As above. I bought a Kona Stinky 2-4 for my two kids to use. It is in very good condition, but is built as strong as the combination of Trump and Putin’s muscles. Like the Chuck Norris of kid’s bikes.

I am based in the UK (which limits the availability of parts somewhat, compared to the US/Canada) and want to do some basic upgrades to make it a bit more useable, for where we will ride as a family mostly. My local stuff (Surrey Hill), is relatively steep up & down, loamy and some fun jumps and roots. I am lucky, it is out our back door. Will also be using for Alpine trips.

I was thinking of:

A: ditching 2 x 8 and bashguard, then replacing with 1 x 9 (I have spare parts from another build, so should cost £0).

B: changing tyres (currently has 2.5 Maxxis High Roller) for something a bit lighter, but still grippy and possibly getting a lighter pair of wheels. I’d keep the original wheels and tyres for uplift days and trips away. Second set of wheel likely to be the biggest spend, but also biggest weight saving.

I have posted on the the FB Kona forums and had some good suggestions (like lighter pedals, cranks etc). Anything else I can do that is relatively cheap? I think I don’t want to spend loads on it – the wheels in particular will cost a small fortune. For information, the kids already have lighter, simpler bikes – for normal going down the pub type family outings and general use.

Did the 2-4 have coil forks?
I built a Howler for my lad when he was young, put some air forks on which helped with setting sag, and importantly lightened the front end quite a bit

My son had a Stinky 2-4 when he was younger. It was a seriously heavy beast. I changed front fork for an air 26inch fork (pretty much same crown to axle), lighter weight tyres (not hard the OE weighed a ton), new crank. At least like that it was reasonable weight wise. I then gave it to a friend for his son who used it and passed it to another jr rider. Indestructible!

Lighter forks, old 26” Reba’s, 32s, etc. Lighter wheels and 1×9 with lighter wheels will probably help. Find an old 2nd hand lighter bar/stem.

Tom KP

Thanks all. It has a pair of do DJ air forks. Looks solid, but heavy. Reba could be an option, as I happen to have one (currently on the wife’s pub bike). I think 1×9 is a no brainier, although I might need to add a chain device (which I can again steal from another bike that has a rear mech with a clutch).

Best deal on kids wheels seem to be Superstar Components own brand rims and hubs (V6 hub, Element rim). Have not heard of them and cannot find any reviews though. They do a Crest based build, but that looks too light for the intended use.

I’ve struggled to find any really short cranks for kids, but will look. Any pointers welcome.

Tyres arrived. I’ll put them in ‘to be built’ pile.

Is 1×9 going to give kids enough range to get a heavy bike up steep stuff?

I’d be tempted to keep the front mech or if it’s not too expensive try licking up that cheap Microshift 9 speed groupset that has a wide range cassette and rear clutch mech.

Reba sounds a good idea as you already have it, as does picking up some cheap but lighter tyres. Spending too much (e.g new wheels) on a 26” bike that is heavy / old / has old standards is probably not the best plan – but I think you know that.

https://www.bike24.com/p2334685.html

Looks like 100 euros for mech / 11-42 cassette and shifter. Pretty damn cheap!

I’ve struggled to find any really short cranks for kids, but will look.

What cranks are on there? I cut down a set of truvativ’s to 130mm for my son. Can’t do it with hollow tech cranks but solid arm ones are ok.

Thanks Joe Bristol. The range is a good point. It is even worse than 26, because the bike has 24 in rims which makes it even more niche. It’s like a very small adult bike.

Jam Bo – cranks are FSA Maximus.

Here is the spec of the old bike. Stinky 2-4 PB Review from back in the day

Straight off the bat, without knowing the detailed spec of this bike, going 1x for weight saving is a desperate measure and the fact some bikes talk about this in their marketing guff is cringeworthy IMO! If the whole gear range of 2×8 is used, swapping it to 1×9 is likely to lead to gearing compromises and I’d expect the weight savings from a single chainring being offset by “dinner plate” sprockets to give similar range are going to be minimal.

Tubes or maybe going tubeless
Tyres
Bars
Grips
Seatpost
Saddle
Pedals
Skewers?

Then it gets more expensive for fork and wheel upgrades, unless you find a stonking deal.

I’ve just bought a Vodoo Marasa, supplied it weighs ~12.9Kg on our scales. I reckon I could reduce the weight by ~1.2Kg from the main list excluding skewers, if I grabbed the carbon Fatty fork I suspect that would save another ~0.75Kg, no idea yet if Marasa front wheel is heavier than the ~1.1Kg FatNotFat 29er.
I’m not going to remove any of the triple rings, got plenty of use out of the big ring (whatever it is, the Halfords page has 26/36/38, I suspect big is ~46) on the downhill and 26/34 got me up Dell Rd’s ~20% peak gradient quite comfortably.

The fork on the Stinky was unbelievably heavy. Definitely worth changing. Then wheels and tyres, since these are are heavy on the Stinky.

These are pretty rare and usually sell well second hand so not so much problem re-selling them

Both Superstar wheels and crest would be fine for kids.
I’ve used crest at trail centres, nothing massive but I weigh 95kg.

We got my sons 2-4 down to about 11.5kg. Highlights are most bits were taken from a second hand 26’ inch bike I bought or off of eBay. This was pre lock down prices

Reba 26 forks.
Stans crest on hope 2 hubs.
Hutchison toro 2.0 24 tyres
1×10 with extender ring 40t
Sjs Cycles 152mm cranks
Rockshox Monarch shock
Dropper post.

I found that second hand hand carbon bars and seatpost saved a surprising amount of weight when I built up the kids hardtails, though you may not want to risk it for a bike getting that kind of use

I did this with a Stinky 2-4.

It had coil forks and shock. >> Reba and a Fox RP2. The shock was a standard Giant size so I went and saw my local Giantdealer to see if they had anything that had come off a Giant when someone upgraded – £50 later RP2.

Cranks and bottom bracket made out off a lead and pig iron alloy – Hope and SRAM 155mm.

1×9, a Sunrace 46t cassette and a 28t Snaggletooth ring.

Crest rims set up tubeless from Superstar – good enough for the Alps given the rider’s weight.

Big Betty on the front High Roller (the tubeless aftermarket HR was a lot lighter) on the back – not the lightest here but grippy.

NOS bars from Funn – old school cross country bars are the right shoulder width for a 9 or 10 year old.

40mm stem.

Hope Tech X2s that I just had handy.

I only got down to 12.7kg – but there’s more to come out of the tyres if needs be. Stock weight was 16.4kg on the one we had.

Happy boy pedalling up from Dalby car park. Happier still uplifted in the Alps.

(Technically second boy – older son has moved on but ride it for a year or two.)

PS the seatpost is long and heavy – I got a hacksaw out.

Thanks so much everybody. Somme really helpful feedback here. Also great to see some of you have managed to get your weights down to something a bit more manageable. I’ve not weighed it, but can’t lift it without a crane.

As ever, trying to do this all on a budget so will need to start shopping around. I am not sure if the fork is 24 in specific or can be reused on another bike, but I’ll pop a 26in rim and wheel in to check.

I need to research the options for shock replacement (apparently the coil rear shock is very stiff for a kid).

Regarding comments on gearing, could I run. 28/26T front ring just to make thing easier if using a 1×9?

Has anyone got any experience of these wheels? Not the lightest (2.3kg for a set), but think the quality is pretty decent. https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Halo-T2-SB-Disc-24-MTB-Wheel_59551.htm

As I recall the Stinky 2-4 uses a 26” wheel fork.

Lighter wheels are good for a small person – I think ours came with Halos and the Crests are a massive improvement.

Shocks – check at Giant dealers. At one time loads of Giants came with RP2s when folk wanted RP23s and they got swapped sharpish (sometimes before they left the shop). They fitted an S2-4.

Yes to the small chainring – though I think I was limited to 28t.