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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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The Suntour Junior XCT is a good option. Cheap and square taper with removable chainrings.
It's not much cheaper than a SRAM S600 but it's 152mm and hence can't be shortened above 130ish (if that)
I'm assuming most kids first 24 inch they are towards the smaller end of 24 and not just about to move onto a adult XS bike... so 152mm is ridiculously long if the kid is just moving into 24er or about right if you are pretty much eeking the last out of a 24er size or XS adult size) so [b]if you are going to the effort of changing cranks [/b]... it seems worth it to do it properly... The SRAM's (or I got an old pair of Alivio's for £10 + post off ebay) also have a decent square taper fit for JIS.... whereas Suntour seem neither JIS or European.... and are £33 free P&P instead of the £25 ish with P&P
When I switched to the SRAMS/Alivio's we knocked about 5mm off the BB length over the Suntour.... (and UN55 BB's are pretty cheap weight upgrades over stock anyway) Not only did it save quite a few grams but the square taper fits properly....
If your kid is 5' then you can get proper cranks in NX at 155mm ...
Given its disk ready why not ???
The wheel was for a Hoy Bonaloy bike which is not disk ready. He's fairly light and the v-brakes do a good job of stopping him.
Balls - stevextc are you saying that I won't be able to re-use the BB on the bike with that Suntour chainset? Didn't realise there were different kinds of square taper (assumed the crank/spindle interface was standard)
I bought the Suntour XCT cranks in the amazon link above and use them with a shimano square taper BB, which fits perfectly. Great for £22. Although i then ditched the chain rings and fitted a superstar NW and bashguard (to stop the school trousers getting caught!!).
I understand that if everything is perfect we'd all have different length perfectly fitting cranks, but as most people are riding around with the wrong length cranks any way why not let the kids join the party......
Which BB ads678? (apologies if you've already mentioned this in the thread!)
Ta
Balls - stevextc are you saying that I won't be able to re-use the BB on the bike with that Suntour chainset? Didn't realise there were different kinds of square taper (assumed the crank/spindle interface was standard)
You can try it.... on the kids Cannondale the axle was too long when I replaced the Suntour with either Alivio or SRAM S600.... but both fit much better on the UN55 ...
The one that came with the Cannondale was some chinese thing.... UN55'sd are only a few quid.... (£16 quid at Halfords at the moment) so it's not the end of the world... you can get the cheaper Shimano sq taper cheaper.... but like I said... if you are going to the time/expense on everything else then it seems sensible to spend the extra few quid and do it right.
The Suntour never seemed to really "fit" the square taper.... It worked but it felt like it was not quite right when it was fitted .... and seemed a bit like it fit because the alloy is softer than the steel.... so given enough torque it seemed to go on...
The wheel was for a Hoy Bonaloy bike which is not disk ready. He's fairly light and the v-brakes do a good job of stopping him.
Ah, makes sense....
The pull of disks for me was really not about stopping power.... I just hated the squeak as soon as the wheel was 1mm out of true and also riding mainly at Swinley the mud/grit on the rims....
It was also a pain taking the wheels on and off as with the brakes adjusted so they worked the whole cable had to be undone everytime I took the wheels off... (and it soon starts getting tatty)
I just got annoyed on his 20 ... so when we looked for his 24 disk brakes were top of MY list ...
Now he has them he says "the other brakes don't work" but he has just got used to the modulation on hydraulics and 1 finger braking.... but he'd never complained BEFORE he tried disk.... 😀
BB for the suntour crank is 118mm wide
Which BB ads678? (apologies if you've already mentioned this in the thread!)
Can't remember the exact one as it was one out of the spares bin sorry. It was probably a UN55 though...
Shameless link to my classified ad:
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/carrera-blast-24-bike-split-for-dads?replies=1#post-8451401 ]Classified Ad - Blast 24 Bike Split for dads[/url]
Happy to help anyone on here with bits as required - contact details in advert.
So, chainline woes.
The original bottom bracket on my Blast was destroyed when the LBS took it off with an angle grinder so I had to resort to STW hive mind when replacing, which said 118mm square taper. I kept the original 7 speed wheel but went 1x at the front and the chainline seemed acceptable.
Yesterday I swapped the rear wheel for an Islabike Creig wheelset with a 9-speed cassette. Now the chainline appears to be too tight for the bottom gears (as far as I'm aware, the freehub got longer on the inside so the bigger gears are where there used to be empty space in 7-speeds) as the chain is trying to fall off the top of the lowest gear constantly and the straight chainline is somewhere around 6th or 7th gear.
Now I'm cursing square taper brackets as I can't just fiddle a spacer to adjust the chainline. Before I either attempt to eyeball it, or do some dubious maths, does anyone just know what size bottom bracket I'd want to get the correct chainline with a modern cassette?
Now I'm cursing square taper brackets as I can't just fiddle a spacer to adjust the chainline
IIRC - if you can find an old Race Face one you can do this by threading the cup in to position the BB in the required place.
[img] http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=188336 [/img]
had no problem with a 118BB and a 10sp cassette etc also no problems with a 113mm BB with low profile crank either.
measure the chainline and see if its 50mm
Having taken delivery of stevextc's shortened alivio cranks, I fitted them to an ex-Mrovershoot's 68x111 bb. And I reckon it's about right.
Maybe it would take a few mm shorter, and just mount the ring on the outside of the crank? Is that possible?
Have had an initial try at getting the creigg wheel up tubeless too - it's now got a tube in 😉
Yeah our creigs have tubes in too...
Okay so yes, the chainline is exactly 50mm. I guess that's not the problem then. After a quality 30 minutes fiddling with the limits it's mostly behaving now.
Do you know if the 7 speed cassette has a spacer so that I could change it to a 9 speed cassette without changing the hub?
Do you know if the 7 speed cassette has a spacer so that I could change it to a 9 speed cassette without changing the hub?
Assuming you're talking about the stock blast wheels there are two types I've come across; the earlier bikes with the white deep section rims have a 7spd cassette - you can take one cog and spacer out of a 10 spd cassette to make a 9spd that fits, using a 10spd mech and shifter works well.
The later bikes with black rims have joytech hubs that take a 10spd cassette as standard.
I wish I'd known that when I did up my eldest daughters bike as I ended up buying wheels from superstar for that one, the one I've just finished for my youngest has the better wheels.
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It's a 7 speed as standard with white wheels, I'm wanting to change for a 9 speed cassette, shifter and mech that I have lying around.
My Blast is earlier than the one with white rims: black rims and really bad disc brakes. 7 speed hub. Now swapped for Islabike Craig wheels.