But would it make much difference to the initial learning phase with the bigger tyres on? ie should we have the 1.5″ ones on and just swap to the 2.1″ ones later?
Not in terms of learning on the tarmac…. obviously once he’s learned the tarmac will be a bit slower..
Tyres are always going on sale…. especially 26 as they have stock from when that was the only size for adults …. but you could also just look out for some extra wheels … which makes the whole thing much easier… (a 30 sec job) but you need to make sure they have
1) V-brake rims
2) Same number of gears (8) or you can just change the cassette to a 8 speed at the same time
Changing the cassette is better as you can then have “road gears” (narrow spacing and smaller big gear) and “off road gears” (wider spacing)