Time to move on from the (very STW) upgraded Blast. He’s 4’8″ and the budget is about £460. Riding is usually bagging around the park and blue runs with me. I have a complete spare SLX / XT transmission and brakes for any upgrading needed.

So far thinking;

Voodoo Nzumbi 15″ £300 (I get 10% at Halford with British Cycling)

Boardman Comp 16″ £470 – I suspect this will be too big. Size guide says 16″ is for from 5’1″

Any other suggestions?

Try him on a whyte, my 10 year old son has been riding a xs compact whyte 604 since he was 9, I swapped the bars and stem for something shorter and narrower , the 650b wheels roll like a 29er would to us. He managed to get round the sam Houghton coarse this year without any problems, he loves it.

I bought my lad a Spesh hardtail last year from their store and it was half price. He’s grown out of it already, 12 years old and 5’7″ he’s already on a 650b probably be on a 29er soon.

I sold the Spesh for what I’d paid for it so that wasn’t too bad.

My lad is 4ft11 and is on a 16 inch 650b Genesis Core 20 which fits him fine (like a 29’r) he is in complete control of it and does some pretty decent jumps and drops now too. I’d suggest the top of your priority list should be air forks. The Genesis came with Suntour XCR airs which I swapped out for some Raidon airs that I upgraded to semi oil bath and then nicked from his mums bike. That took around a lot of weight off the front end which has helped his bike control in a big way. Worth checking all the discount sites you can find for a 2016 on closeout with the right spec.

Joolsburger – what’s the effective top tube on that frame?

I’m just going through this with my 11yo, coming off an XS Anthem. He’s 4’10” and leg wise small (vs. XS) adult bikes look fine but the reach looks to be a stretch. The effective top tube on the Anthem is only 510mm.

Leku – you might find the top tube too long on those bikes

Its 58cm on the 16. Genesis apparently adjust the geometry for the smaller frames so his reach to the bars is OK and his saddle is maybe an inch or so lower than his bars. I think it will last him another 2 maybe 3 years then I’ll have to size up.

Cube aim pro.

Comes in 14″ and 16″