Considering the Onone 456 option. Not being anywhere near this big myself, can anyone help with sizing?
Or, does anyone of this stature ride a Blue Pig? Would the 18″ or 20″ be better.
He is a fearless lad who is riding harder and harder so warrants something that he can push himself with, hence the frame choice.

if he’s fearless and pushes himself, get a size down.

what kinda riding does he actually do? might he prefer a jump bike to an xc bike?

an NS bikes surge in 17.5″ might tick the boxes (does for me, for dj, dh and a bit of xc)

He’s not a dirt jumper at the moment, more trail rider that looks for big stuff, downhill, drops etc. Still at 13 his chosen discipline will be in flux for many years I’m sure.
I’m erring toward an 18″ for the reasons you say, theres every chance he may want to go more XC as he gets older, depending on what his mates are doing so I’m wary of getting something too small of focused that will cripple him on longer ride out.

5lab, how tall are you?

I’m 6’1″ with a 20″ 456, I reckon it would fit him perfectly. And it’ll take a fair bit of abuse.

Thanks IHN. What size forks have you fitted? Do you ride mainly XC or would you consider yourself all mountain? Funny pidgeon hole stuff all these discipline terms but I guess they serve a purpose in these types of quandries.
I was discussing this with a freind at the weekend and we concluded that we now ride ‘most mountain’ and have recently upgraded from ‘some mountain’. We are not ‘all mountain’ yet because that drop is just too big and I avoid tarmac like it will melt my tyres.

I’ve got some 130mm Revs, but the frame will take up to 150mm (I think).

I’m definately a just riding around type rider, which I believe is classed as ‘XC’ or ‘Trail’ by those that insist on that sort of thing. I’ll climb up steep rocky stuff, and ride down steep rocky stuff, but will mince down/wimp out of some very steep and/or very rocky stuff, i.e. I reckon I’m the same as 90% of the people on here…

The bike, however, will take an absolute hammering, much more than my skills, or courage, are able to give it.

Certainly for the money the 456 is hard to ignor. Particularly for a 13 year old. As fickle as they are at 13 it may be traded for a set of golf clubs after a year or so. Though he would have to die then obviously. 🙂

Jef – I’m 6’3 as well, 35″ inside leg.

On a 17.5″ frame you need a fairly long seatpost, but its not detremental to the ride. The NS is as long as most 19″ frames, so its sized down already (if that makes sense)..

my fs bike is a 16″ banshee wildcard. Its got pretty much the same length virtual tt as a 20″ 456, so it fits well (even on that bike I can get a 350mm post up high enough for long XC treks – however it is a little short for road rides).

if he’s 13 he’s probably fit as hell, so something that’s a little compromised for xc won’t be the end of the world, but if you get something you can’t slam the saddle on it will (in my opinion) harm his ability to do freeride/dh/jumps/drops

just to note – the ns frame is £280 – but you can get a full bike based on that frame for £400..

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=58201

or £600 with a decent spec

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=58200

Sorry 5lab, been flat out all afternoon. The frame is actually for the boss’s son so we had a nice boardroom meeting this afternoon discussing the finer points of sweet frame and forks sets.
We finally settled on a 19″ Ragley Piglet with 130 Rockshox Revelations and a Hope headset to knit it together.
I think that should light his face up nicely on Christmas morn.

Thanks for the info though