You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Hi,
Picked up a couple of Hoy Bonalys for my twin boys yesterday. Lovely bikes, decent kit, bit more boy-ish than Isla biles at this age. Good styling.
They tried out:
The Canondale 24" Trail
The Specialized Hotrock
Scott Scale Jr
The Hoy won from them and me. Riding position, weight, manoeuvrability, thumb over grip shifters etc.
Anyway - that was just info for others looking.
There are a couple of things I would change, 1 of which I can:
Tyres.
Can someone recommend an off-road 24" tyre please? The stock model is okay-ish for hard packed dirt trails in the summer but not suited to XC MTB and it is a mass market bike so I understand they want a broad appeal and this would not be a major factor for 90% of their customers.
I saw a Conti explorer (not available on CRC) and a Schwalbe Black Jack but if anyone has any personal experience of weight and stickiness etc that they could share that would be much appreciated.
..or even if you have a link to an on-line review, that would be great.
Thanks.
Ade
Offspring has used Scwalbe Blackjack on his old 20 inch. On his 24 he has Kenda Small block eight.
They are fine here in Aus if a little lacking in volume at an alleged 2.1 I imagine you might want something a little more aggressive if riding away from trail centers in UK.
Thanks. will check them out. We usually ride north and south downs or anywhere in between. Muddy in the winter and woodland singletrack type terrain. Nothing too Gnarr, more XC.
They are pretty light nearly-8 year olds so 2.1 might do the trick.
Neither of those will be any good in mud. The Blackjack might be marginally better but there will not be much in it.
Mine use them in dry dusty/hardpack trails and the SB8 are awesome. Been getting a bit softer over here and i was looking for something a little more suitable for the front and was thinking about the Conti Explorer. It seems its either something along those lines or something way bigger and heavier.
Maxxis maxx daddy on my wee boys great xc tyres
pottsathome - MemberMaxxis maxx daddy on my wee boys great xc tyres
Posted 2 minutes ago # Report-Post
20 inch only Shirley?
My son has Rocket Rons on his 24" bike. Seem good for most conditions.
You'll find that at their weight and riding style pretty much any soft-ish tyre will be fine.
I put 2.4 Racing Ralphs on my sons' bike, pretty much worked in every condition. Later for 4x I got some narrower SB8's.
Maxx Daddy comes in 24"
My daughter runs them although she's about to go High Roller on the front Maxx Daddy on the back
I wouldn't discount Small Block 8's, or similar DMR Motos, also available in 24" flavours. They're great tyres for summer conditions. A lot better than they look like they're going to be. They'll let you get away with a lot more than you think.
I've got a set of Intense mud tyres that go on my daughters 24" when things get sloppy
Anyone with a 24" wheel Islabike; drill the rims out t accept schraeder valves, as the presta valved 24" tubes the rims on those bikes are driled for, are as rare as hens' teeth. Far more schrader valeved tubes available.
I got some Kenda something or others from winstsnlys for about £12 which are fine. My boy also has small block 8 1.95 which are perfect and light, unless it is very muddy. You can run kids tyres pretty soft for grip & comfort as they don't weigh much.
Cheers guys.
Any suggestions for decent stockists of these tyres? Rocket Rons or Ralphs would be great if I could find them.
I will continue to hunt through the usual suspects but if you had a tip, it would be much appreciated.
Stoffel - I think the presta's are going to become more comon as the Hoy's have them too now. I found some spare 20" presta's for my kids' Isla's in a supermarket in France. Not so rare over there 🙂
Not had to use them yet though. Come to think of it, they came with the Conti Explorer too.
Thanks guys.
I found some spare 20" presta's for my kids' Isla's in a supermarket in France. Not so rare over there
😮 I hopey ou stocked up! I don;t understand why anyone would faour presta valves over schraeders, on a kids' bike with low prssure tyres. Seems daft to me.
Thanks ajc - the tyres they came with are okay, they are the small block style so they will serve a purpose and yes you're dead right about the tyre pressures. We generally run them round 15 to <20.
I'll check winstanleys.
Hi Stoffel - The tyres are pretty thick so I've never needed them but personally I prefer them because I find the schraeder valves a bit c**p, easily damaged by the rims etc.
And as the Hoy's have presta valves - Evans will be stocking them from now on.
found some rocket ron's at bikediscount.de
Thanks.
I was considering these as a cheaper option:
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/69735/Schwalbe_Black_Jack_KevlarGuard_24Inch_Acitve_Wired_Tyre_TYS112641701?gclid=CITque2cwr8CFYrJtAodchgAWw
Strangely Amazon sell 24" Rocket Rons. I bought mine from there, at the time I think they were reduced due to damaged packaging, seem to come direct from Amazon.
cheers guys. good tips. RocketRons it is.
bikediscount.de have the best prices I can find, in case anyone else is looking.
Poah - tubeless for the kids sound interesting. What pressures do you run those at?
AlexSimon - thank - I've not seen those in the flesh but upphillcursing was saying those are better for dry conditions, just FYI
low 20's for lewis as he is a skinny little guy
I just got a Rocket Ron from Amazon to try on the front. Hopefully keep the front wheel a little more secure in the Winter mud.
Caveat being that mud here is not like UK mud. Will leave SB8 on the rear.
Thanks for the tip....
Cheers both.
Poah - yes I run lower than that for mine already so probably won't bother with tubeless for now (unless we start picking up punctures).
Thanks again all. Tyres ordered now.
tubes where quite heavy in lewis's wheels so seemed a no brainer to make them tubeless
Fair play. Good thinking. Yes the weight's a biggie for the nippers isn't it.
