals, Madison saddle, cut-down ODI grips. Somewhat cheeky custom artwork.
Just need to swap the random mix of headset spacers and bleed the brakes.
Very nice!. If its now been outgrown let me know and I will take it off your hands!
Nice Ross