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Hi all,
Starting to look for and build up my daughter's next bike for her 6th birthday (she's tall) early next year and she'll be moving up to 24" bike.
Would love to go with a Nukeproof Cub Scout or Commencal Meta, but they're too expensive.
Swapping brakes (Hope X2) and drivetrain (10s XT), plus few other bits over. So only really need frame, fork and cranks (all surplus bits will be sold).
Looking at the Vitus Nucleus 24 for £500 and the Voodoo Bakka 24 for £290 (with 10% discount).
Will be used for everything really, skatepark/pumptrack/Leeds bike park, single-track/trail centre tracks etc. She's not progressed to getting her wheels of the ground yet (much like her dad).
Is the Vitus worth the extra £200? Pros that I see is the slightly better fork and the dropper post routing (though I'm not sure she will need one before moving to 26" wheels).
The savings could be put toward a Manitou J Unit fork if required (which would trump the Vitus' fork).
Any ones kids have either bike and offer advise or any other recommendations.
Thanks
The other option is the NS Clash Jr frame for £200 and a Suntour or Manitou fork
There's a 24er in the classifieds at the moment
Thanks, if it's the Forme, it doesn't have disc mounts on the frame
Bakka + Suntour air fork (£80, Amazon) + cheap Hydro discs.
Thanks, I already have the brakes.
Selling the fork, wheels, brakes and gears and putting the money, plus savings over the Vitus (if needed) towards a better air fork!?
Also seen a 2nd hand Genesis Core 24 for a decent price, same plan to replace the rigid forks.
I own both these bikes (well my kinds do although one has been outgrown).
Vitus is overall a much nicer bike imo (ours is about 18months-2 years old now) I bought a Chinese made £35 wide range 9speed cassette and longer chain off Amazon which has improved it further.
BUT I have real issues with the fork it had...
The air fork (Spinner) was faulty pretty quickly and didn't hold air where it should have done. I've fixed it at home with some rubber seals bought off eBay.
That's not my main beef with the fork though it is actually the short axle to crown and the impact on the way the bike sits/rides when doing more than pottering...
The coil forks on the Voodoo seemed agricultural in comparison but when the big one outgrew the Voodoo and the forks on the Vitus were faulty I ran the Voodoo's forks in the front of the Vitus for several months.
With now 8 year old son hammering around on them they worked much bettee. The fork from the Voodoo is noticeably longer and this imo dramatically improved the Vitus' trail manners, slackened it out a bit.
First high speed descent back on the shorter original forks and he got a proper speed shimmy on.
In an ideal world the Vitus with the longer forks of the Voodoo.
Other comparatives
I think the Voodoo is longer in reach but has lower standover
No room for bottle cage on the Voodoo
If you've got any specific questions pop me a PM or @ me here.
We've decided to keep the Voodoo in the shed until the Vitus is outgrown and use it's forks then when we're done with both then they'll get put back to shop spec and sold.
Just to add our two versions will be about 4-5 years old (Voodoo) and 2 years old (Vitus).