First 26" bike for a boy?

trek990

Point me to a previous thread if this has already been discussed but I am looking for a light 26" wheel bike for my son (10 and a half). He's been riding a 20" Giant for a while now and it is time for a change.
He is not into hardtail MTBing but the bike needs to cope with tracks and occasional offroad.
Prefer a rigid fork and as I said before it needs to be light.
I know about Islabikes so is there any alternative recommendations (with weights if poss)?
Perhaps a small 26" hybrid which looks ok for boys?
Would consider a good 2nd hand bike if anyone is looking to sell (Sheffield area).
Thanks

oxoman

Decathlon do a good range of both kids hardtail and non suspension bikes for very good prices. The Btwin range comes highly recommended. My son has a 26" wheel rockrider which he loves. Just one point though its a big jump from a 20" bike to a 26" bike, might be worth getting a 24" depending on your sons size. As to weight of decathlons bikes i'm not sure apart from a lot lighter than any Halfrauds offering, oh nearly forgot to mention they last a lot longer to.

baudman

oxoman wrote:

Just one point though its a big jump from a 20" bike to a 26" bike, might be worth getting a 24" depending on your son's size.

Agree, but there's 20" bikes and there's 20" bikes (and same for 26")

Not wanting to state the bleeding obvious, but 20" and 26" is in reference to the wheel size. I've seen very upright geometry on a 20", or longer wheelbase lower centre-of-gravity geometry. Similarly, 26" bikes, being 'adult' sized, will come in sizes - XS, S, M etc. So, you may find, the difference in a well-sized 20" and an XS 26" to not be as marked as you think. Handling will be very different though.

othello

baudman wrote:

oxoman wrote:

Just one point though its a big jump from a 20" bike to a 26" bike, might be worth getting a 24" depending on your son's size.

Agree, but there's 20" bikes and there's 20" bikes (and same for 26")

Not wanting to state the bleeding obvious, but 20" and 26" is in reference to the wheel size. I've seen very upright geometry on a 20", or longer wheelbase lower centre-of-gravity geometry. Similarly, 26" bikes, being 'adult' sized, will come in sizes - XS, S, M etc. So, you may find, the difference in a well-sized 20" and an XS 26" to not be as marked as you think. Handling will be very different though.

Yes, it will feel much longer coming from a 20" wheel

When my son went from his 20" wheel MTB to a 24" wheel, the saddle height was identical (obviously) but he was much more stretched out. He took a while to adjust, but once he did it became second nature.

madtam

I have a Specialized Rockhopper with a 13" frame for sale. My older boy made the jump from a 20" to this 26" wheeled bike without any apparent problems. It is a mountain bike and does have a suspension fork but surprisingly actually weighed the same as the much smaller 20" bike. I am Holmfirth way, so possibly within travelling distance if you wanted to check it out.
The alternatives if you are not wanting a purely road bike are going to be small framed hybrids and for a decent lightweight one you will be paying reasonable money for a bike that realistically might be grown out of in 3 years or less. My oungest at 13 and a half has jumped from the 13" to a 19" frame just recently and probably should have had something bigger a bit sooner.

trek990

Thanks for the advice.
My son looked uncomfortable on the 26" so we decided on the 24" and he loves it!
Lots more gears so he is much happier going up hills.
In fact we bought your 24" Kona Madtam - sorry we didn't buy your 26" Specialized, it's a great bike.