harrier

I am helping a friend whose 10 year old twins have new Specialized Hot Rock bikes (24"). They are perfectly adequate bikes except the components are truly wretched. These kids are very good riders and are getting frustrated by stuck chains and bad shifting.

I am going to replace the front derailleurs and switch out their grip shifters for triggers. I was looking at Alivio, but don't want to replicate the current situation. Can anyone give me a strightforward opinion on whether I need to go better than Alivio.

And yes, I know that maintenance would help, but these kids were on a week-long camp with guys from a bike store and couldn't keep the bikes in tune.

Wordbiker

The issue may not be with the components, but the size.

The 24" format has been poorly addressed in the bicycle industry, lacking good choices in suspension forks and any components that I am aware of made specifically for the signifigantly shorter drivetrain. Short chainstays = severe chain angles beyond the mainstream 26" specs. Sure, you may save some weight and gain some longevity with higher-end components, but don't expect the same exact performance as a 26" or larger format.

Don't feel bad though: 20" folders suffer with the same issues...if not worse.

Mondoman

I would expect that the rear derailleur would be more at issue. Even cheap gripshifters and FD's usually work quite well. If they like trigger shifters better, the Alivio's you mention should do fine.