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26 inch DJ or 24 inch BMX

PB Forum :: Dirt Jumping & Street
26 inch DJ or 24 inch BMX
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flag jkiddfire
Posted: Jul 29, 2014 at 14:23 Quote
I am either looking at an under 500$ DJ bike or 24 inch BMX. These are my top two contenders:

Haro 124

http://www.harobikes.com/bmx/bikes/116,-118,-124/124-2014

Or DMR Wrath (on sale 40% off)

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/ca/en/dmr-wrath-jump-bike-2013/rp-prod120613

Which is better for a beginner to intermediate dirt jumper
flag marshall375
Posted: Jul 29, 2014 at 17:21 Quote
forewarning, this statement is very biased based on my experience with Haro and 24in bikes in general

both bikes you have showed interest in i personally don't like for multiple reasons

I HATE the Haro because its not Haro. Haro started off as a BMX company and thats what they should stick to. there 24" bikes are, in my experience, flat out bad.

as for the DMR. while its a nice bike and cheap, i also wouldn't recommend it. the specs are not very good and the hard fork is a bad buy if you don't intend to only ride street.

when looking for a bike to meet your criteria i would make sure you have some kind of travel on the fork. a perfect bike for you would probably be a deity street sweeper with a argyle RCT. this gives you 26in wheels with great geo and a fork that can be adjusted for street or dirt riding. this is also a lot more expensive than the haro and DMR. In your situation i would go on the buy and sell section of pink bike and look for a bike with a BB higher than the front axle and a fork that has 100mm of travel.
flag cmc4130
Posted: Jul 29, 2014 at 20:34 Quote
Neither of those bikes is particularly cool, in my opinion, and both are kooky and/or badly designed in certain ways.

I both agree and disagree with Marshall. 24" BMX is a valid form of bmx and it always has been; Haro have had 24" bmx bikes going way back to the 80's and 90's. Haro also has high-end race 24"s which are excellent. As for a street/park/DJ bike (rather than bmx race) though, Marshall is right--this one is lower end. The hi-tensile ("hi-ten") means a cheaper steel. A friend of mine who is not even a serious rider managed to absolutely mangle the fork on a run of the mill crash. Geometry-wise, the back end should be shorter, and maybe the bottom bracket higher (although that's debatable).

A better Haro choice would be the Steel Reserve.
http://www.harobikes.com/mtb/bikes/freestyle-mtb/steel-reserve-1-1-2013
It has an all chromo/chromoly steel frame instead of "hi-tensile" steel, which is not quite as good. Plus, the longer rigid fork means the geometry will accept a suspension fork if you get one later.

You cannot put a sus fork on either the 124 or the DMR Wrath.

The DMR Wrath is a bad concept in my opinion. Since DMR have done lots of other cooler bikes and parts, it's mysterious why they would do this. The main problem is that if you design a frame run a low non-suspension-length fork, like BMX, then you cannot put MTB bars on it. They will be too low. The Wrath needs 5" or 6" rise BMX bars. Which would just make it a BMX cruiser again, with a mtb rear disc hub!?

A BMX 24" which is worth looking at is the We The People ATLAS 24". They copied the innovative Liquid Feedback geometry. For more 24" BMX, check out cruiserrevolution.com

Your best bet for under $500 is to buy a used bike that has barely been ridden. There are lots of xc riders who have picked up DJ bikes, then not ridden them.
flag jkiddfire
Posted: Jul 30, 2014 at 12:46 Quote
Thanks, taking all of this into consideration I have upped my budget a bit. And I have been looking out for used bikes but good ones are hard to come by in Ontario (Canada). I am currently looking at two different dirt jumpers, the 2013 Norco Ryde 26 (w/ 100mm shocks) or the 2013 Kona Downside (w/ only 80mm shocks). The kona is a bit more expensive, where I found it it was on sale for $619, and the norco was $549.

KONA - http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Kona/Downside,6930#product-specs

NORCO -
http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Norco/Ryde,2939#product-specs

I again, ask your opinion on which one to get as I am relatively new to the DJ scene. Thanks again!
flag cmc4130
Posted: Jul 30, 2014 at 15:30 Quote
jkiddfire wrote:
Thanks, taking all of this into consideration I have upped my budget a bit. And I have been looking out for used bikes but good ones are hard to come by in Ontario (Canada). I am currently looking at two different dirt jumpers, the 2013 Norco Ryde 26 (w/ 100mm shocks) or the 2013 Kona Downside (w/ only 80mm shocks). The kona is a bit more expensive, where I found it it was on sale for $619, and the norco was $549.

KONA - http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Kona/Downside,6930#product-specs

NORCO -
http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Norco/Ryde,2939#product-specs

I again, ask your opinion on which one to get as I am relatively new to the DJ scene. Thanks again!

I've never heard of a "Cargo Spinner" fork that is on the Kona.

The NORCO's RST Dirt fork is probably okay but not great. The RST Space fork came on some other affordable completes like the Eastern Thunderbird. Some people liked them fine, other people broke/bent them. A lot of people said they felt heavy and mushy. But maybe RST has improved...

28/14 gearing was a lame choice on the Norci. It should be 30/14 or 28/13. Undoubtedly an xc Mtb rider made that decision because 2:1 gearing is common for xc singlespeed, but not for DJ.

The Kona is all chromoly frame, while the Norco is just downtube and top tube. But with the question mark on the forks, it's hard to say which bike is better. Geometry-wise, they're both good, as they seem to have gone with the industry standard set by Black Market and others a few years ago (in terms of standover, chainstay length etc).
flag marshall375
Posted: Jul 30, 2014 at 20:17 Quote
cmc4130 wrote:
jkiddfire wrote:
Thanks, taking all of this into consideration I have upped my budget a bit. And I have been looking out for used bikes but good ones are hard to come by in Ontario (Canada). I am currently looking at two different dirt jumpers, the 2013 Norco Ryde 26 (w/ 100mm shocks) or the 2013 Kona Downside (w/ only 80mm shocks). The kona is a bit more expensive, where I found it it was on sale for $619, and the norco was $549.

KONA - http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Kona/Downside,6930#product-specs

NORCO -
http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Norco/Ryde,2939#product-specs

I again, ask your opinion on which one to get as I am relatively new to the DJ scene. Thanks again!

I've never heard of a "Cargo Spinner" fork that is on the Kona.

The NORCO's RST Dirt fork is probably okay but not great. The RST Space fork came on some other affordable completes like the Eastern Thunderbird. Some people liked them fine, other people broke/bent them. A lot of people said they felt heavy and mushy. But maybe RST has improved...

28/14 gearing was a lame choice on the Norci. It should be 30/14 or 28/13. Undoubtedly an xc Mtb rider made that decision because 2:1 gearing is common for xc singlespeed, but not for DJ.

The Kona is all chromoly frame, while the Norco is just downtube and top tube. But with the question mark on the forks, it's hard to say which bike is better. Geometry-wise, they're both good, as they seem to have gone with the industry standard set by Black Market and others a few years ago (in terms of standover, chainstay length etc).

I completely agree with cmc on this.
looking in your area i saw a few bikes a little above your price range that are nice

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1613703/

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1555299/

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1557909/
flag cmc4130
Posted: Jul 30, 2014 at 21:08 Quote
Here is an NS Holy on sale. It has a rigid fork, but you could buy a suspension fork later if you want (like a Manitou Circus or something). It looks like this might be the 24" version, which would actually be very snappy and easy to ride, if you're not super tall.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/us/en/ns-bikes-holy-2-jump-bike-2013/rp-prod85792

The Diamond Back Option would also be a quality bike in your price range you could add a sus fork to later
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008O0XKCS?pc_redir=1406628973&robot_redir=1
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