MTB like a BMX, BMX like an MTB

Before I got my Bfe Max I had a Canfield Yelli Screamy.

What an absolute hoot that bike was. It was a 29er BMX when all said and done.

I’ve got a 26” rear wheel with a Whyte Industries hub that kinda turns in the dropouts to tension the single speed chain. Only ridden once. Didn’t like the bike!
I’m in Brighton too

Hia,
I’m in Brighton too
Ages ago I bought a White Industries ENO single speed hub (non disc) with a clever eccentric axle rotation that allows chain tensioning in a sliding dropout.
http://www.whiteind.com/eno
I tried it as a fixie on a Slingshot frame and didn’t get on with it so it only did one ride.
Might work for your build, it’s on a 26″ wheel
I’ve got an old 26″ yellow Judy too
neil
apologies for double post, the first version didn’t appear til I posted the 2nd one! with more detail

Have a look at commonground bikes
http://www.commongroundbikes.com/tech
Might be close to what you want, although not sure about current availability.

Post a picture too please. What forks are you using?

Will do. Or at least I’ll take photos and attempt to post them… Spares build using what I’ve got lying around: U-turn Revelations at 100mm. The steerer’s only just long enough for one spacer below the stem and I was hoping to raise the front end a bit as I’m 6’1(ish). I’ll see how it rides first, trying to avoid buying new forks but if I do it’ll be https://www.identitibikes.com/products/rebate-xl-forks/

I’d go 26 DJ bike as well. There’s loads.

Corsair Toro
Dartmoor Cody
Dartmoor TWO6PLAYER
NS Liar
NS Decade
Cube Flying Circus

To name a few.

That commonground looks really interesting. Not that it’s for me, but love the ideas behind it.

I’ve never heard of Commenground but I like it. 24″ is a great wheel size but as the website says the BMX geometry doesn’t really translate. Racing style cruisers are twitchy and bloody scary to ride. I’d rather ride a proper 20″ trail bike.

That commonground looks cool but it say manufactured by FBM which shut up bike production last year.

@a11y now looking into the build more and the forks is what I am struggling with. IF I do this I want some short burly suspension forks (27.5 is ok) but forks are so bloody expensive now its ruining the possibility.

Agreed that the price of forks is just obscene now. When I wanted one for my DJ bike I gambled on an X-Fusion Slant as it was half the price of a Pike or 831. It does the job. Not sure what it would be like on a trail bike but for pumping up hard and hitting jumps it’s perfect.

24″ is a great wheel size

Why did it die out. I never really followed mtb dirt jumping but it seems the only 24″ dj out there are fairly old and next to no forks around

thanks for the tip sharkattack I will check them out. Checking out pink bike dj bikes too.

What you want is a trailstar with a minty fresh coil sprung U-turn pike…

Or a sidekick with an identiti fork….

What I really want is a tig welder and loads of time to ride and experiment! but I have (lots) of bills to pay and a house to practically rebuild!

26″ DJ bike sounds best bet

What you want is the raw On One Gimp frame in my garage ;)

Not really, I built it up with a pair of older Pikes/ Hope/Flow, etc and it was fun but felt a bit too twitchy for my liking compared with my modern FS. I replaced it with a Saracen Amplitude 3 L from the classifieds on here, £300. Its longer so less scary but really good fun. I think I’m going to put a front brake on it and start practicing endo’s and endo turns, etc. And riding backwards which is a lot trickier/scarier at 50 than it was at 13!

Why did it die out. I never really followed mtb dirt jumping but it seems the only 24″ dj out there are fairly old and next to no forks around

I just mean that 24″ wheels are small, light, less likely to fold in half and your trails don’t have to be smooth as glass like on a proper BMX. Unfortunately as you say you can’t get them anymore and 24″ cruisers, while terrifyingly fast, are just crap.

Which is why, I like the look of that Commonground bike and the thinking behind it.

The Yeti dj bike springs to mind, that always looked very bmx-ey. Also Curtis frames, and there was an Intense hardtail too. All super rare now I’m sure but worth mentioning.

It’s an odd niche and hence very few if any non custom bikes. Been thinking about it more and what an ideal bike would be. Almost a cross between a bmx and a aggressive hardtail. Maybe 24″ wheels, maybe mixed wheel size 24/26″ maybe 26″.

What you want is the raw On One Gimp frame in my garage

I had a Planet X Bommer many moons ago, same frame but vertical dropouts, was a hoot. Not too twitchy with Stratos MX6’s and 24seven Darkangel 5 piece bars though! That died on the DH at Fort William, frame had a crack and just folded at some random point.

24 inch jump bikes died out because the Yanks didn’t let them in their comps over there. One year a load of Brits rocked up at the Cowan Backyard Jam (Grant, Fielder, Lance McDermot, etc) and smashed it and they were all made to switch to 26 after that.

I seem to remember there being a write up if the event in MBUK or something.

If you do decide on a 24 or 26” bike and want a fork I have a 100mm Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 1 (the top spec one, not the rubbish OEM ones) in my garage. It’s lowers are scratched and rubbed, but the stantions are in good condition. The seals are all good and it’s never let me down.

Have been keeping it to build a budget hardtail but ended up buying a new 29er.

Tom KP.

squirrelking- its was my first foray into this kind of bike and jumps really well but I found the Saracen more confidence inspiring. I think it worked with 24″ wheels didn’t it?

The marbling/patina on the frame make it worth hanging on a wall which is why I’ve not put it on ebay, it looks ace.

Not a clue about 24″, I don’t even remember if it had canti bosses, Bommers are rarer than Gimps these days.

The Jack Flash was a nice reboot but tbh it would have been better with horizontal drops like the OO bikes, the naff paintjobs would have been ace as well.

Cheap jump frame with track ends for single speed

I considered the Octane One above, but on paper it’s a lot shorter than the Jack Flash 25th.

I almost finished my Jack Flash build last night, defeated by the smallest of things (literally): a lack of olives and inserts to shorten the brake hoses.

Took some measurements:
Wheelbase 1120mm
Reach 435mm
Effective TT 600
HA 67.5 deg
SA 71.1 deg
Weight 26.3lbs / 11.9kg

^ That’s with Revelations set at 100mm, so thereabouts the quoted geometry on the Planet X site. Guessing my A-C length must be greater to have the HA and SA I do, or could easily be dodgy measuring by me.

Built up with what I had sitting around with the exception of new M6000 hubs, Brand X seatpost and seat clamp. Couldn’t help myself from paying extra for the tarty head tube badge. More suitable tyres would be great but had these lying around so no cost to use.

Built as a FAB (**** about bike) to muck around on while the kids are in sports clubs, rather than hanging around inevitably on my phone. Park next to local swimming pool should have it’s pump track finished by the end of this year, so I’ve built it with this sort of riding in mind. Never see me using it on actual trails.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/K3CfSrtyzr6Y1rCA6

(I really give up trying to embed actual pics from Google Photo…)

Nice, that’s not far off my Trailstar as was. It’s getting a rebuild, not decided if the Revs are staying or if I’m getting some Rebates.

Nice has me tempted. Will have a look what I can build it for over the weekend.

There’s a bit of a crossover with children’s bikes here. Both of ours have started out on the bog standard Orbea MX24 and I’ve gradually added better bits as they learned to ride faster; suspension forks, disc brakes and so on. We’ve been really lucky to have a very generous friend / godfather who raided his loft stash of 26″ forks. We run these with dropped travel (60-80mm), but I ended up building 24″ disc wheels for them. You can still get some pretty decent Trials rims in that size, and they should take a reasonable beating. Worth a go?

If it fits you those Octane One Zircus frames are hard to beat for the money. These type of bikes usually have short chain stays 385-400mm not what trail bikes typically have!

@a11y that looks great, debating whether to go single speed or just stick the spare 8 speed stuff I have on it.

Just noticed DMR still do the 24 inch Sect as well as the 26 version.

much nicer. Steel always looks better on a HT in my opinion.

@a11y that looks great, debating whether to go single speed or just stick the spare 8 speed stuff I have on it.

are you planning on pedalling a bike that shape and size any distance? SS it.

At uni i had a lanky xc bike, and a dirt jump bike. XC bike for all day rides around NantyrArian and similar, then the DJ bike for street, jumps, and Downhill. Got pinched in the end, but by then i was 26 and decided i was too old to replace what was effectively a kids bike.

Got my bootzipper 29er as my “big bmx” now. Not as nimble, but still fun and cheap enough to treat badly

@a11y is that a bottom bracket mounted chain guide that you are using as a tensioner? If so how did you get it set up, just lot of trial and error?

@The Brick, agree – I’d rather have steel for a hardtail too. But £99!

@dirkpit74, what @Olly says. For me SS is fine, but it I planned on trail use I’d want gears. I had dedicated SS hardtails for years but my knees/back aren’t up to it now. If I end up using it for longer local rides with the kids I’ll add gears, but that’s unlikely.

@bigginge, yes – Blackspire Stinger. Used long ago on a previous bike but works well as an alternative to a traditional rear-mounted SS tensioner. Trial and error positioning it although the roller is on a slider for tweaking and taking up chain stretch.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MQED5YhMpdzGNLdK9

And the tarty HT badge: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qzuc3jZL2gGf5Q1b7

@a11y that’s great, I for one will definitely be interested to see how it looks/measures up, cheers.

Isn’t this almost exactly the type of thing people used to use small Cotic BFe’s for? And why Cotic kept making 26″ frames when most of the industry dropped it – to provide a home for all those leftover 26″ wheels and forks, so you could build a fun, strong little play bike that you could actually pedal a bit?

Trouble is I use ally 26″ stuff on my full sus! (Old school)

Yeah, I was going to suggest an old SC Chameleon, but then I had a look at prices. Madness. Pre lockdown you could get a nice mid-school spec for about £200. Forget that now!

Everything’s hitting silly prices – maybe time for me to dust off and flog the Dual Slalom bike I’m never going to ride again.