My son’s birthday is coming up & i’m upgrading him to a “grown up” bike, I’ve narrowed it down to 2 due to the short supply nationally of xs sizes.
I can get either a Specialized hardrock disc or a Giant Revel4 disc, spec & price is very similar so you’re thoughts, for’s/against please ??

which ever you can get the best deal.
S/H spesh’s always sell well, for when he grows out of it.

any other pearls of wisdom folk’s ??

Got my ten year old a spesh hotrock a1 24″, and upgraded put some shimano
Deore hydraulic disc brakes on it for him, it’s a really good bike that should
Last him a good few years.

the spesh’ll be a 29er – is he OK with that ? 😉

I think speshpaul’s probably right; “everybody” has heard of spesh whereas giant won’t mean so much to an average parent when you’re selling it on

Alternatively, pick both up & see which is lightest. Then ask your lad which he thinks is coolest

Get an Islabike – you will get your money back near enough when you sell, and they are good.

the Hardrock disc has 26″ wheels (next model up’s the 29’er), I think I’m going to go for that over the Giant. Just looked at the islabike, cracking bike but way over my budget unfortunately.

26 inch wheeled bike will be too big for a 9 yr old, unless he is a giant.

26 inch wheeled bike will be too big for a 9 yr old, unless he is a giant.

No it won’t, if you get the right bike…

Carron Valley by matt_outandabout, on Flickr

I put my lad on a Spesh 26er, but I think it was very small adults one..14.5″?
I could have bought any Giant cheaper, but these were ideal. Oh and it was a self build.
He is a bit older here, but you get the picture.

I used ultra light short travel Mars Elite forks, these sorts of forks go for much cheapness. The bars have been cut down as well.

I bought my 10 y/o daughter an XS Merlin Malt frame and some Recon Silvers, and had her help build it up. (I had plenty of other bits in my spares box)

The invested effort hopefully means she will look after it better, she learnt some stuff, and TBH I enjoyed the joint project.

Before that she had a GT Palomar with 24″ wheels, she easily managed Sherwood Pines, and 25+ mile bridlepath rides with it. FWIW Both my kids had growth spurts around the 24″ wheel size, so they quickly outgrew them. So I personally wouldn’t spend a whole heap of money on one. I think I got the GT for < £200 brand new in a sale at the LBS.

The GT got handed down to a friends daughter and it’s still going strong.

So I would definitely consider something like this:

http://www.gtbicycles.com/2013/bikes/kids/kids-boys/aggressor-24

HTH
Si

Both the Spesh & Giant come in an extra small size, so although it will feel massive compared to his current 20″ hotrock (which he throw’s round the blue route at Swinley like a lunatic) he’s already nearly too big for a 24″ & i’d like him to have a bike worthy of a few upgrades. Really wish the wife would let me spend the extra money & get him an Islabike but thats just happening…

not

26 inch wheeled bike will be too big for a 9 yr old

Maybe in Ye Olden Days, when kids ate coal and had rickets.

My lad was over 5′ tall at 9, so he looked daft on a 24″ bike.

Matt,

If you are set on a 26″ then the isla’s (IMHO) don’t make as much sense as those in the smaller wheel sizes, where it makes a much more compelling argument.

A lot of the difference is stuff like smaller cranks / small hand friendly shifters. Whilst good short term, it’s all a bit too quirky as an upgrade-able platform for me.

I looked at it, and honestly, standard SLX shifters and Avid 3s which I put on my daughters work fine and she has no problem reaching the controls.

Sure hers is heavier than the Beinn, but then it has 100mm travel rather than rigid forks, hydro brakes over Vs, 30 speed vs. 16, etc. etc.

She still managed a 50 mile charity ride on it last year, we only saw 2 other kids do that distance, and they were both on junior road bikes.

Thing is she’s out growing this frame now 18 months on, a replacement frame will be <£150, but all the parts are still worth keeping. With a child’s specific bike you’d be wanting to swap these as you go up in frame size to match. (As someone else said, kids don’t live on coal any more.. my 13y/o son is 6’1″, no way he needs “small hands” specific brakes!!! )

My advice for a 26″ kids bikes is probably opposite to what you’d do for an adult bike. Go for the best components you can, sacrificing a little on the frame, knowing in the not too distant future you will reuse them on a larger / better frame.

Si.

P.S. I might have an XS Malt frame we can do a deal on 🙂