Dirt Jumper for Daughter

[dogdriver]

Hey all-- My 11 y.o. daughter has developed an interest in dirt jump riding: we have a dirt jump park in the neighborhood with a pump track and 6 jump lines, ranging from small "training pimples" to a serious big-boy 18 foot gap jump, with a nice range of progressions in between. A very nice facility built with city funds by a local trails foundation.

Anyhow, my daughter has been riding there for the last couple years on her mountain bike and is getting serious enough that we'd like to get her a bike appropriate for the park. I know next to nothing about jumping (I just sink the seat on my single speed and go around the pump track for a few minutes while the youngins' rage).

Any advice on type of bike (BMX, dirt jumper, etc), components, wheel size, flat or riser bar, gearing, etc? Any insight would be greatly appreciated! The park rats seem to be pretty evenly divided between small-wheel BMX bikes and the more mountain-bike-looking dirt jumpers. Said daughter is about 5 feet tall, 85 pounds.

Thanks! Chris

[G-Reg]

Asking the wrong people.

Go to Ride Monkey (http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f61/) and ask them.

Would you go there and ask about a road bike?

[dogdriver]

Asking the wrong people.

Go to Ride Monkey (http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f61/) and ask them.

Would you go there and ask about a road bike?

Point well taken. This forum, however, is a wealth of info on topics ranging from travel destinations to C-sections, so I thought that I'd give it a try since the device in question has two wheels and pedals.

[G-Reg]

Point well taken. This forum, however, is a wealth of info on topics ranging from travel destinations to C-sections, so I thought that I'd give it a try since the device in question has two wheels and pedals.


You might be able to get some good info here but if the conversation goes on too long it will turn into a helmet debate.

She does wear one EVERY single time she sits on a bike? Jumping or not? :crap: :crap: :crap:

[giverdada]

glad you posted; it's always refreshing to see topics other than which colnago paint scheme matches so-and-so's porsche interior better after which espresso while wearing what kit... just kidding... :D

but seriously, i think that the small wheel things are easier to learn on, simpler to buy, build, and set-up, and are a more "pure" application of the skills than all the fangled stuff of geared, suspended bikes. plus, it's easier to spin 360s on those little frames and little wheels... they also have fewer parts to break.

the full mountain bike style dirt jumper (i have a DMR trailstar LT for sale right now) is awesome fun and maybe more forgiving in accommodating mistakes (suspension and bigger-rolling wheels smooth out certain mistake curves). it's also faster and sometimes lighter, and there are lots of them around for cheap (kona).

either way, that's awesome. major kudos to you and your family, buying bikes instead of video games, and your daughter wanting to dirt jump instead of whatever else girls want to do at that age. i'll have to check in with you in a few years. my oldest girl just turned 7. we got her a catlike...it's pink and $200 cheaper than a grown up one.

[pdmtong]

find a used specialized big hit grom

my daughter raged the lift assisted intermediates at northstar-at-tahoe on it.

24" wheels, 8" hayes mechanicals, single pivot, 4" travel, 8 speed with bash guard. built to fly. they hold value since only made three years. anywhere from $400-600 on CL

or, look at the kona stinky-24

[pdmtong]

this would work too...not mine

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/2883118974.html