Yep, plus tires vs small travel suspension is a good debate for bikes like this ... but my own experience of switching to a 29r then going from beefy casing tires and back as well as insert tests, has really shed lots of light on the differences between sprung and non-spinning weight vs un-sprung and spinning. Small amounts of weight gain make big differences when it's un-sprung and spinning vs the latter. Especially for a skinny 8 year old that loves to jump!
Yep... 2018 colours were a little better, but the kid is deep into black everything right now so he loves it, haha.
And yes, already threw some "Crank Brothers Stamp 1- Small" pedals on there... just so happens the "Citron" colour perfectly matches the yellow highlights on the bike. Best kids pedals per dollar I've found so far. Ya, if they made those Radar's in a plastic version, would have gone that way.
Also the Suntour XCR LO Air fork at 65mm of travel can be bumped to 85mm (which I'll probably do soon). Only concern is slacking the seat angle more than it's already slack 72 degrees. Which leads me to my one gripe about the bike... the saddle and seatpost are of the BMX/dirt jump variety. The saddle isn't on rails so I can't just slide it forward to help offset the slack seat angle. Which of course started to lead me down the wallet busting path of a dropper... hard to find a low rise (100mm or less) dropper in 27.2 that doesn't cost half or more of what the bike did! Used market is pretty bare for such a thing! PNW makes a nice option....
June 18, 2019, 11:58 a.m. - IslandLife
Yep, plus tires vs small travel suspension is a good debate for bikes like this ... but my own experience of switching to a 29r then going from beefy casing tires and back as well as insert tests, has really shed lots of light on the differences between sprung and non-spinning weight vs un-sprung and spinning. Small amounts of weight gain make big differences when it's un-sprung and spinning vs the latter. Especially for a skinny 8 year old that loves to jump! Yep... 2018 colours were a little better, but the kid is deep into black everything right now so he loves it, haha. And yes, already threw some "Crank Brothers Stamp 1- Small" pedals on there... just so happens the "Citron" colour perfectly matches the yellow highlights on the bike. Best kids pedals per dollar I've found so far. Ya, if they made those Radar's in a plastic version, would have gone that way. Also the Suntour XCR LO Air fork at 65mm of travel can be bumped to 85mm (which I'll probably do soon). Only concern is slacking the seat angle more than it's already slack 72 degrees. Which leads me to my one gripe about the bike... the saddle and seatpost are of the BMX/dirt jump variety. The saddle isn't on rails so I can't just slide it forward to help offset the slack seat angle. Which of course started to lead me down the wallet busting path of a dropper... hard to find a low rise (100mm or less) dropper in 27.2 that doesn't cost half or more of what the bike did! Used market is pretty bare for such a thing! PNW makes a nice option....