Squish 26, 15" frame

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UpWrong
Posts: 2401
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by UpWrong »

I want to get my Mrs cycling again. She’s rather short with short legs. I previously built up a 43 cm Pinnacle Neon 2 frame (700c wheels) but I had to fit a short stem to reduce the reach, the saddle was on the lowest setting and the Neon won’t take tyres larger than 32mm. So I decided to find a 26” wheel bike for her to get a better fit. Ended up looking at Children’s bikes: Isla, Frog & Squish. Squish have a 15” frame hybrid which would be OK height wise, uses 152mm cranks, decent components and a fair price. Had difficulty finding one is stock, ordered one from North Bikes in Bradford for £350 including delivery.

The Squish 26 arrived from North Bikes promptly and came well packed. Overall pleased with the quality. Nice looking aluminium frame and forks. It has a freehub/cassette and a cartridge BB of sorts I think so easy to upgrade. Cables are Jagwire, Shimano shifters and RD. It's quite light. I can't get the front V-brake to balance though. Might be a weak spring. I have spare bits in my shed so easy to fix I expect. The fork can take a mudguard, the rear has single eyelets so a rack and mudguard will have to share. It has a single chain ring and there aren't cable bosses for a front gear cable.

The important thing was the fit and I screwed up there. I failed to find the full published frame geometries guide before purchasing:
https://squish.bike/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Frame-Geometries-2020-5.pdf

I have the frame with the 15" seat tube which turns out to have a top tube length of 567.6mm, which is rather long for a bike with 26" wheels I think. Plenty of toe clearance for a mudguard then! The BB height with its 40mm tyres is around 290mm, which seems a tad high for a bike with short cranks though will give off-road clearance I guess. The length is the main issue. Think I will need to fit some dutch style bars to reduce the reach, the stem is already a short 50mm. Probably would have been better off with the 13” seat tube model which has a TT length of 540mm. Having said that if it doesn’t work out the 15” is big enough for me or her son to ride.

Anyhow, I think I’ve got a bit of a project to get the fit right for the wife. Re-cabling after changing the bars will be a pain and it’s a shame to have to replace the nice Jagwire cabling it came with. Will update as it progresses.
UpWrong
Posts: 2401
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by UpWrong »

Good news, my wife is ok with the reach to the bars. She sat on the bike with the seat post raised 6cm so the height sizing is pretty good.

Bad news, I couldn't fix the sticking front brake because one of the brake pivot posts is bent. However they are removable so the easiest things is to get new ones. I ought to phone North Bikes to report the problem and ask them to send a replacement pivot post. I wonder if they fitted them or whether they receive the forks with the posts installed. I suspect the former.
UpWrong
Posts: 2401
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by UpWrong »

North Bikes are contacting the supplier to get another brake pivot screw for me :D
UpWrong
Posts: 2401
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by UpWrong »

Here it is:
IMG_20210123_115301.jpg

I've added the Zefal Classi stay-less mudguards and the blue bottle cage. Also the pedals are not the ones it came with which had rather rough bearings. Otherwise standard. All in weight as you see it here with ping bell and reflectors is 23lbs. I could easily take a pound off that with lighter components i think. I want one for myself!!
UpWrong
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Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by UpWrong »

An update. My Mrs tried the bike and watching her cycle I could see wasn't getting good leg extension. I couldn't raise the saddle much because she wanted to get plenty of leg on the ground when stopped. The BB looked quite high for the 152mm cranks. Since she needed more gears for hills I have installed a 22/32 super compact double by means of a used Deore 170mm triple with a chainring guard in the outer position. I had an Alivio M4000 FD in my spares box so that went on with an SRAM ratchet MRX grip shifter. I only needed a Jtek clamp-on cable stop.

The chain alignment with the cassette has been difficult, The crankset does not line up with the cassette as I expected, even though the rear hub width is 135mm. The inner ring lines up with gear 4 of the 8 speed cassette. The middle ring lines up with gear 6. Despite that all the gears work although you have to shift the FD when cross-chaining.

She hasn't ridden it yet so I don't know how she'll handle "trimming" of the front derailleur. I guess the other option was going to a wide range 1x10 set up but I would have needed to buy more parts whereas the conversion only cost me £8 plus pp for the Jtek clamp.
Bonefishblues
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Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by Bonefishblues »

Could I ask how tall your wife is? I ask as I am looking at the next bike for my rapidly-growing daughter and I think a Squish might be a possibility. Thanks :)
UpWrong
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Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
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Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by UpWrong »

She is 5'2" with short limbs. I think she rides it with maybe 3" of seat post showing.
Bonefishblues
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Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by Bonefishblues »

Thanks, appreciated. My daughter's a little way off that at the moment, but getting too big or her 24" wheel Genesis, hence starting to cast around.
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Cowsham
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Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by Cowsham »

Looks a great wee bike. Well done on the mods. Hope the wife gets along with it. If she doesn't like the front derailer you could fit an electric front or preferably rear hub for getting up the hills -- I did this for my wife and she loves getting out on it now.
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UpWrong
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Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by UpWrong »

Bonefishblues wrote:Thanks, appreciated. My daughter's a little way off that at the moment, but getting too big or her 24" wheel Genesis, hence starting to cast around.

They also sell a 13" frame Squish 26.
Bonefishblues
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Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by Bonefishblues »

UpWrong wrote: 25 Feb 2021, 1:30pm
Bonefishblues wrote:Thanks, appreciated. My daughter's a little way off that at the moment, but getting too big or her 24" wheel Genesis, hence starting to cast around.
They also sell a 13" frame Squish 26.
Hello again, how is the Squish going, can I ask?
My daughter has thoroughly outgrown her 24"-wheeler and it has this morning been packed off to its new home, so I'm back on the hunt. In fact now looking at the 650B model, which seems to offer a little more growing room for what appears to be a young horse we're parenting :D
You've addressed one of the issues with the bike, I think, in that the lowest gear isn't all that low, but I was perhaps looking to fit a 32-tooth chainring, rather than go the double route, but interested to hear more about that, too.
UpWrong
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Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by UpWrong »

Hi. Wifey is happy with the bike although we have now changed the saddle. Ground clearance and toe clearance still fine with 170mm cranks. It came with 32 tooth ring we added a 22T one. It comes with a long seat post although it's about an inch too short for me to ride. My trouser leg length is 30". I have considered fitting a longer seat post so I can use it. MTB version much pricier and has a higher standover height which would not suit the Mrs.
Bonefishblues
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Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by Bonefishblues »

I think it's a standard square taper BB - could I ask what rings/replacement chainset would fit it?
UpWrong
Posts: 2401
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by UpWrong »

Bonefishblues wrote: 6 May 2021, 12:34pm I think it's a standard square taper BB - could I ask what rings/replacement chainset would fit it?
Yes OEM is a standard square taper. I installed a Deore Hollowtech crankset and it's not right to be honest. Makes me think a Road chainset might be better. I'll dig out the BB it came with and measure the length of the spindle and report back. Might be at the weekend now.
Bonefishblues
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Re: Squish 26, 15" frame

Post by Bonefishblues »

That's kind, thanks.
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