A friend has asked me about a bike for his small 11 year old son so I’m looking for some advice

I previously asked on here for my son who is also 11 but bigger and ended up getting him a small scott genius so i have lots of knowledge of small bikes for 5’3″ children but no knowledge of smaller!

He’s under 5′ so is definitely going to need an xs frame and wants a FS to be able to ride with my son. So far i’ve found:

The liv range (womens bikes)
Cube stereo rookie
Canyon spectral women
Norco sight youth

Does anyone have any recommendations of anything else? His dad ideally wants to get an adult bike not a 24″ youth which he’ll outgrow in a year.

Before anyone says it, i’ve told him there’s literally Zero chance of getting anything before xmas as well!

I can’t imagine an 11 year old on a 24″ bike unless they’re really short. My son has been riding a small 27.5 frame/fork with 26″ wheels and 150mm cranks since his 9th birthday.

I did look briefly, there’s Canyon, YT and Norco doing bikes that small but none are cheap. Perhaps an older adult frame in small or xs?

Trek Ex junior.
Perfect

Following.

Totally against the op but surely a hard tail is what a young whippersnapper should be riding? How’re they going to learn how to ride properly if they start off on a skills compensator?

so is definitely going to need an xs frame

S or XS doesn’t mean much or anything…

has been riding a small 27.5 frame/fork with 26″ wheels and 150mm 145mm cranks since from his 9th birthday.

and its a very long S …

Does anyone have any recommendations of anything else? His dad ideally wants to get an adult bike not a 24″ youth which he’ll outgrow in a year.

Another option is a small 27.5 FS and then get a set of 26″ wheels/tyres.
I did an equivalent with an Identity Dr Jekyll HT. Ran 24’s until the youngest was tall enough for 26’s.

Liv Embolden was perfect for my lad at that age. Only for 8 months though.