Russ Roth

As I'm looking towards the coming season and getting bikes ready I've been contemplating a new set of wheels for my son's mini. His bike, an entry level redline mini, has the factory wheels and I came across a set of promax mini hubs clearance priced which seem like they should be a good upgrade. One thing I've noticed is that the tires often seem bulbous on the rims and with road, mountain and every other style of bike going wider are BMX racing rims? His uses a 20x1 3/8 with Kenda small block 8 and it does seem that a wider rim would make for a better shaped and thereby better handing tire. If anything comes wider are there any recommended, so far I've noticed that velocity makes a 451 in their a23 which is wider though designed for recumbents so it is a bit heavier, something I can battle a bit with alloy nipples and thinner butted spokes. While I do expect him to outgrow the bike for next year it should last him this year and his brother the 2-3 years.

Viich

Russ - should do fine. And he should be able to use them right through expert frames, which should put him over 5', and even beyond if you run OS20 frames. You could use 1 1/8, especially on the rear, for weight as well, and I think Crupi sells a wider rim for 'expert'/1 3/8. The thinking is mostly that weight trumps most everything else for the little guys, I gather. Check out J&R bikes, I just got a set of box one harmonic hubs for $99 - they're being replaced by the stealth design box bought from true precision.

Do you race as well? I started last summer after my boys did (7N, 9N, 41-45N 😀 ) I love it, so do my sons.

bwilli88 

Skip the alloy nipples and get some good brass one, make for a sturdier build and is going to cost you what 2 oz.

Russ Roth

Checked J&R, must have missed that one, profile had some of theirs on clearance as well but didn't have the cash at the time, I'll have to keep looking though; I would like him to have a good cassette hub with a properly stiff rim.
Last year was the first year of racing for him and I spent the summer dealing with tears in my knee; my wife is also askance at the idea of me on a BMX bike going around the track. I was thinking this year of maybe grabbing a helmet and seeing how I do on the hardtail.
Aluminum build up strong enough, I typically only build with alloy as much for the color as anything. I've had to replace only 4 nipples in the last 10 years and they all went at the same time, I didn't notice that the bracket for the kids trailer had twisted around and was in the wheels till I hopped on and pedaled down hard to take off. Ripped 4 spokes right out of the nipples and wrecked the spokes in the process. Nothing wrong with brass but color is cooler.

Viich

On the wheel - keep an eye out for sales, pinkbike, craigslist and your track probably has a facebook buy and sell group. If you're able to build and can use some used and discount parts, it's not that bad. In reality though, he's probably at no disadvantage assuming bearings are good and the freewheel isn't dragging. Freewheel engagement is the biggest real performance difference, and there are some really nice freewheels with good engagement around now (box, profile, white industries). The freewheel hubs and freewheel are generally actually a touch lighter than the cassette hubs, so until he's putting down big power he's probably fine. Do the build, but don't feel you have to rush it.

Yea, I'm fully attached to the ground, no air for me on the track. I think I'm going to get her talked into it for this year - that could be a strategy.

The colour is an absolute necessity for the kids and bmx. I unfortunately have one kid that loves blue and one that loves red, but doesn't matter much as they're both on junior bikes. I'll use brass or aluminum for my wheels, depending on what I'm going for, but I agree, nothing wrong with aluminum nipples except the cost.

Russ Roth

Bearings were overhauled and adjusted when the bike was bought to make sure the hubs were properly adjusted, usually they're too tight from the beginning. The factory rim is a singlewall which is probably the lightest option really.
I've also heard really good things about the WI freewheel for speed and quality.
I'd mostly keep the wheels on the ground but I've been playing at the pump track and trying to get the wheels off the ground.

Viich

Sounds like he's fine. I'm trying to learn to jump a bit as well, but I don't much on the racetrack, not at all during races (it's not faster unless you're perfect!)

3S1M

You guys willing to put up some pics of these bikes you're discussing? They sound great!!!!

Viich

Sure - my boys & their bikes bikes are a little bigger than the OP's, they both ride Junior sizes, not minis -


My youngest's DK Tracer that we overhauled this winter. We stripped the paint, polished the aluminum, got some repro decals, got new titanium spindle bottom bracket, new wheelset with Stealth S3 Expert hubs (zero backlash/infinite points of engagement), new Vee Speedster 20x1 3/8 red sidewall tires, painted the brakes red, Ciari Ottomatic Chro-mo fork (dropped some weight from the stock steel fork), Crupi stem and headset. Red KMC K1SL chain (same as the old 810SL) This was his first test ride. The sharp viewer will notice that I still haven't installed the brake when I sent him out on it. Parent of the year.
It originally looked like this:



My oldest has a GT Pro Series Junior size:

Viich

My bike is a little bigger:

Mine's an FMF from about 16 years ago, SE Landing Gear forks in this picture, I got some Ciari Ottomatic Pro-sized forks the same time I got the expert ones for my son at an outrageous deal -$35 USD each, they'll go on for this season, along with some shorter cranks - these are 185mm Profiles, I'm going to go to 180mm - I'm just not tall enough for the 185s. I might keep an eye out for some shorter bars in the 8-8.5" range, the 10" keep me a little too upright.

3S1M

Great bikes!!! 35 bucks for forks is a super good deal!

Viich

Yea, a guy that had been involved in the Staats / Ciari company needed to clear out some shop space, had a pile of them he wanted to move quickly. I almost wish I'd gotten another mini one.