full suspension in a bomber frameset, sized for youth/kids

heavy! fork is a boat anchor

I got this for my rapidly progressing 11 year old; he had out grown the abilities of his 24" hard tail.

First thing I did was took off the heavy & unresponsive fork (Marizocchi DJ2) and replaced with my 2002 era SID SL. I also turfed the stock fox coil shock with a 2010ish Fox Float RL with 3 stage pro pedal. It now rides like a dream, and the front & rear are both air tuneable to match his weight. MUCH improved over the stock items.

I also upgraded the drivetrain to SRAM X9 2x9 shifters & deraileurs that I had kicking about, along with Shimano Deore hydraulic disc brakes. This thing has a serious build spec now, and everything works crisply & reliably. My kid rips on it, and the bike just works! we do everything from lift accessed green & blue runs, to all mountain cross country together now.

It is a heavy frame though, with same bearings & build quality as the full sized stinky frames. Unlikely that a 75lb kid will generate any forces that tax this thing...