Kids 16" bike, want to upgrade chain ring
09-09-22, 07:49 AM
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Kids 16" bike, want to upgrade chain ring
Just bought my son a used Trek Jet 16 off of the Facebook marketplace. It is a solid bike but the chain ring is very small and the poor little guy is peddling his ass off and not going anywhere. I've been trying to research swapping out the chain ring for a larger one but have gotten nowhere. Any suggestions?
09-09-22, 08:36 AM
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Can you tell us the crankset style or will we have to do the research for you? Some kids bikes use a 1 piece crankset (use to be called "Ashtabula") that have removeable rings. Other bikes have a cotterless crankset with a swaged ring/arm connection and thus is non removeable. Andy
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09-09-22, 08:54 AM
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Won't he outgrow that bike in, like, six months?
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09-09-22, 10:44 AM
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Ditto what Andrew said. This type of bike almost always have one-piece crank and BMX style sprockets (in BMXland chain rings are called sprockets). You can find sprockets at BMX specialists:
https://jrbicycles.com/collections/s...ts/sprockets-1
I did the same swap on several of my kids' bikes when they were little. I went from big to small though because the Specialized Hot Rock series tended to have sprockets that were too large.
https://jrbicycles.com/collections/s...ts/sprockets-1
I did the same swap on several of my kids' bikes when they were little. I went from big to small though because the Specialized Hot Rock series tended to have sprockets that were too large.
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09-09-22, 10:55 AM
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09-09-22, 03:47 PM
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So, next steps here: https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-m...-question.html
09-09-22, 04:03 PM
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Let him pedal his ass off. Might build some fast twitch muscles in his legs and grow up to be able to spin 140 cadence as an afterthought.
09-09-22, 04:07 PM
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Can you change the rear cog for a smaller one?
09-09-22, 06:08 PM
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It may be a bit of a crapshoot to locate cranks; kids’ bike parts can be weirdly non-specific, especially at the under-20” wheel sizes. You can probably find a direct replacement, but it may not give you the sizes so you can find the “+1” size you’re looking for
You could also switch the rear cog for a smaller one; coaster-brake sprockets are available down to 14t, and way less expensive than a mini-BMX crank conversion
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09-09-22, 06:30 PM
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If my dad had made my first bike harder to pedal, I would have been pissed!
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09-10-22, 09:21 AM
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I switched a one piece crank on one of my kids bikes ( but went to a smaller front )
the crank was fairly inexpensive and it was easy to swap
eventually I moved them to lighter / bmx racers ... and then had to find larger rear cogs
miss those days - kids grew like weeds and now on their own
the crank was fairly inexpensive and it was easy to swap
eventually I moved them to lighter / bmx racers ... and then had to find larger rear cogs
miss those days - kids grew like weeds and now on their own
