Shimano 12 Speed 29er HT recommendation…

I’m looking for a HT for No2 skipperlet who is 12. Currently looking at a Trek ProCalibre 6 in a medium which I can get for £940. Easy trail use really as he’s just wanting to do a bit of off-road stuff at the moment. Anything else worth considering that’s good value??

Must be Shimano drivetrain, and must be 12sp and 29” boost as I have some EX511 wheels already that have Microspline and cassette already fitted. And I have some other spares that would be useful.

Ta

Must be Shimano drivetrain, and must be 12sp and 29” boost as I have some EX511 wheels

I presume you’re looking at a full bike that you’re going to swap the wheels for?  Seems a bit limiting if you can’t pick the right bike as the wheels don’t ‘fit’ – particularly given it’s a 12 year old on 29er wheels?

Having said that, there’s no reason you can’t use Shimano 12 speed with SRAM mech/shifters …. or just do a gear swapout to Shimano if it’s a must have.

It feels to me like you’re prioritising based on the wrong thing.

Yes, full bike.

Perhaps 29 is a mistake then. I’m taking him to try one this afternoon so if it’s too big will have to rethink.

Any suggestions gratefully received…

Honestly, I’d be looking for a nice second hand option – in 27.5″ wheels unless he’s particularly tall.  Like everything with kids, he’ll have out grown it in 12-18 months so you’ll just waste money with a new bike.

Search all of the usual places (here, ebay, Pinkbike, etc) for things local to you.  There’s nice stuff out there for a fraction of the cost, particularly in the smaller sizes with bikes ambitiously bought for (ex) girlfriends / wives being sold to make money for holidays or divorces.

https://www.lyonequipment.com/bikes/bikes-frames/salsa-rangefinder-deore-12-29__3250

Might be worth a look?

These are great – good spec too.

Mantra Trail LSL

https://www.saracen.co.uk/cdn/shop/files/RN22060_MantraLSL_Trail_Detail_01_0ea0c460-ceb6-49cf-bf49-75337453001d_1944x.jpg

12yr old on a 29’er is absolutely fine unless they’re shorter than average. My 2 eldest (just turned 12 (5’1.5″ and just turned 10 4’9″) are both on 29’ers and have no issues with them at all for XC type riding and racing.

The eldest is on a Lapierre XR7.9 in small and the middle’st is on a Scott Scale 950 again in small.

I went for the Trek in the end as I got an extra £100 off it shopping in Microsoft Edge 🤷‍♂️. We went and sat on one first and it fits nicely (he’s 5′ 6″), comes with a dropper unlike similar Spesh models. Wanted to buy from a local store too so all good. Picking it up today. 🙂 I have a question about headset bearings actually but I’ll put that in another thread.

Thanks for the input though all. Helped me decide. 👍