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
#2 ·
The Spank in that link is pretty sweet! Definitely a good setup. With a frame designed for DJ, it's hard to go wrong.

Definitely single speed. If you want to ride it on singletrack, a front brake is a good idea, but if this will mostly be a park/pump track bike, a rear brake will be plenty. I rarely see bmx or DJ bikes with a front brake.

I ride a 20" bmx and a 26" DJ. I've tried rigid on the DJ but I definitely prefer suspension. 100mm or less. You really don't need much travel, and I prefer less because it keeps the front end and bottom bracket lower, which improves handling when you're railing through berms. If I was picking out a new fork for mine, I'd go 80mm travel with the shortest axle-to-crown length possible.

That being said, that Spank frame may have a specific fork length in mind, in which case, go with that.
 
#3 ·
francis,

i know that santa cruz is having a clearance on their website, and their jackal frame (size short or small) is pretty cheap.

Santa Cruz Bicycles

i purchased a used jackal w/ pike, put a 9 speed casette and front and rear brakes on it, and it's been super fun at the bmx track in santa clara, pleasanton bmx park, water dog, t-rancho, and even riding to get groceries. i have a setback seatpost that comes up pretty high for pedalling, and i slam it down when at the bmx park, so it has been fairly flexible for me.
 
#5 ·
What Dirt Love said. Single speed, short travel fork, only need rear brake. I wouldn't try and make this bike "versitile" for riding single track too - that's what your other bikes are for. This one should be for the pump track, the jumps, and some street riding.
 
#7 ·
How about a Fireeye Shortfuse 360?

24" wheels, big enough to be a MTB, small enough to make him feel he is on a BMX.

Dirt cheap at Chainreaction Cycles, like 200$.

Magura rim brakes, both front and rear. Put the front through the headtube.

I have one myself, and love it dearly.


Magura :)
 
#8 ·
How about a Fireeye Shortfuse 360?

24" wheels, big enough to be a MTB, small enough to make him feel he is on a BMX.

Dirt cheap at Chainreaction Cycles, like 200$.

Magura rim brakes, both front and rear. Put the front through the headtube.

I have one myself, and love it dearly.

Magura :)
That's a nice frame. I was looking at that a while ago and talking to FireEye about it and the Shortfuse 380. One reason I decided to go to look at the Jackal was due to having the disc brake mount move with the dropout, keeping a fixed geometry. It's not necessary though, just a "perk". Just note, I haven't bought a frame yet, it's a very low priority for me, so take my comments with a grain of salt.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Thanks everyone so far. Miguel is 12 yrs old, 5'4" 140 lbs.

Last weekend, I passed the riding baton to him. I showed him how to jump and my wife and daughter went rolling on the ground laughing!!!
How To Not: Jump | Facebook

Then lil kid rolled up to it and schooled the jump about 20x
Miguel testing the Norco Sight 650b | Facebook

:)

Thanks Beaverbiker. Let's go jumpin everybody. Or in my case... rollin.
 
#10 ·
I also wanted to add that everyone needs practice at a pump track, bmx track. Hop off curbs properly and build some ramps at home. This is the difference for him as he is now very comfortable in the air and on berms.

fc
 
#14 ·
Just get the kid a 20" BMX bike if that's what he wants. It'll be much more fun riding around the neighborhood and just practicing skills on a smaller scale. He'll have more opportunity to develop bike handling skills without relying on you to take him to Calabazas (or wherever). And when he hops back on his 26" MTB to go on a trail ride, his bike handling skills should be sufficient to smoke his dad on the downhill sections.

He's only 12 YO and not fully grown... there's really no reason for 26" wheels, or 24" for that matter. If he can ride a pumptrack on a 20, he'll have no problem on a 26er. The opposite would not be true though.

No front brake. No disk brakes. No suspension fork. Just a cheap complete BMX. Fit BMX has some good completes for under $500. Fit Bmx Bikes
 
#17 ·
Growing up riding BMX has paid HUGE dividends for MTB'ing (I still ride BMX by the way). I can still bunnyhop to wall ride, fakie tree rides, feeble grinds, etc. but I mostly ride flatland (ground tricks). The biggest advantage is learning how to save yourself from crashing, because in BMX, you constantly fall.

This can-can pic and the hop-to-wall-ride was taken when I was 13; pool carving from when I was 14. The fakie was when I was 15. Having that BMX second nature in you really helps in MTB'ing. By the age of 16, I was riding at very high level of BMX (for those days) and we were doing handrails and very advance flatland tricks.

Francis, get the kid a BMX bike. They are light, simple, and really teach the basics. We used to do 5-6ft. drops on our BMX bikes, and we rode everything, from street, flatland, vert, park, pools, dirt, etc. all on one bike. Our bikes were very heavy, like 35lbs.

BMX has made a huge difference in my riding, for being a relatively new'ish MTB rider. The climbing fitness of it is my biggest barrier, but bike handling isn't as much of an issue with me as it is for some at my level of riding.





Bicycle frame Bicycle wheel Bicycle wheel rim Bicycle tire Bicycle
 
#30 ·
#29 ·
One thing that's popular is the Wed. night rides at Stanford (???). I had a trials bike, but realized, I can ride trials on my BMX bike (front + back brake, gyro and 4 pegs), which I rode trials on BITD. We rode trials and didn't even realize we were riding trials - we were just "freestyling".

I have changed my attitude about riding a lot in the last few months, really relating it to the passion I had for BMX when I was younger. We just rode, no rhyme, no reason... just point your bike out the front door and start pedaling. I'm less about doing hill intervals and more about riding to ride, and not riding because I'm going to be pro.

I will never be pro. I will never podium races, nor will I ever be the fastest climber nor downhiller - but I will always have fun.

On Saturday, a bunch of my friends from Hayward did a 40 mile ride on their BMX bikes - 40 friggin' miles. They stopped and sessioned embankments, parking lots and planter boxes. They jumped curbs and bunnyhopped stuff. These guys are my age, and it took like 12 hours.

Puts things in perspective for me.

Newton - stop over-thinking it. You're putting too much mathematics into the equation - just ride. Less reading - more riding. I can teach you some basic bike handling stuff like rock-walks, pedal-offs and such. They're easy to do.

If you get a dirt jump or BMX, we'll go session - I have a group of BMX buddies in our age group that are cool and have some cool spots to session. Nobody judges and everybody has fun - I'll take you to my old street session spots in Santa Cruz. If all you want to do is learn how to ride off planter boxes, do it. Next time we go to Demo, 2' - 3' drops will be nothing.
 
#32 ·
Newton - stop over-thinking it. You're putting too much mathematics into the equation - just ride. Less reading - more riding. I can teach you some basic bike handling stuff like rock-walks, pedal-offs and such. They're easy to do.
Kinda hard for me. :) I'm an engineer. Everything I do runs through a thousand calculations in my mind, I mean *everything*. Sometimes the thoughts don't happen fast enough when I'm riding and I mess up. :D When I go along a trail, I see trail length, endurance capacity, angles off every object, speed, thrust, momentum, plotting out a trajectory. It's OCD. I have a hard time just "flowing" unless I've ridden there a dozen times.

Sure, I'll go for lessons by Dion. I just don't session stuff. I'll buy a proper BMX bike first. 20" wheels.
 
#34 ·
wide bars, thin pedals. definitely a front brake for a beginner. I run gears because I want to be able to do light trail riding and choose the perfect gear at the park but it does add significant weight to the back of a bike that is made specifically to be in the air.

for dirt tires the sb8 is good and intense micro knobbies are popular too. on more mixed terrain theres the maxxis holy roller which I didn't like much in the dirt, the kenda k-rad, and schwalbe table top if you like spending a lot
 
#35 ·
What is this DJ forum heresy you all speak of?

After reading the animated responses and heartfelt information....I may have to check it out. Maybe learn something for once !
 
#37 ·
I need to log some on a pump track. I figure pump track stuff and some general playing on some urban stuff can't do anything but help with skills... One of the days i'll make it back to Calabazas park. Spend an afternoon fooling around on the Chameleon... hopefully not breaking my self.
 
#38 ·
To those of you looking for jumping instruction and just overall DH handling skills instruction (cornering, drops, braking), I'd highly recommend this video. Fluidride » Fluidride: Like a Pro - DVD

I'm sure taking a course could be helpful as well, but much more expensive and there's only so much they can show you. I took one skills instruction session a few years back (not jumping) and found it a bit nerve wracking. You watch the guy do it the right way and then everybody gets to watch you demonstrate your lacking skills. Too much pressure.

I think the video route is perfect because you can watch it repeatedly in between practice sessions. They really break down all the movements and use alot of slowmo to help visualize what's happening. And the intro trail riding segment is really cool. It always got me pumped to improve my skills so that hopefully I could ride like that someday. I made alot of progress, but I'll never be Lars :sad:.
 
#39 ·
Ze frame is here as I got a sweet deal and I have most of the parts.

I don't think my kid likes the idea of the 26er. It turns out Bob Burnquist coached him on a bmx bike at the Dew tour.

We'll build this up and pick up a bmx. We'll see how it turns out as we ride together anyway.

fc
 

Attachments

#40 ·
Francois,
I have a 2010 We The People Zodiak (grey/blue) that your son might love. It has barely been used. I'll sell it to you/him cheap or trade for MTB gear :) PM me if you're interested.

We The People Zodiac 2010 - YouTube

Frame:
Full 4130 CroMo 20.8" top tube
Fork:
Full 4130 CroMo
Chainset:
Salt Expert
Chainrings:
Salt CNC 6061 T6 Alloy 25 tooth
Bottom Bracket:
Sealed mid
Cassette:
1 piece sealed 9 tooth driver
Chain:
Salt pro
Pedals:
Eclat Surge PC
Front Brake:
Caliper
Rear Brake:
Salt Moto ubrake
Brake Levers:
Salt Moto alloy
Handlebars:
Full 4130 CroMo
Stem:
Salt Pro full CNC'd
Headset:
Salt Internal sealed
Grips:
WeThePeople OD grips
Rims:
Salt double wall 36 hole
Front Hub:
Salt pro bolt, female axle
Rear Hub:
Salt sealed cassette
Front Tyre:
WTP Feelin 2.25
Rear Tyre:
WTP Feelin 2.1
Saddle:
Eclat Gonzo Pivotal
Seatpost:
integrated into frame, but possible to cut off and run normal seatpost
Weight:
23.8lbs
 
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