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24' wheels versus 26' for dirt jumping! NEED HELP

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24' wheels versus 26' for dirt jumping! NEED HELP

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flag DPinciotti
Posted: Feb 15, 2016 at 11:20 Quote
Hey pb I have a question about a bike i have found and would like to get. I am 6'0-6'1 and found a dirt jumper with 22.4 top tube and 24in wheels. is it worth getting if it has 24' wheels? i hear good things and bad things about them but i come from bmx and like nimble easy to maneuver bikes. Thanks and have a great day!
flag cmc4130
Posted: Feb 16, 2016 at 9:12 Quote
DPinciotti wrote:
Hey pb I have a question about a bike i have found and would like to get. I am 6'0-6'1 and found a dirt jumper with 22.4 top tube and 24in wheels. is it worth getting if it has 24' wheels? i hear good things and bad things about them but i come from bmx and like nimble easy to maneuver bikes. Thanks and have a great day!

On the one hand, because you're 6' tall, I'd say you'll be fine on 26". You have the reach to be able to get behind the back wheel for manuals and the height to not nut yourself on the rear wheel (like some shorter riders talk about).

A 24" may feel smaller (depending on the geo) in terms of stance height, since the bottom bracket height is often at axle level and a lot of people run shorter forks.

After that, though, it's personal preference. 24"s will feel a little more nimble. Tricks like 360's or tailwhips, will rotate faster.


24 inch dirt jumper vrs 26
https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=159027

Debate 20, 24, or 26 inch dirt jumping. Advice for new bike
https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=157268

These two bikes aren't the best to compare in terms of 2016, but I don't have a better 24" / 26" side-by-side photo handy.
2005 Specialized P.Street 24" next to a 2006 DK Xenia 26" (although note that most of today's 26"s will have a lower seat tube/top tube standover than the 2006 Xenia). Both of these bikes have 22" top tubes, so in that sense they're similar. But, you can see the shorter rear end on the 24". That said, many new school 26"s now have extremely short chainstays, like 15"-15.5". 24" wheel chainstays are often as short as 14"-14.5".
Unsecure image, only https images allowed: http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh138/upsetbmx/Specialized-P-Street-24---DK-Xenia-.jpg
flag KingsgateDirtJumper
Posted: Feb 16, 2016 at 10:59 Quote
Go for the 24" and post up photos
Some dudes in my area have been running them on Transition PBJ / TOP / BLT
I am considering doing the same
flag DPinciotti
Posted: Feb 17, 2016 at 13:18 Quote
Thanks guys! appreciate the help and feedback! Might be going with the 24' because i come from a bmx background and having a smaller bike may feel better to me!
flag cmc4130
Posted: Feb 17, 2016 at 13:52 Quote
DPinciotti wrote:
Thanks guys! appreciate the help and feedback! Might be going with the 24' because i come from a bmx background and having a smaller bike may feel better to me!

Note that putting 24"s on an a DJ-Mtb that is designed for 26"s is not the same as getting a 24"-specific DJ/park/street bike. A suspension fork is the same--you just put a 24" wheel in a 26" fork... But, the rear end of a 24"-specific frame should be shorter. Also, often the bottom bracket is higher relative to axle level. Like, a lot of 24" mtb-park/street bikes have a bottom bracket that is at axle level or slightly above, whereas, a lot of mtb-DJ 26"s have a bottom bracket that is slightly lower than axle level.

There are lots of cool 24"s in this thread:
https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=110817&pagenum=3401
flag Stinky1138
Posted: Feb 17, 2016 at 13:56 Quote
cmc4130 wrote:

These two bikes aren't the best to compare in terms of 2016, but I don't have a better 24" / 26" side-by-side photo handy.

Here's two newer bikes to compare for you. Not overwhelmingly new but newer... 2009 24" DMR, longer stays than more modern 24"s and probly longer seat tube as well. But, it does actually feel smaller than the 26"s it regularly rides with. The Spark is def shorter in the stays. It feels fast and scary compared to the 26" at times. But i'm only 5'2" so yeah...

DMR 24 vs NS Cap 26 2011

photo

DMR 24 vs O1 Void 26 2014ish

photo

O1 Spark 24 2014? vs O1 Void 26 (sorry for the blur, it was a mess about with camera kind of day)

messing with some stock blur settings on my camera
flag cmc4130
Posted: Feb 17, 2016 at 14:17 Quote
Stinky1138 wrote:
Here's two newer bikes to compare for you. Not overwhelmingly new but newer... 2009 24" DMR, longer stays than more modern 24"s and probly longer seat tube as well. But, it does actually feel smaller than the 26"s it regularly rides with. The Spark is def shorter in the stays. It feels fast and scary compared to the 26" at times. But i'm only 5'2" so yeah...

great example pics. that Octane One Spark 24" looks pretty sweet. their website is a little confusing though, because the graphic says the current model Spark (2016) is designed for 24"s, but the text says it's designed for 26"s.... http://octane-one.com/spark/
flag Stinky1138
Posted: Feb 17, 2016 at 15:10 Quote
Cheers, she's a tidy little rig. I'm pretty sure the new Spark is 26".

OP, if you like the feel of the 24 go for it. I generally hate riding 26s, but that Cap was so nice to ride I almost bought it back again after selling it.

QFT: putting 24s on a 26 frame is terrible. My grey DMR has long enough stays to accommodate 26" wheel *just*. So we did an experiment and swapped wheelsets between two bikes. The DMR was f'ing amazing with 26s. So nimble, flew like a bird, and generally felt amazing. The 26 frame with the 24--felt like crap. Everything about it was just wrong, it felt like everything was on backwards or something. Had the bikes swapped for a month or so, the 24 got ridden once i think.
flag Thairishguy
Posted: Feb 18, 2016 at 5:57 Quote
24" frames are designed around a lowered 80mm suspension also. This is because theres no dirt jump forks specific to the 24" at the moment.

There was the Marzocchi DJ Street but that was released 10 years ago, and compared to the forks now, its pretty obsolete as far as weight and technological innovation is concerned. It was meant to run pegs/grind plates also. And another thing is that its probably incredibly difficult to find this fork used or new (yeah right, unless some shop somewhere in the world has this fork in storage that they forgot about....)

Well all I'm saying is that when you get your 24" frame, be sure to lower your fork to 80mm also as to not chopper out the frame. Theres not much availible out there though so thats why people are reccomending you go to 26.
flag cmc4130
Posted: Feb 18, 2016 at 8:37 Quote
Thairishguy wrote:
24" frames are designed around a lowered 80mm suspension also. This is because theres no dirt jump forks specific to the 24" at the moment.

There was the Marzocchi DJ Street but that was released 10 years ago, and compared to the forks now, its pretty obsolete as far as weight and technological innovation is concerned. It was meant to run pegs/grind plates also. And another thing is that its probably incredibly difficult to find this fork used or new (yeah right, unless some shop somewhere in the world has this fork in storage that they forgot about....)

Well all I'm saying is that when you get your 24" frame, be sure to lower your fork to 80mm also as to not chopper out the frame. Theres not much availible out there though so thats why people are reccomending you go to 26.

I actually stupidly bought one of those D-Street forks on ebay, because I was interested in the pegs-on-a-suspension-fork thing. It was so heavy, it could have been a boat anchor. (Seriously like 9.5 pounds or something, when the typical fork back then was 6). Even though it was a 24"-specific fork, I don't think the axle to crown or travel was actually any different than Marzocchi's other 80mm DJ forks. Basically, they just had a brace across which prevented a 26" wheel being used.

But, yeah, on your general point, an 80mm travel fork (around 458mm axle to crown) usually is better with a 24"-wheel specific frame. And it seems like there are fewer off-the-shelf 80mm travel DJ forks out there. A lot of 24" riders are running rigid, too, though.

Like here's one.... but out of stock. http://www.amazon.com/Manitou-Circus-Expert-Fork-White/dp/B004JKF35Y

Currently, the Manitou Circus says it's internally adjustable between 80 and 100.
http://www.manitoumtb.com/products/forks/circus/

Aftermarket Travel Adjust for Manitou:
http://www.manitoumtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/2014-Aftermarket-Fork-Travel-Adjust-Guide.pdf

This was my Union Street Molly Maguire 24"

with S&M 26" Pitchfork rigid (425mm axle to crown--although the one in the picture might have been a taller S&M rigid fork, when they first came out I think they may have been 440). (note that if you buy a BMX rigid fork, like one of these http://www.sandmbikes.com/products/hardgoods/forks/, you DON'T buy a 24" bmx fork (which are around 366mm axle to crown), if your 24" mtb frame was designed to be able to run a suspension fork). it would be low, and would drop the front end down a lot. this is why people talk about "suspension corrected" frames and forks.

Unsecure image, only https images allowed: http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh138/upsetbmx/UnionStreet_MollyMaguire_cmc002_zps9dbe8c7b.jpg
with an 80mm sus fork (at least I'm pretty sure it was 80....)
photo


This Black Market Contraband 24" probably had an 80mm X-Fusion Velvet, maybe even lowered to 60.
Unsecure image, only https images allowed: http://brimages.bikeboardmedia.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/black-market-2010-contraband-24-dirtjump-bike4.jpg
8)
flag cmc4130
Posted: Feb 18, 2016 at 8:55 Quote
DPinciotti wrote:
Hey pb I have a question about a bike i have found . . .

Oh yeah, which bike did you find? Got pics?
flag Stinky1138
Posted: Feb 18, 2016 at 14:08 Quote
Sorry OP, the suspension forks on my pics are all 80mm (Circus, Fox float, and DJ1). The rigid is actually a 700c Volume Fu Manchu which google says is 420mm a-c.
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