Got a bit of a dilemma with my 10 year old He’s been riding his brothers old Edinburgh Cycle Coop Cairn for a couple of years and its starting to look a little knackered. He’s getting a lot more confidence and really needs something a bit better. My dilemma is do I buy him something new now (thinking of the new islabikes creig 26 which is a fully functional mtb aimed at kids, with a decent fork and hydraulic brakes, but its £599) or do I wait a year or so and wait for him to grow a bit more and buy a small adult framed bike, which I could probably get a better deal on.

Any suggestions or your experiences gratefully received

Is he heavy enough to justify a supension fork? My eleven year old daughter is skinny and doesn’t noticably compress mine, also are his hands big enough for adult levers, once he hits’s both those boxes, get an adult bike. Also has he had the growth spurt they all get sometime between 10 and 12, if not, wait until he does, then buy.

A few I know have wee Merlin frames (jump ones IIRC), with air forks on, all built up from classified, for such age of kids. Cheap, hardwearing and kids like the look of them as well.

this frame:

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=592&categoryId=87

Thanks midlife

His brother shot up between 10 and 12 and I bought him a small Marin B17 in the end of year sales so I’m tempted to hold tight for another year or so, the only problem is that he is showing quite a bit of interest and think a decent bike at this stage might give him a real boost. The islabike has full sized wheels on a small frame so hope it would last a good 3 years or so even with a growth burst … decisions decisions.

Good idea Matt – I ride a Merlin and really rate it, so the small frame option looks a good option, good price too.

I went the secondhand and old parts route for my lad, I bought a secondhand 15 ” Hardrock and used a mix of budget new, secondhand and parts bin stuff. He ended up with a nice light useable disc braked hardtail.
He is 12 now and I’ve just bought an 18″ Dirty Jo frame. Yesterday I spent the evening transfering the parts and made a few subtle upgrades along the way.

Hi,

I got my boy a Spesh Rockhopper 18 months ago for his 10th birthday. Changed stem length and inverted the new one. Adjusted seat for knee / pedal line. Sorted reach on the brakes, originally V now Juicy 3’s. But the major thing was changing the spring in RS Tora forks, softest spring from TF Tuned. Fork now works very well. He is bnult like a racing snake and can throw the bike around pretty well. 2 laps on Sunday round Cannock and he has no probs keeping up.
Daughter has a Spesh 24″ Hotrock at 8 yr old, loves it, forks work very slightly, replaced the tyres with Conti Explorers, light enough for her to move around and have a great day out.
He only wants a road bike now though – Pro-lite The One 650c wheels at £750, I think he needs to get a job!!

PB