[backinmysaddle]

In the wake of building up my son a 24 inch Slater mobster, my older daughter insisted I turn my attention to creating something for her. A friend at work graciously donated to the cause giving me a 26 inch full suspension BMC Speedfox that his son had outgrown. It’s in pretty decent shape save for suspension bolts that need to be replaced, a dropper, wide bars and some new tires/wheels. He had already put a nice XT 1 x 11 drivetrain on it and a new rekon fork. I’ve visited the BMC dealer today and they are tracking down the suspension bolts for me.

It’s a sweet frame, i think 130ish on the travel and in XS its light. I will post some build pictures once I get it moving along, but I wanted to ask if anyone knew where I could pick up either a good high end 26 inch wheel set or just 26 inch rims which I can build up myself? A few months ago trail craft was advertising them on pink bike for about $399 and I am kicking myself now for not having picked them up! Any good sources out there?

Similarly, looking for some guidance on beefier tires and 26 inch size, any suggestions on something that will inflate to a legitimate 2.4 inch high volume tire? The Trail King 2.2” tires and they are now aren’t going to cut it.

 

[svinyard]

Just email Wayne at [email protected]. He just made us some awesome 24" Stans Crest wheels with Bitex hubs (red) and ultralight Sapim spokes. Very affordable compared to everyone else. Much cheaper. 1320g for a 32h wheel set. I could have gone lighter than 1300g with less spokes but it's not worth the durability hit. Wayne was great to work with and shipped the wheels using BikeFlights too.

Not sure on 26" tires. Maybe a Rekon? Not super beefy but light-ish.

 

[RMCDan]

Colorado Cyclist's wheelsets are a pretty good option: https://www.coloradocyclist.com/26-inch-custom-mountain-bike-wheelsets

$350 for hand-built Stans rims on XT hubs is pretty good. Though, I think that's for QR hubs and through-axle hubs are a bit extra.

As for tires, DHF 2.5WT 3C/EXO/TR. Done. Cambria has limited stock right now for $56/ea. (https://www.cambriabike.com/product..._oHT1-ICFQG4wAodaJAASA&variant=15848109703242), or they're on Maxxis' D2C site for $70. 3C compound is definitely worth the extra $10 over the dual version. The single compound versions are a, pun intended, hard no.

Not sure on 26" tires. Maybe a Rekon? Not super beefy but light-ish.

Rekon does not exist in 26. Not even a vaporware version like the 24 that is technically in the catalog but not actually for sale anywhere including Maxxis' D2C site: https://www.maxxis.com/catalog/tire-559-140-rekon

Most of their faster-rolling tires (Minion SS, Aggressor, Rekon, etc.) don't exist in 26. Ardent can still be found in 26x2.4 DC/EXO/TR: https://www.modernbike.com/maxxis-a...-tubeless-ready-exo-puncture-protection-black https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/maxxis-ardent-mtb-tyre-exo-tr/rp-prod149591

Maxxis widths run narrow though, especially for non-WT versions. 2.4 Ardent is probably more like a 2.2-2.3 true width. Pretty debatable whether it's actually a beefier tire than a Trail King 2.2. DHF front/Ardent rear might be an acceptable compromise.

 

[backinmysaddle]

yeah, good prices on the colorado cyclist site for sure. Thanks for sending those. I'd like to go with an XD driver as I have a spare e13 9-46 cassette in the parts bin, so XT hubs are not my first choice.

Also found a couple of good Ebay deals, a ZTR Valor cabon 24h front built up for $299 and a non matching ZTR Podium 32h rear for $99 that would com in around 1300 grams for the mismatched pair. I'm close to pulling the trigger. Then there are some Arch 32h wheelsets with Speed Tuned hubs for $299 a pair that purport to be 1686gr for the set. 10 ounces for $100... hmm, tough call.

Oops, went back and looked again, the carbon Valor is only $199, so mismatched set for $299 it is! Even better, found the eBay stuff was listed by "The Pros Closet" and they had a better deal from their website, no sales tax, cheaper shipping and a coupon. $324 shipped for the Valor/front and podium/rear combo.

Time to do some tire shopping!

 

[backinmysaddle]

For tires, I spun the roulette wheel with a number of tires at Bike24. Will try a NobbyNic 2.35, a Magic Mary 2.35 and a pair of NN liteskin 2.25. they were only like $35 each so I am fine with some experimentation.

 

[svinyard]

Sweet deal on those wheels!

 

[Kingfisher2011]

Doh, too late to the party. Trailcraft still has the wheels, but it looks like you're all set.
I just bought a set of the Stans wheels from them with Rocket Rons a couple of weeks back. $450 shipped... and they're the bomb. Stupid light. The other wheels I looked at where the ones from Bicycle Wheel Warehouse on Ebay, they had several options that looked decent, but in the end I went big.

Let me know how you like the tires. The Rons have been good to us on the 24, but I've entertained the notion of going with something beefier... NN's or the like, problem is rear tire clearance is tight.

Meanwhile, get us some pics!

 

[backinmysaddle]

On the wheels, seems like I did pretty well at $100 less than Trailcraft price and got the carbon Valor front for that price. Kind of glad I didnt find them when I first went digging... I would have hit buy instantly without looking further.

Will get a couple of pictures up. I put the Trailcraft 152mm direct mount crankset on, swapped in a SRAM GX gripshift and rear derailieur and put Reverb seat dropper on that I need to work on to get the friction lowered (the brandX non hydraulic ones seem to be better for kids). The wheels are set to arrive on Thursday, and hopefully the tires Thurs/Fri so we can get this badboy completed for the weekend.

 

[Kingfisher2011]

That's good info on the Brand-X. I run their posts on other bikes and was thinking about one of the shorter ones for Si, and at 70 lbs I need one that'll work for his weight.

 

[backinmysaddle]

The Stans wheels arrived, that was fast. Man they are light. Luckily I have a box of Stans stuff from an ill fated attempt to ride them myself back in 2015-16 wherein I learned they didnt design their hubs for 210+ pound riders. They will work great for my daughter though. But I had the 135mm QR endcaps for the rear and the QR ones for the front as well.

As for the bike, it's shaping up. Here are some shots with the old wheelset but the dropper post, new crankset, etc. My son is only 8 but I can see it is not that long before I will need a set of 26" wheels for his Slater Mobster (currently set up as a 24").