Mongoose wheel replacement

[cmcdonald74]

Hello,

Newbie question...

We recently acquired a Mongoose XJump bicycle for my son through a friend whose kid has outgrown. It currently has 18" wheels which is a a little high for my son. Is it possible/practical to replace these with smaller wheels (like maybe 14" or 16")? Any advise in this area

[Bill]

Going to smaller wheel on a mongoose is really not practical at all. The reason is the the frame dropouts (where the front and rear axle bolts connect to the frame) are spaced only for 18" wheels. The smaller you go the shorter the axle. Now granted if a 16" wheel did slide into place and you had to tighten up the nuts on the axle it would bend the frame too far inward. Best bet is to keep your bike until he gets older. Some thoughts in my mind are, put the seat down as far as it goes and there are blocks that go on the pedals so he can reach them.
http://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-pdh4111-Pedal-Blocks/dp/B000MK29H0 .

Others here may have ideas too.

[DaveM]

Bill is probably right about the axle length (although I 'm not sure exactly at what wheel sizes there are axle length changes). But there are other issues just to give you a complete answer:
If the bike has brakes that pinch the rim, smaller wheels might not line up with the brakes properly. If it is a pedal/coaster brake you wouldn't have that problem. But you still might have an issue with the crank arms hitting the ground on turns because the whole bike will sit lower. Finally, there is the issue that a pair of wheels and tires would probably cost you close to what a whole smaller bike would cost anyway. So...yeah, might just have to hold on to it for a while.

[Joe_W]

Bill, I consider those blocks a really bad idea for a little kid. They should be able to reach the ground with their feet while sitting on the saddle.

[Bill]

Yea thats true Joe, sorry wasn't thinking. However if the Bike has training wheels then they would be ok!