My Daughter's 1st Road bike - Diamondback Youth Podium

[mdeth1313]

Just got it together tonight. Good thing it's winter - I have a lot of work to do. I haven't weighed it yet, but oh, so much has to go. I have to fit her to it and I'm hoping I have to replace the stem. Seatpost and saddle are going, I already have skewers for the wheels - have to check out 24" tires and tubes and see what's available and the chainrings have to go, they are just awful, as is the FD.

I wasn't sure who was going to be more excited, but, from the look on her face when she saw it, I think she is.

[Frankie - B]

That is awesome! now go and tune the heck out of it.

Somehow I can't believe that such a saddle is comfortable for kids.

[mdeth1313]

Found an aluminum bolt for the top cap.

[LouisN]

Happy for your daughter ( foamy chocolate milk in the jugs )

IMO The best changes one can make to a youth bike are for fitting these tiny humans as well as we are.

Depending on her skills and confidence on a bike, I suggest adding crosstop CX brakes.
I know it adds weight, but it can be the detail that makes your daughter confident, and the parents safe she can reach the brakes in any situations.
At this age and size, very often their fingers are barely long enough to reach the brake levers. Front chainring change is also a challenge as the "click" to move the FD is achieved by moving the left shifter paddle all the way up. My daughters (and a lot of young bike club members) used to shift grabbing the left shifter with their left hand, from over the stem and handlebar and pull .

The bar looks huge. What's the width and curve ?

I'd go 36 or 38mm max width, with a compact round 120-125mm curve, not ergo.
Bontrager has one, as well as Deda (cheap and pretty nice, the RHM 01, the 38mm is below 290g).

And a sideloader water bottle holder. Lots of skills needed to reach a water bottle under there while riding.

Oh !! Very important !! And, of course, a few color coordinated custom parts !!

Louis

[Powerful Pete]

Most excellent. I really enjoy these bikes - they help ensure the future of our sport!

I concur with LouisN in terms of making sure she can "handle" the shifting and braking.

Happy rides to dad and daughter!

[Frankie - B]

What if we all went through our parts bin to see if we can help you out with parts that we aren't using? it is quite easy to box it and put your name on it.

[mdeth1313]

Frank-- while it's a really nice gesture, don't go out of your way. I did a little work with Alyssa on the fit and it's really not too bad. I already have new easton bars in 38 cm just laying around, so that's covered. For the time being, I want to put a 70 mm stem on. The one that came w/ the bike is a 90, but I want her to be very comfortable with her hands on the hoods. I doubt anyone has a 70 mm stem, but the good news is those are pretty easy to source on ebay, and given the size, there's not much competition for some of the better ones.

If anyone had a 27.2 post laying around, that I could use (I only have a couple of 31.6 posts). My daughter is also really, really narrow, so that saddle is going to have to go, but I'm not even sure where to begin. If anyone does offer anything up and wants to check w/ me, I'd be happy to pay any postage.

The other issue I'm seeing is tires - the ones that came on the bike aren't even branded, I have a feeling they're kenda's, the only other tires I'm seeing for 24" wheels are panaracers (I believe paselas). Anyone have any ideas there?

[LouisN]

Mega,
Check for Uno Ultralight stems, best bang for buck (but you already knew that). I just came from the 60mm ones (when the girls were 4'7'' or 4'8'').
There aren't many 24'' offering in tires. Besides Kenda and Panaracer, I never saw anything, besides tubulars.
Note: As an "upgrade", I unmounted wheels, replaced the rear hub (going from 7S downtube shifters to 8S handlebar ones) and mounted them back with DT revolution spokes and alloy nipples. Saved almost half a pound there .

Very short 27.2 seatposts will be pretty easy to find on Ebay and the like...
As well as light narrow used saddles, the Bontrager RXL Inform 128mm saddles for example...

Louis

[jooo]

The other issue I'm seeing is tires - the ones that came on the bike aren't even branded, I have a feeling they're kenda's, the only other tires I'm seeing for 24" wheels are panaracers (I believe paselas). Anyone have any ideas there?

What's the ISO size? I'm guessing 520 if you've said the stock tyres are 24x1?
Schwalbe make the Durano in 520. Folding bead, a light puncture protection belt and 195g claimed weight. Seems like it could be a good option.

[mdeth1313]

...and we're off! Just ordered 2 control tech seatposts to see which one works. One is 10mm offset, the other 20. Both are 2 bolt systems so they'll be easy to do some tuning w/ the yokes and ti bolts I have laying around. I'm deciding which kalloy stem to buy from ebay and the tires will stay for now as they appear to be kenda and they're brand new. The schwalbe tires are an option if I can get them at a good price. I have a narrow no-name saddle that I'm going to have her try before I start purchasing any.

I'm just wondering if/when this winter will end. I haven't ridden outside since Dec. It's been -20 to -23 (celcius) in the mornings and there's so much ice on the roads and not much room for cars to pass. Buying a computrainer in 2000 was one of the best moves I ever made.

[benze]

Hi all,

I'm sorry to revive such an old thread, but I'm looking for mesaurements of the 2015 Diamondback Podium 24" and it is hard to find anything online. If you still have the Podium 24", would you be able to let me know what the length of the top tube length is? (or post to post measurement)

I'm looking at buying a 2015 Diamondback Podium 24" for my son online and can't find any sizing information for it. I've been able to find a Diamondback 650 locally, but it is a bit too big a reach for him. I took a quick measurement of the top tube of the 650 and from headpost to downpost it seems to be roughly 450mm. Although my son fits, the reach is a bit far in the drops. I estimate he needs about 75mm less to be comfortable with the shifters.

Thanks so much!

Eric

[mdeth1313]

I measured 47.5 to 48 cm. Of course it's not horizontal (although that was my best attempt to get a horizontal measurement).

I did find this:

https://www.diamondback.com/podium-24

where they say the TT is 47.7 cm

hope that helps