Bike for a 12 year old

Hi Chaps,

I’m looking to find a bike for my friend’s 12 year old son, my initial thoughts are secondhand hardtail.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what they did for their kids?

I’m thinking no more than £400, and he was shocked that £200 was ‘too cheap’ for a bike that wont be heavy and generally not work.

Cheers

Ricks

Is he well behaved, what are his table manners like? Are we talking a long term exchange, or short term? 😯
..
Mine has ridden a 2nd hand 456 for the last 5 years, with a cheap set of Tora’s, factory wheels, 1 X 9 and cheap disc brakes – he loves it, goes well, and more importantly I’ve never done any maintenance on it, hurrah!

My 11 yo has been riding a second hand DMR for the last few years. Not a bad bike, although it recently keeps dropping it’s chain, so I need to sort that out.

My tall 12 year old has just about outgrown a 13″ cube 26er and has just commandeered my old whyte.

My 12 year old has this:

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Burner[/url] by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Which she loves
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Get out of the way![/url] by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Er not quite £400 tho although 2nd hand 26inch stuff is cheap now. Could build a nice bike for £400 I reckon from the classifieds with a bit of effort.

I built an orange evo2 with recon airs and an old xt groupo for my 13 year old nephew… i worry that he will become too good.

11 year old – 13.5″ Rockhopper £230 from ebay… new bar, stem and grips (£45) to make it shorter, narrower and most importantly, lower. The old bar and stem may come in handy as he grows. Also new pedals – £10-£15, I think they were.

Built this for my 10 year old recently, cost less then £400 to build. Now running 1×9 though….

Specialized party…..
Another £250 classifieds bike. It is the womens version – smidge shorter TT, and weeny 13.5″ frame. He is 4’11”, short of leg and 12 years old. Ace.
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2006 Specialized Hardrock Sport[/url] by matt_outandabout[/url], on Flickr
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The day Ben discovered he likes berms…[/url] by matt_outandabout[/url], on Flickr