I’ve been looking to get a new bike for my son, who turns 13 shortly. He’s outgrown his Specialized Hardrock with a super tiny 13″frame and 26″ wheels.
He’s pretty tall and growing all the time so thought of going for a medium.
I found this Voodoo Bantu at Halfords for £320 which looks like a reasonable spec albeit in an unfashionable wheel size.
Then this morning I saw Specialized have got a spring sale on, with their entry level Pitch 650b down to £340. Its a more modern looking bike, fantastic in Black, but the spec isn’t as good as the Bantu.
Personally I love Speshy bikes with 3 in the current family line-up.
Any thoughts? Or any other deals people have seen? Don’t want to spend much more than £350

Don’t worry about wheel size as it means naff-all, although I won’t say any more as it’ll start a forum riot ! But seriously, don’t be put off buying a bike just because it hasn’t got 650b or 29″ wheels. It’s much more important to worry about the paint job – honest 😉

That Voodoo looks really nice. It only lists a 16″ as the smallest size, so if that’s not too big it should give plenty of room to grow into.

I read once that Specialized are the most commonly stolen bikes, so perhaps a slightly more ‘unknown’ brand might be a good idea if he’s going to be locking it up anywhere. For the money, I doubt you’ll find anything better than that Voodoo.

Good luck.

Where in the country are you? I have a 15″ (well, small) skinny Duster frame that I can’t get around to selling properly you could have for £50 if you collect it. Throw in a set of matching Deore hydro brakes (levers and callipers, no disks) for £75, transplant across the other bits.
Posting frames is a right pain unless anyones got some top tips..

Thanks for the input.
Discjockey, Wasn’t too bothered by wheel size really, I’ve just bought another 26″ for myself! I think i’ll get him to try a few out at the weekend. My LBS has the new Pitch in all the sizes, whilst Halfords have got the Voodoo’s in stock

Sorry Brassneck, i’m looking for a complete bike.