Topic starter
I'm shopping around for a bike for my 5'0" (152cm) tall 11-year old.
I've seen a couple of Marin San Quentin (and similar sized) bikes in size small going used, which look cool.
But....though the seat tubes are short 385mm the reach is a 'modern' 422mm, which is longer than my old On-One 456 XL...
Is this going to be an absolute barge? [size guide does say 5'2"-5'6"] I know I should test things with him but I'm lazy and Singletrack Hivemind has the benefit of long-term riding experience not just sitting on stuff.
I hate buying a bike 'to grow into' but I'm 6'7" and I know he's not going to be 5'0" for very long at all. There are some Vitus kids' 26" bikes going around too with 400 reach for a bit cheaper but he's kind of top of the size guide for them...hmmmm
ANYWAY any replies regarding the Marin along the lines of "DON'T DO IT!" or "don't worry about it that size bike worked well for my 5 foot person" would be super helpful,
thanks in advance for wisdom!
PS. anyone looking to flog something nice around that size please message me (budget £500)
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Posted : 13/03/2025 7:44 pm
152cm mini a11y here’s comfortably riding a Ragley Marley with a 415mm reach. Could easily have been on it a few months ago I reckon.
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Posted : 13/03/2025 8:01 pm
I bought my (quite tall) 10 year old one of these about 8 months ago. he’s just over 5’.Â
https://vitusbikes.com/collections/kids-bikes/products/vitus-mythique-26-youth-mountain-bike-07e7
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it says reach is 383 in the geometry in that link so I would say 422 will be a stretch (😆)  but fit a mega short stem and I’m sure it’ll be fine.Â
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Posted : 13/03/2025 8:02 pm
zerocool reacted
By the Vitus, use for 6 months, sell for the something very similar to what you bought it for?Â
Posted : 13/03/2025 8:09 pm
zerocool reacted
My eldest, nearly 13 but not exactly tall at 5'2" is on a small Lapierre XR and the reach / stack on that is 420 / 580 with a XC typical 70mm stem and he's fine on that, he also rides a medium Cube Stereo One44 which has a reach / stack of 448 / 626 with a stumpy stem, both 29'ers
So given your offspring is a smidge shorter I'd say they'd be fine.
If you flick through these photos you can see him on the Lapierre in race mode, incidentally his middle brother is 4'10.5" on a small Scott Scale 29er.
Posted : 14/03/2025 9:55 am
tall_martin reacted
Topic starter
THANKS ALL for your advice, really super helpful (as ever on this lovely forum!) and the photos are really above and beyond! So thanks.
Went for the small Marin San Quentin in the end.... it has a pretty low top tube and is lighter than I expected, and the actual top tube is pretty short as seat tube so steep. Might be hard to pull the front wheel up for the little guy with the long reach, so perhaps the more 'chuckable' Vitus would have been sensible as per mashr's suggestion, we shall see. Ta again!
Posted : 23/03/2025 2:04 pm
