Azonic DS1 for the boy

RickTheUncivil

Old School Grand Master
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My boy is 8 in a few months. He enjoys riding his bike around the place, not it a great big ride every day type but he does what he does. About this time last year I started planning his next bike. He had not long since moved on to a 20 inch wheel (Kona Makena), and I figured the next step would be 24 or maybe 26.then I thought, if I get a small mtb frame with disc mounts I can pop 24s in and then 26s a bit later when he's ready.
I thought it would be a fun project for us to do together, he can choose the parts, the colour, the style. He can help with the dirty work and learn from the master :cool:

My first mistake was including the boy in the process.
He picked a scabby old azonic DS1 I had lying about, and didn't want to repaint it. Never mind the wee zaskar, or the Chameleon. Fair enough. I ask shall we paint it a funky colour, he says he likes it as it is. So we start with a black frame with red and white details.

Fair enough. He wants disc brakes, good. I offer black or gold wheels, he chose the gold which set a bit of a gold theme going. Gears were essential, he was sensible there. Forks had to be red, apparently, and it just so happened that I had a red set in the shed doing nothing. Handy that :D

Now, as a nod to the fact this is a 'full size' bike I got some narrow-ish riser bars and a short stem, we can change later as he grows but I had a genuine sensible reason for wanting him to be able to reach the handlebars!

So here we are. Azonic DS1 frame , Marzocchi Bomber Z3.5, Halo SAS rims on diatech hubs, Hope mono mini, XT 750 gears, FSA crankset.









... built almost entirely from spare parts. New headset and bottom bracket, new gear cables and brake pads. Total spend was about £70.

And so far he's been out every day this week. He seems enthusiastic which is great, just need to keep up now!
 

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Re: 24" wheel bike for the wee man

Donor bikes, and potential frames on which to base this build included this Azonic DS1, a different (mk1) Azonic DS1, Club Roost Stinger, Santa Cruz Chameleon, modern-ish GT Zaskar and an older GT Pantera. The other frames and parts from these donors have been mostly sold now so the cost of the parts I have kept are usually covered, wheels are from the stinger, gears from the zaskar etc.

I liked the idea of the Chameleon as it was solid but scruffy, ideal for a spray job. The only trouble was not having disc mounts, but we could work around that. The stinger was also good for a respray but a bit heavier, and at least it had disc tabs. The modern gt would have been easy and the pantera a nightmare due to the old brakes and non suspension setup.
 
Re: 24" wheel bike for the wee man

Looks good that, although head angle looks very steep in the first picture. Cranks might be a bit too long, especially with the lower BB from 24" wheels? Pick up the islabike set in the classifieds?
 
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Slight refresh for the new summer.
wider bars, now sporting some grey Xlite jobbies.
big change is the forks. The Z3.5 were stiff so have gone into the to be serviced / sold pile and replaced with some Z1 drop-off. Travel is a bit longer so the front has gone up a bit but they are so plush and plenty of sag so not really noticed a difference in riding position.

so now the forks are properly bomber style he loves riding at obstacles to see if he can feel it through the bars. Yay.
 

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Yeah I remember your makena. Ours is parked now collecting dust waiting for the next one to grow into it! The list is:
20“kona makena
18"dawes blowfish
16" apollo something something
12“ Raleigh something or other
Teeny balence bike.

younger one has just moved onto the balance bike, but already have her 24\26" ready to build ;-)
 
Re: 24" wheel bike for the wee man

Kids keep you on your toes with their choices! Cool that he got to build it up though and I'm sure that's part of why he's so enthusiastic. Nice job though and the bike's looking good :)
 
Re: 24" wheel bike for the wee man

petitpal":9j7jzem8 said:
Kids keep you on your toes with their choices! Cool that he got to build it up though and I'm sure that's part of why he's so enthusiastic. Nice job though and the bike's looking good :)

Yeah that was a big part of the plan, build it with him rather than just buy one. Figured he'd better learn something from me! :D

I'm putting his own little toolbox together, got him bleeding the brakes the other week, make sure we give it a clean every now and again, that sort of thing.
 
Re: 24" wheel bike for the wee man

bluetomgold":1dwv13n0 said:
Nice! My 8 y/o is still enjoying the Kona Makena I rebuilt for her. Also, we got a tandem, which is great fun.

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=352047&hilit=makena

Been trying to decide what the next move is - interesting to see what you've been up to. :)

My 7 year old is currently inseparable from his kona makena!

Great build this.
 
Re: 24" wheel bike for the wee man

Bit of drama over the weekend - rear brake locked solid and the kid was rather annoyed, understandably.
Pulled it apart, squidged the pistons in the caliper about a bit and it seems fine again, but its probably time for a proper clean up. Winter job me thinks :(
 
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