My lad 5ft 5 with his shoes on is after a bike for his Birthday - he currently rides a small Marin. I want to go the next size up to a medium as the rate he is growing he will be into it very soon.
Which bikes come up small - I have noticed newer bikes seem to size up smaller but with my budget around £600 I need to buy second hand.
He isn’t into big rides at the moment but into dirts trails/jumps - wants full suspension maybe around 130-150mm travel.
The question is as above which medium bikes size smaller just so we can start looking?
Thanks
165cm (5ft 5) is the lower end of the size specialized quote for chisels. Plenty of those available in medium second hand normally. Look for the version with 30.9 target than 27.2 post as it gives better dropper compatibility.
Thanks. I don’t think I can get one of those in his price range unfortunately.
Good option though
pretty sure that's all mediums, i'm 5ft 8? and i'm, squarely in mediums.. wouldn't be concerned for a growing lad
I'm afraid that I have no idea if it'll suit, but someone has a Giant Anthen 27.5" in medium in the classified for £550.
https://singletrackworld.com/advert/giant-anthem-advanced-0-team-medium-27-5/
Thanks! Our thought process is to try and stay at 27.5 inch wheels.
The main contenders so far have been,
Whyte T140, Giant Trance, Marin Rift Zone and Lapierre Zesty 227 (the Zesty seems to be the smallest medium)
Saw that - would probably be after something a bit newer than that at the moment.
I want to put a Wanted advert on there - but my account won’t let me at the moment
At 160cm and 163.5cm, my kids are just moving from size small 27.5 Ragley Marleys 2.0s (soon to be for sale) to medium Cannondale Habit FSers. I've bought new as I got impatient looking for two comparable bikes secondhand, unsure how often they come up. But sizing is such that they're very happy on mediums of these.
Bought ours here although they've very slightly increased in price recently - also a lower spec 'Habit 4' available for slightly less.
the 600 budget is a real difficult one, as that would barely be enough for a mid range secondhand hardtail, in comparison, that Giant linked up there looks (in my mind) an absolute steal at that budget
A good way to keep in budget might be to strip the Marin and reuse the parts if possible on a FS frame perhaps?
if you haven't looked, take a roam through Pinkbike classifieds also
I think I can work to the budget - I was just concerned with the bikes I was looking at with the sizing.
It feels like I can ignore that maybe listening to feedback, his birthday isn’t until April so I have sometime to find something.
I was just trying to make sure i was looking at the right bikes.
(those Cannondale Habits look nice - still hold a good value second hand also)
At that sort of budget and the sort of age you'd be looking at, Trek tend to size up relatively shorter.
We picked up a really nice 5ish year old Remedy for my son for not much more, and he loves it.
But you just have to face that whatever you buy will need selling again before long, they grow annoyingly fast! So buy something that will be easy to resell. Check what he actually wants, as a Chisel/Anthem aren't really the right bikes if he's going to be hitting jumps. Also bear in mind he'll likely want something he considers cool, and neither of them are to a standard teenager.
I lot to factor in but all of that is right. I got offered an Alpine 6 from a friend in Large but it’s just that bit too big..
Will look at the Treks and send him some pictures
(those Cannondale Habits look nice - still hold a good value second hand also)
What convinced me was good reviews of them inc from STW's Benji, along with (on paper) very decent geometry IMO. Plus the paintjob - purple/blue glittery flip, reminds me of the Max Power era 😀
But you just have to face that whatever you buy will need selling again before long, they grow annoyingly fast!
I started with a much smaller budget but blew that on the basis that their growth rate's slowed so they should get quite a few years out of these bikes. Possibly, given her age, my eldest might not even outgrow this one!
Lapierre Zesty 227 is entering the fold now also, don’t know much about them - good bikes?
Bird Aether 7, frames come up for £300 or so and a medium would probably fit the bill if swapping parts over would work
Sizing wise GT and Cannondale come up short in my experience.
I have just been offered a 2016 Giant Trance Carbon Advanced 2 for £550.
It’s a little older than I was originally going to go for but my son likes it.
Is that a good price?
It's about what Id expect, (although relatively cheap for carbon) but it'll look like a gate, have quite a high standover, and not be particularly slack HA of I remember rightly. I'm not sure it suits your specified intentions.
Cannondale
Cube Stereo and older x frame Spec Enduro.
Sizing wise GT and Cannondale come up short in my experience.
And Cube, Orbea, Scott etc etc...
The other way of looking at it is that the OP could look at a brand that they know come up big for a given size (Mondraker say) and go for a size Small instead...
[not a very stealth ad] If you could go to £800 I have a near as new Cotic Jeht in small, 20 months old, not been used for the last 8 months. I was going to advertise it at £1100,but just havent got round to it yet. I’m 5’5”, it fits me ok, though I think it’d suit someone a little bit taller, probably up to 5’8”. Located Lockerbie area.