[passingthrough]

I recently purchased the Cannondale Cujo 24 LTD for my smallish 9 year old, stepping up from an Orbea MX20.

This seems like a good sleeper choice for those looking to keep the cost down (compared to some of the boutique makers) and/or wanting to go with plus-sized tires rather than front suspension to reduce weight. Cannondale describes this new, higher priced edition (it's $735 before factoring in the 10% REI dividend) of the Cujo 24 as: A premium spec package including hydraulic disc brakes and Shimano Deore shifter and derailleur makes this Cujo 24 a serious machine for little rippers.

We've had the Cujo 24 LTD for a few weeks now and have been very pleased. I've had Cannondale frames before and they really know how to make a lightweight frame with clean, minimal welds. The specs on this LTD model are dialed in from Cannondale with hydraulic brakes, proper crank length, and a wide gearing range. We live in a hilly area so really needed the 30T chainring X 42T cassette gearing ratio.

The weight came in at around 24.4 lbs stock and I converted to tubeless for a plush ride and more suspension without a heavy suspension fork (my son is not doing big jumps yet so didn't need the extra suspension beyond what the plus sized tubeless tires provide). The only other changes I made were to swap the stem from 70mm to 35mm and the seatpost with a carbon one from my parts bin and it weighs 22.8 lbs now.

He is riding way faster than he was before and the 2.6" wide tires have had a big impact for him. These make the wheel size more like 26" than 24" and he's rolling over rocky areas he used to have to try to pick his way through or walk around, and holding speed more confidently in corners. They're the same width as my plus sized 27.5" Nobby Nics which is cool for us when we ride together.

Overall, a really nice option from Cannondale that is ready to ride in stock form.

 

[jestep]

Pretty respectable weight for those monster tires even without swapping anything out.

 

[GSJ1973]

Looks like a great bike. Keep an eye on the seat post. Looks like a lot of setback combined with the slack seat tube angle and long reach. You went shorter stem and seat post setback which maybe negated the stem swap. If you drop a plumb down the middle of saddle to chainstay, then compare it to what an adult would ride (proportionally). Probably not an area of too much concern, but it would be worth experimenting with the fit. At least to improve climbing performance.

Looks like you have 50 grams of reflectors there too still.

 

[passingthrough]

Keep an eye on the seat post.

Thanks GSJ. The stock seat post was also the same setback so I didn't change anything there. My rider is fairly small so I do have the seat moved forward near the max and that's one reason I reduced the stem length too.

That stock seatpost was pretty heavy just as you'd expect, but the stock 70mm Cannondale stem is actually a nice one and nearly as light as the shorter one I put on.

Yeah, I did keep the reflectors and spoke protector on. I admit it was a hard thing to do to leave those on (and to put on a chunky rear derailleur protector even!) but I resisted overdoing the weight weenie thing for some things.

 

[Emil N]

My 8 years kid has the exactly same. Its a great bike. Only thing to complain about is the grips. There is no bar end plugs so after just a couple off crashes the bar end is visible and can be dangerous.
The tires start to get worn. Is the kinda slant the best tire on the market or is there any other good tires out there?

 

[CascadiaPNW]

Yeah, I did keep the reflectors and spoke protector on. I admit it was a hard thing to do to leave those on (and to put on a chunky rear derailleur protector even!) but I resisted overdoing the weight weenie thing for some things.

I support this. End of the day, these are rarely "trail only" bikes for kids. Rather have them haul a few more ounces on the trails than not be seen by a car riding around the neighborhood at dusk.

 

[jestep]

My 8 years kid has the exactly same. Its a great bike. Only thing to complain about is the grips. There is no bar end plugs so after just a couple off crashes the bar end is visible and can be dangerous.
The tires start to get worn. Is the kinda slant the best tire on the market or is there any other good tires out there?

Almost everyone is making 24+ tires these days, if that's what they're called. I'd look at all of the mainstream manufacturers to see what your best options are.

 

[Quentin]

I recently purchased the Cannondale Cujo 24 LTD for my smallish 9 year old, stepping up from an Orbea MX20.

This seems like a good sleeper choice for those looking to keep the cost down (compared to some of the boutique makers) and/or wanting to go with plus-sized tires rather than front suspension to reduce weight. Cannondale describes this new, higher priced edition (it's $735 before factoring in the 10% REI dividend) of the Cujo 24 as: A premium spec package including hydraulic disc brakes and Shimano Deore shifter and derailleur makes this Cujo 24 a serious machine for little rippers.

We've had the Cujo 24 LTD for a few weeks now and have been very pleased. I've had Cannondale frames before and they really know how to make a lightweight frame with clean, minimal welds. The specs on this LTD model are dialed in from Cannondale with hydraulic brakes, proper crank length, and a wide gearing range. We live in a hilly area so really needed the 30T chainring X 42T cassette gearing ratio.

The weight came in at around 24.4 lbs stock and I converted to tubeless for a plush ride and more suspension without a heavy suspension fork (my son is not doing big jumps yet so didn't need the extra suspension beyond what the plus sized tubeless tires provide). The only other changes I made were to swap the stem from 70mm to 35mm and the seatpost with a carbon one from my parts bin and it weighs 22.8 lbs now.

He is riding way faster than he was before and the 2.6" wide tires have had a big impact for him. These make the wheel size more like 26" than 24" and he's rolling over rocky areas he used to have to try to pick his way through or walk around, and holding speed more confidently in corners. They're the same width as my plus sized 27.5" Nobby Nics which is cool for us when we ride together.

Overall, a really nice option from Cannondale that is ready to ride in stock form.

View attachment 1252135

Good to hear. I have some old 26" wheelsets laying around (135QR, disc). I was thinking about getting this bike and using the 26" wheels with a hybrid tire for longer gravel/rail trail days and keeping the fat tires for the actual trails. Can you get pics of the fork, seat stay, and chain stay clearance?