Input Needed -- 24" Mountain Bikes

Nooch

Member
My daughter learned to ride on her own back on memorial day, and this weekend we did 11 miles up and back on the gravel trial to Nyack. She's tall for her age and is quickly going to be out of her 20" hotrock, and with her birthday around the corner we figured it'd be a good time to invest in something larger.

I've been drawn to the Trek Roscoe 24 as a "real" mountain bike for her, and figure I can easily upgrade the cable discs to hydro's down the line, but my buddy at the shop keeps trying to talk me down into the Precaliber, which doesn't really do much for me. If I'm buying new, I'm a loyalist to the shop, so I suppose I'm just trying to find a reason why *not* to go for the Roscoe?

I'm sure there are plenty here who drag their kids into the woods with them -- what are they riding?
(and to that effect, I'm a total newb when it comes to mountain biking, so there's that...)
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
This is my daughters bike. She’s on the tall side for 7

Next up will the kona process 24 for her
F8C73E64-D299-424A-8041-76DC8CA453AF.jpeg


 
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Matt_

I Get Jokes
I'm not a fan if the precaliber at all for a kid who wants a "real" mountain bike. At a minimum go with the Wahoo 24 so you get a cassette instead of a freewheel that can be upgraded to someones takeoff 10 or 11 speed. Roscoe is a great bike. Benefit is some nifty hygdros but at the price of weight (almost 5 lbs).

Wahoo 24 with an upgraded RST F1RST air fork (can run disc) would be my recommendation. I have a kid or two that ride as well :)
 

Mathers

Well-Known Member
How old is your daughter?
I’m debating 20” or 24” for my soon to be 7 yr old son.
He’s riding an 18” Schwinn at Allaire now and doing pretty well
 

pkovo

Well-Known Member
I went a different route. I picked up a ratty little used Giant, stripped it down to the frame and then built it up using a mix of parts I had on hand and some bits sourced from ebay and the LBS. Pretty happy with the way it turned out and she got a kick out of the build process.

Not sure its any better than if I just bought her something new, but its unique and has some bling, and she digs it.

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one piece crank

Well-Known Member
The Kona Shred-24 was the best transition bike I could find between 20” to full-size MTB. Looks like they dropped that model, but still offer five bikes with 24” wheels - full-sus, HT, plus and fat. Not cheap but we all know what riding a nice bike is like :)
 

moose35

Well-Known Member
When my daughter first got into biking I picked her up a used Kona Hula for 80 bucks on craigslist. 5 years later shes still on that bike. Granted the bike was pretty much totally upgraded. If you can get a used bike and invest in a good wheelset/fork you'll be ahead of the game instead of buying new.
You more then welcome to let your daughter throw a leg over Zoes bike anyday you want to test out the fit of a 24" on her. Your only a couple blocks away from me.
 

TJYeti

Knows about bikes
My .02 from someone that’s been through this twice is to not overspend. I had the luxury of working a shop when I bought my older son a Giant xtc 24” and we got to build it together. He barely fit it the beginning of the summer and had outgrown it by the end of the next. It was passed down to my younger who did the same thing and I’m starting to keep an eye out for a used full size bike for him. So I was lucky to get it at cost plus run it through two kids. If I had to pay full retail and only one use out of it I’d go used. Good luck and happy birthday to your daughter.
 

pkovo

Well-Known Member
She’ll be 7 in October, 48” with a 24” inseam

For reference, my daughter in the pic above is 52" and under 60lbs and she handles her 24" bike no problem. It's a light build which helps I'm sure.

I agree with the above sentiment about not overspending. The kids rip through the bikes fast as they grow. I actually just moved my 11 year old up to a 26" this weekend and she was overdue.

I have three daughters and I've managed to acquire a fleet of used bikes ranging from free to $50 for them. All any of them needed was a tune-up, and a cable or tube. The little Trek below is my favorite! It's been through 2 of my 3 girls so far. It's a little tank of a bike.


IMG_0890.jpg
 

Delish

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Following this with interest. Our 48"tall 8 y/o is going to be ready for 24" bike soon.

We have had him on an Islabikes 20" upgraded with wider, sponsor correct, 20" x 2.0 Schwalbe Little Joe Tires. The extra tire volume is really helpful compared to the 1.35" wide tires it came with. Great bike. Parts are sized appropriately, Geo works well and it is very light compared to big brand offerings.

Recently we took a trip to Bend and rented 20" Cannondale Cujo mid-fat (20" x 2.6") bikes for the kids. The 24" version of the Cujo is substantially equivalent to the Trek Roscoe 24". 2.6" wide tires were such a big confidence booster for the little ones, especially on the sandy washed out Bend trails. I can only imagine how much better they would be on roots and rocks of NJ.

There were a few things I really didn't like about the Cujo. 1) unlike our Islabikes, the brake levers were not scaled appropriately for tiny hands. Even with the worm screw all the way in the levers had too much reach. 2) the mechanical disc brakes paired with 160mm rotors had way too much stopping power and it was really difficult to modulate. 3) They bike was heavvvvvy. even with a rigid fork they weighed a ton. Our 20" Islabikes weight 16 lbs compared to the Cujo 20" which is listed at around 22 lbs. The 24" Cujo is more like 25 lbs. Our 48" tall kid weighs 42 lbs for reference. Imagine riding a bike that weighs half as much as you do. 1) and 2) could easily be remedied with a set of hydros and 140mm rotors. The weight may actually help keep the bike moving in the right direction over rough stuff but there's no getting over the extra weight when climbing.

Quite happy with the REI 24":

https://www.rei.com/product/143169/co-op-cycles-rev-24-plus-kids-bike

Best bike for the money IMO.

Looks like a good bike for the $. But 28 lbs or so.
 

Nooch

Member
Some more data points, I suppose. MJ is the eldest of three girls, so anything bought will be able to be passed down along the way. She's also nearly 70lbs at 6 years 11 months -- shes a bit of a bruiser. I used to work a shop so still have a bit of the 'family' hookup, but I'm sure not getting anything at cost.. She really enjoyed the Grasshopper race and is obsessed with riding, out on the dead end adjacent to our house every afternoon for hours, so at least for now, I don't see it going to waste.

Another forumtite (on another forum) offered up a Scott Scale RC JR that would cost me about half of the Roscoe after shipping, but with v-brakes and an elastomer front fork -- neither of which are my favorite, but understandably are probably plenty capable.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far..
 

w_b

Well-Known Member
How old is your daughter?
I’m debating 20” or 24” for my soon to be 7 yr old son.
He’s riding an 18” Schwinn at Allaire now and doing pretty well

My big-for-their-age 8 yos are still a tad small for their Kona Shred 24s, but they were so ready to ditch their 18” bmx coaster brakers. I didn’t see that going to 20” bikes was a realistic option.
 

w_b

Well-Known Member
For reference, my daughter in the pic above is 52" and under 60lbs and she handles her 24" bike no problem. It's a light build which helps I'm sure.

I agree with the above sentiment about not overspending. The kids rip through the bikes fast as they grow. I actually just moved my 11 year old up to a 26" this weekend and she was overdue.

I have three daughters and I've managed to acquire a fleet of used bikes ranging from free to $50 for them. All any of them needed was a tune-up, and a cable or tube. The little Trek below is my favorite! It's been through 2 of my 3 girls so far. It's a little tank of a bike.


View attachment 104277
The shirt doe
 

Nooch

Member
Just to update:

Ended up buying her a used Scott Scale RC JR. It came built with deore 2x9, but a buddy had a deore/slx 1x10 group laying around that he offered up for a bottle of wine. Another friend does body work and is going to paint it for us (stock was black and yellow) a nice blue. We'll throw some decals on top of the clear coat so she can switch it up as she wants.

She did rip on it once before we tore it down (she's helping with the whole process) and loved it!
Maeve Scott 1.jpg
 
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