Need advise on 24 street trials bike

[Krutipedaliru]

Hi guys

thinking of buying a 24” street trials bike and choosing from Czar Ion or Neutron and Inspyred Skye v1/v3.

I like the fact that Meutron and Skye have  fork axles, but at the same time carrying extra 1 kg for stiffness - not sure it is worth it. 

Also question on Skye V1 vs V3:

Is there a big difference in the way they ride/feel? The main geometry difference is the length of chainstays which went down from 380 to 362 mm. But is there a big benefit in it? 

Also would you vote for a hub like hope on the back or trials freewheel on the cranks for street trials? 

So to summarise, the options are:

1) light Czar Ion on good trials components (9 kg)

2) heavier Neutron on OK trials components (10 kg)

3) even heavier Inspyred Skye v1 on Hope components (10.5 kg)

4) heavy Skye v3 on cheap components (11 kg) 

any advice? 

Cheers

[Mark W]

FFW on a street trials bike isn't ideal.  You get more resistance/drag through the drivetrain that slows you down, especially when you compare a trials FFW setup to using a rear Hope freehub.  They just spin forever, whereas with a FFW setup you'll generally find your wheel slows down really quickly.  The other thing is that the chain is constantly spinning on a FFW setup, and on mod I used to have issues with it destroying jeans - I'd hate to think what it'd be like at speed on a 24...

Although lighter is generally better, weight on a street trials bike isn't really that big a deal.  For most moves you won't really notice it as much.  Those bikes don't tend to be amazing for outright trialsy trials stuff which is where you would notice the extra weight more, so it's worth going for a slightly heavier bike that's going to be reliable (and not feel flexy).  When I ran lighter trials-orientated parts on my early 24s I didn't like the feel of it, especially with wheels.  Landing spins on lighter, single wall rims with low flange hubs just feels like a mess.

[Krutipedaliru]

Thanks buddy. Interesting point on FFW, haven’t thought of it. 

Regarding weight - I still think you feel it a lot even on a street bike. Especially when it’s a 1 kg difference. 

So maybe Czar Ion on hope hubs and street rims would be the best option for me. 

[natmangee]

Haha.. Nothing like having your foot stuck to the pedal, and your leg strapped to the crank, sat on your arse in the middle of a busy town centre, and having to just brute force tear your jeans out of the sprocket..

Always provides the locals with a laugh!