Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Dirt Jump bike project

19K views 78 replies 25 participants last post by  SOG 
#1 ·
I'm doing it! My 12 year old kid is ready and he is asking now every day. I would give it to him a heartbeat but I told him to tackle 5 big mountain bike rides and it's his.

He wants a bmx but I'd rather he be on a 26er so he can use those handling skills better on the mountain bike.

All I have so far is the Spank Spoon frame (just cause I have a few Spank parts)
Spank Spoon frame Flat Black 12.5"

Is this setup good?
Spank Spoon One2One Frame

I have a lot of parts here at home. Just need to decide how to put it together. singlespeed right?

Do I need a front suspension fork? Need a front brake?

fc
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#44 ·
Child down.

Ok, major setback. We snuck in a session at the park yesterday to get a feel for the bike. It's really light and fast. Moments after I took this video
Miguel with new Spank bike at Calabazas - YouTube

he dropped in to the big side without brake checking. On the first jump, he endoed and crashed into the next jump. He was crumpled into the ground and was dazed. Nothing can really prepare a dad for that scene and I'm still having a hard time with it.

I thought he shattered his clavicle as we took him to the ER. Verdict is the outer tip of the clavicle is broken and the clavicle is stretched up a bit. No surgery for now as we'll let it heal on its own and do physical therapy.

He is now at home recovering with meds. Family is by his side and friends are coming over. Thank you for all the kind words in Facebook.

This is a setback for sure. Hope he comes out of it ok.

fc
 

Attachments

#45 ·
Oh no! Poor Miguel - I ate it the exact same way on those same little jumps and was pulling gravel out of my elbows for months.

The worst head injury I ever had was at Cali many years ago, when I wasn't much older than Miguel. Heal up, kid! We spilled the same blood in the same mud :p
 
#46 ·
Sorry to hear man. A similar thing happened to me a few months back at Z's, and I thought I broke some ribs or the sternum and my jaw. I did not get any confidence for descending, for a long time. I'm just finally getting my confidence back. Though, I won't take a jump now until I get the basics down.

I hope he gets better.

So, truth time....did the mrs. really lay into you? Just curious, I wouldn't hear the end of it, if it was my son, or worse my daughter. Fortunately, for me, it was just me and the mrs. didn't care that much, just another one of my billion crashes. :(
 
#52 ·
Boy is good today. He had 4 visitors bearing gifts and I saw him two handing the xbox controller. Tomorrow, I'll take him to Bike SFO. His buddies were taking turns on his new bike.

If I can only STOP patting him on the bad shoulder, he'd be good. :eek:

fc
 
#56 ·
Go Miguel! Best thing about being that age is they come back!

Personally, I hate what they did to Cali... I wish they left it with Hill, endo, the tree ride (worst head injury I ever had), nut... Cali was never safe, but I think it was safer back then.

Except for the doubles :eekster:
 
#60 ·
Thanks for the well wishes. He is doing great as he's getting mobility back and is off the painkillers. Yesterday, at the show I think he felt the upside of his injury as he had a story to tell and all these dudes would make him feel at ease about recovery and welcomed him to the club. I think all the bike people just wanted to know that it was a bike injury.

Last night, we talked about biking and his return to the track and how we make some adjustments. And he asked if we would have gone to the trail today if not for the injury.

fc
 
#65 ·
Injury update. The broken shoulder is healed! Miguel went to Calabasas every day last week during school break and he now has a little gang of hoodlums over there. His skill grows every day and he is turning the bars and whips the tail now when he jumps. He tells me how to do it but I have no idea what he's talking about.

Yesterday, we hit the trail and visited a local builder. It was good day.

photos:

Miguel at Calabasas
Bicycle Wheel Tire Bicycles--Equipment and supplies Sky


Miguel is rusty with cornering and climbing but his flight is good
Bicycle Tire Bicycles--Equipment and supplies Wheel Bicycle frame

ET phone home
Tire Automotive lighting Wheel Natural environment Bicycle wheel


We talked about a custom dirt jumper
Bicycle Bicycle wheel Bicycle handlebar Bicycle frame Light


This man may not be in to it.

Bicycle tire Bicycle wheel Bicycle part Bicycle Style


It broke my heart when I saw him crumpled on to the ground the day that he fell. But folks fall and they need to get up stronger and wiser. He's been through a month of PT and we are more aware of our skills and limitations.

And he is happy as shown here in Hans Kellner's video last month at Krishna Dole's house.


2013 Pump Track Party from Hans Kellner on Vimeo.

Krishna has been expanding his pump track and it's shaping up to be quite fun. So he invited everyone over for a proper inauguration party.

[ filmed on a GoPro Hero3 ]

twitter: @hanskellner
web: hanskellner.com
 
#66 ·
Glad to see your son is doing better. Just to add to the pile on, a 20 inch bmx bike will do wonders for his mountain biking skills. My 9 year old wanted to try bmxing so got him a 20" intense on closeout from Jenson. In a matter of months he went from being a decent rider to having nearly the same skills I do. We road tahoe rim trail in October, he loves the rock gardens at Rockville and killed Chaperal at Joaquin Miller.
 
#67 ·
Nice comeback! I recently moved pretty close to Calabasas, so I've been riding over once a week. I really have no BMX skills, but it's fun to roll around and catch a little air on the smaller jumps. And there are some really fun big berms in the back of the park.
 
#70 ·
Just look for the older blonde-haired guy on a black Ibis that looks WAY out of his element! Hope to see ya out there.

Doug

And a question for the BMXers: I've been riding my Mojo at the park, but thinking about taking the SS, with 32/20 gearing. Does that sound like a smart move? Thanks.
 
#74 ·
I've been riding my Mojo at the park, but thinking about taking the SS, with 32/20 gearing. Does that sound like a smart move? Thanks.
I've never been to Calabasa's but, you might find 32/20 to be to slow to get enough speed for the jumps? I know at the Pleasnton Dirt jumps you have to pedal hard into the first jump or you wont have the momentun to clear it. An easy way to gear for dj/pump tracks is use half the teeth of the front chain ring and then adjust from there if needed. My last bike started at 32/16 then I changed it to 32/14 for a little more speed. I now run 28/13 on my new 26" Dj.
 
#73 ·
That bike is perfect!!

Keep working on the small kids' area. That is the best part there, specially when there's no people.

It's really unfortunate that place is built wrong. There is so much opportunity in that space, specially if there was a pump track.

Lock your fork, pump up your tires and keep your body level as you roll through those jumps.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top