"Proper" mountain bikes for a 10yr old...

IanTrcp

I'm looking to get my 10 year old a mountain bike that will enable him to start riding longer distances and in more interesting terrain. He's tall enough to ride a 26" wheel bike, with a suitably small (13-15 inch?) frame. It looks like I'm not the first person to look for this, as there are a few interesting options on the market:

Trek Fuel EX Jnr £1450
https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/bike ... 0000-2017/

Trek Superfly 26 £720
https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/bike ... 3600-2017/

Islabikes Creig 26 Pro £1500
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/products/bik ... pro-series

Whyte 405 £999
https://www.whyte.bike/405

I'm interested to hear from anyone who has bought one of these bikes. Also interested to hear of any other options I may have missed. Thank you in advance!

larkim

IMHO they grow far too fast at that age to warrant spending those sorts of sums on them, unless you are really handy with the maintenance and can almost guarantee good re-sale value. Though I'd reckon on those sorts of prices and that sort of marketplace (i.e. not too many people will be in the market for high end bikes for 10 year olds) you might find second hand re-sale to be hit and miss.

But of course, what you do with your cash is up to you! Just couldn't see this pass without commenting as I know my kids have accelerated through 10-15 years old so quickly that so many of the things I've bought for them have been right / big when I got them, and wrong / too small very quickly!

cooldad

Some insane prices there. I know they are kid specific but £1500 for a hardtail with RS TK forks is madness.

The Rookie

The Trott from Halfords goes down to an XS, may be worth a look.

Decathlon MTB's also go down to XS.

Either will be better equipped at circa £500 than those you are looking at.

poah

depending on his size the trek might last him another 3 years - I'll probably get another year out of Lewis's (12) ripcord.

what you might be worth doing is buying the trot mentioned above and swap to smaller wheels to give a lower stand over height. that Islabike is not worth it at all. The whyte isn't bad but crank too big.


what is he riding at the moment?

wmorgs

Got my boy for his 9th borthday who is tall for his age:

https://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/prod ... _2016_Bike

Hopefully sell for decent money when i sell it, as seems best 24" out there.
If he is a large 10yr might not last long

IanTrcp

Thank you. To respond to a few of the points made:

oxoman - The Boardman's still look like good value, but I think that a 27.5" wheel bike will be a step far for him. He's about 145cm now.
larkim - thank you for the IMHO
cooldad - agreed, it does look steep. Componentry must be better overall though as the claimed weight is almost 3kg below the others. I suspect that's enough to make a difference when riding.
The rookie - thanks, could you post a link to one of those better equipped £500 bikes please?
POAH - I don't think the Trott will fly in his case, and he's moving up from a 24" wheel (Islabike) for this. Good spot on the Whyte crank - thank you.
wmorgs - as above, I'm trying to make the jump to a 26" wheel bike which will roll better and allow me to use all my left over 26" tyres...

Further input will be welcomed!

poah

IanTrcp wrote:

POAH - I don't think the Trott will fly in his case

what ever you buy it is really only going to last a short period of time. if he is is coming from an islabike then he hadn't had a "proper" mountain bike. That trott bike is such stunning value I'm not sure why it wouldn't fly? although its a mute point as they don't have an XS in stock.

What kind of trails does he ride? you'll struggle to find a proper adult bike to fit an average sized 10 year old. if you want to use your 26 inch tyres then the trek above would be ideal.

Commecal do a Jr FS bike that will last longer than the trek

https://www.commencal-store.co.uk/supre ... 2x19924925

IanTrcp

POAH wrote:

IanTrcp wrote:

POAH - I don't think the Trott will fly in his case

what ever you buy it is really only going to last a short period of time. if he is is coming from an islabike then he hadn't had a "proper" mountain bike. That trott bike is such stunning value I'm not sure why it wouldn't fly? although its a mute point as they don't have an XS in stock.

What kind of trails does he ride? you'll struggle to find a proper adult bike to fit an average sized 10 year old. if you want to use your 26 inch tyres then the trek above would be ideal.

That's the point - this will be a first "proper" mountain bike. I'm not trying to find an adult bike to fit a 10yr old. I'm trying to find a good quality bike built from the ground up for a 10-12yr old.

The Trott won't fly because it is a 27.5" wheel female-specific bike. I'm looking for a 26" wheel bike for a boy.

Thank you for the link to the Commencal. It looks a bit heavy and expensive to me.

Trails: Pirbright/Tunnel Hill, Surrey Hills, Swinley. Perhaps a trip to Selva or Les Gets if he's looking safe/sensible.

FishFish

When my boy was 10 I took him to the London Olympic site on a taster day. He tried BMX onm the BMX circuit, Mountain on the MTB circuit and a few laps on the velodrome.

He chose the MTB and I bought him a cheap one in Halfords. To him it is a bike and he likes coming with me in the forest where I live and as we are not the same capability I accept limitations whether caused by his stage of development or the type of bike.

The issue is going biking together and him enjoying it. Later on and if he is still interested then I can get him a 'mountain' bike.

larkim

IanTrcp wrote:

The Trott won't fly because it is a 27.5" wheel female-specific bike. I'm looking for a 26" wheel bike for a boy.

By all accounts the female specificity of the bike is just illusory. Beyond the seat and the grips, everything else would be perfect for man, boy, girl, woman.

Glad you took my IMHO in the genuine spirit intended!

The Rookie

It's the dimensions between the contact points that matters not wheel size, very small bikes needed smaller wheels to achieve that while many 27.5 frames are pretty much identical to 26", it either fits or it doesn't. For that quality at that price I'd be finding out and not jumping to assumptions.

poah

IanTrcp wrote:

That's the point - this will be a first "proper" mountain bike. I'm not trying to find an adult bike to fit a 10yr old. I'm trying to find a good quality bike built from the ground up for a 10-12yr old.

The Trott won't fly because it is a 27.5" wheel female-specific bike. I'm looking for a 26" wheel bike for a boy.

Thank you for the link to the Commencal. It looks a bit heavy and expensive to me.

Trails: Pirbright/Tunnel Hill, Surrey Hills, Swinley. Perhaps a trip to Selva or Les Gets if he's looking safe/sensible.

I'd ride that trot, the only woman thing about it is the saddle. There is not such thing as a woman/mens mountain bike. its not even girly in colour.

This is probably the only other alternative

https://www.evanscycles.com/norco-fluid ... e-EV277902

larkim

POAH wrote:

I'd ride that trot

A sentiment I can't disagree with, despite mis-spellings. Interpret that in any way you fancy, you'll be on the right lines...

poah

larkim wrote:

POAH wrote:

I'd ride that trot

A sentiment I can't disagree with, despite mis-spellings. Interpret that in any way you fancy, you'll be on the right lines...

I didn't mean the bike

larkim

We're on the same page then. Sorry Mr Kenny!!

rockmonkeysc

Go somewhere and hire a 27.5" hardtail for a day. Afan have some XS 27.5" hardtails, I hired one for my 11 year old daughter and it was spot on.

Giraffoto

I went for an On-One Inbred frame in the smallest size, it's built up a great little bike.

simono5

Christmas 2015 I bought two bikes. One for a just 12 year old. Other for 10 1/2 year old.

I stretched to the max price wise for us, wanted something that would last them 2-3 years and give them a chance to see if MTB was for them before we spent any more.

The bikes are going strong still, the kids are totally addicted and they've been superb value for money and bomb proof.

The bikes you've linked to are out of my price range and I made a conscious decision to keep the cost down whilst they're growing and look to get them better bikes once they're late teens. Until then I'll either upgrade the frames they've got and the components as we go or go second hand for the next ones.

Bikes purchased;
Specialized Hardrock Disc 650B 2015
Cube Aim Pro Mountain Bike 2016

Both around £350 each and have been brilliant value and the kids love them. The Cube was for the 10 year old who is coming up 12 and I think he will have grown out of the bike by the end of this year.

rockmonkeysc

A Hardrock brilliant value? I can't think of a worse spec bike for the price.