Looking to start building up a 26" frame for my 9 year old as he is starting to out grow his 24" Scott Scale and his younger brother has his eyes on it as he's starting to out grow his 20" Hardrock.
Anyway looking around there is the XS/14" Inbred as an obvious (cheap and available) choice, but is there anything else worth looking at?
Had a quick look at China carbon specials, but nothing came up initially at the Inbred price point
New only, or is 2nd hand an option?
If 2nd hand you can get xs bfe. I think cotic have run out of stock now. I have one, its not for sale..
Interesting idea!
New as sh is probably not an option as I'm not based in the UK.
I sourced a frame second hand off a wanted here (thanks Matt!) - there were a few other interesting offers after I'd agreed a buy so it'd be worth an ad.
Giant featured a lot, some good looking frames.
I first thought 'Inbred' but didn't want to spend full dollar or wait on a sale... I too had a younger brother waiting for the 24", though he's nearly caught up and could probably handle a 26" too.
Keep an eye out on end of season full bike deals or 2nd hand from the big players as Trek, Spesh, Kona, Giant, Cannondale etc. all do properly diddy little frames in parts of their range, down to 12-13 inch in some cases, and even their lowish end Alu frames are surprisingly good and will obviously be light at that size anyway, so can sometimes be worth buying a full bike and strip it for the frame if you have decent bits to hang off it.
2nd hand: I found a xs hardrock for a friend's 9yr old son. i didn't have to look very hard.
a bit of tlc, some and it's a great wee bike.
As for new: there's a 'Jamis X' for £190 at Evans...
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/xs-cube-frame-fs-brand-new
Bit old but might be worth a try. Interestingly it is my photo he has nicked, cracking wee frame!
[Bookmarked thread for later]
I had looked at Chinese carbon too - too expensive imo. Inbred's a possibility. Islabike's Creig 26 is due back out again soon too as a full bike option - removing all the faff of sorting short cranks etc.
Thanks for the heads up!
http://www.commencal-store.co.uk/PBSCCatalog.asp?ItmID=15144879
FRAME EL CAMINO DISC 26 NEON GREEN 2014 160 euros XS frame
ooh gosh, now that's a link and half Leku.
Thanks
thinking the same as you OP- that does look good.
I have the xs BFe and love it. They do seem hard to get your hands on though.
The 14" 456 Evo2 has a very similar geometry and you can pick the frame up for £149 (in yellow) last time I looked. My wife has one and it's good, but I don't rate it as highly as the BFe.
I've a 14inch Kona Fire Mountain(2011) that my boys outgrown if you're interested ?
Ordered the Commencal linked to above, just waiting for delivery 8)
But something like that Kona would make a great bike for a junior.
Happy to help...
I got a second hand xs stumpjumper hard tail 13" frame from eBay and has built up into a lovely light bike for my 9 yr old. I looked at "14 on one but it is a much bigger frame and meant for people at least 10 cm taller. Kids at that age are often all legs with a very short upper body so long top tube is no good.
Also bought 152 mm suntour cranks off the bay for £16 new with triple. Normal cranks are miles too long and short ones take a bit of tracking down
Thorn or similar go down to 140mm. SJS cycles have a range of short cranks.
13" Rockhopper frame - there is one up on the Southern Bike Shop Facebook group for £75. They build up into a great little bike....
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kettenradgarnitur-SR-Suntour-T20242-Zähne-schwarz/dp/B0029MP3AO
Surtour 152mm chainset. Less than £16. Remove the rings and add a single thick/thin ring (that's that I didi..)
Really nicely timed thread!
Bought an XS El Camino and Suntour cranks for my eldest daughter (10).
She'd probably get away with her 24" cannondale for a while longer, but her younger sister (8) is way too big for her 20" Isla.
If your kid is a bit bigger, the Heli-Bikes "Light" are a LOT lighter than the Camino:
http://heli-bikes.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1618
However, ETT on the 36cm Light is 560, compared to 530 on the XS Camino.
Paul
Kona, Commencal and Trek all make 13-14" frames. Some of the kids at my club have recently turned up on on the Inbred which looked v cool. Others are on 26" Isla bikes with suspension forks.
14" EVO 2s are only £20 more in hot paprika
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FROO456E2/on-one-456-evo2-frame
Thanks to Leku again for the heads up
[img] 
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One happy boy.
2026grams for those interested
Let the build begin
Damn, that's nice! Why did I come back to this thread? 😉
I do tend to keep an eye on the Commencal site though - have bought a couple of little bikes and frames from them before - top value and super-quick shipping = win! 8)
Seeing as this thread has delivered excellently so far I thought that I'd ask the STW minds again.
26" rigid forks.
On-One have some in stock in a few weeks at £150
Looking on Amazon there are:
Java ones for £90
eXotic ones for £80
Anything else I'm missing?
Disk I guess? Might have some Orange R8s or P2s knocking about if second hand is an option?
I have some carbon Bonty Switchblades but I'm keeping those 😉
Whilst we're sharing pics of the outcome..
[img] https://goo.gl/photos/EGfh2yLtqTqbpDKPA [/img]
Tiny Cannondale donor frame, NW chainring, Youth Madison saddle the rest from the 'spares' mountain.
EDIT: D'oh, Google no likey hotlinking pics I think
P2's are a good call, thanks.
Secondhand is OK (ish), but they'd need to be sent to Sweden so maybe not so cost effective compared to buying new.
Fair point! The R8s were good, and the Bontys were also - they come up second hand occasionally.