UKC

Hello,

I'm thinking about buying a hard tail for my eldest son, he's currently twelve and tall for his age but slight (lanky)....

the question is whether to buy him a youth bike or adults bike as per the below


http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube-kid-240-sl-bike-2016/rp-prod141518
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube-aim-pro-27-5-hardtail-bike-2016/rp-...


any advise would be welcome.

I'm determind to get him something he can use, my parents bought him a halfords bike for his first bike (not a trike type thing) and it weighed close to a metric ton and was completely unusable.

thanks
rob

In reply to robal:

I'd definitely go for an adult bike. How tall is he?

In reply to robal:

If he fits an adult bike, get an adult bike. They are almost always better made than kids bikes. I am about the size of your average 10 - 11 year old, and I ride a mens XS, so I would imagine he is likely to be fine on an adult one

In reply to robal:

I would get an adults bike, ideally with a low standover, but more importantly long effective top tube. As he grows you could replace the handlebar with a wider one - that 660mm bar is quite narrow by modern standards anyway (I run a 740mm, and that's not extreme) - so as to maintain a comfortable reach. I'd venture reach is more important for fit than standover or seattube length.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Thinking about it I'd buy him the biggest adult bike he can just about ride. He'll grow into it (probably in around a fortnight)

In reply to robal:

I think from memory he must be about 5 2 although that might be a massive over statement maybe 5 foot…..

The point where you make the leap to adults bikes they become more expensive. Maybe I should be looking at Decathlon bikes, he’s forecast to be over 6’7” so I doubt this will be the last bike for him….

The only reason I was looking at a cube was because of the junior bike sizing that they had….

In reply to robal:

Just as looked at the two bikes you linked. The child's has 24" wheels where as the adult one is the new vogue 650b (27.5") wheel size. Personally I'd try to find a regular 26" wheel adult bike in small / XS frame as that is likely to fit better in the short term and still fit for a while.

In reply to robal:

I got my daughters a Decathlon bike in one of their sales last year. It was on special offer as it was a very small frame size and was reduced from around £750 to £350. They are both around 5ft at the moment and it should fit them for at least a couple of years. However, it does have 650 wheels, so buying tyres isn't straightforward. I can't remember the exact spec, but it's roughly equivalent to my Giant Defy 2.

In reply to robal:

I know I'm like a stuck record on this, but...

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rafal-740-mountain-bike-id_8314897.html

...might work for you, seems to only be available in Small, 26 inch wheels, light and great spec.

My 9 year old (only slightly taller than average) has just about grown out of his 24 inch wheel bike (Islabike Creig 24) so if I were you I'd defo be looking at small adult bikes. Canyon might also be worth a look as they do XS adult bikes (650b wheels though, don't know if that'd bother you?)

In reply to wilkesley:


Really not a problem, where have you been looking? Usual suspects (CRC etc.) have masses of 650b tyres. I can forsee a time in a couple of years where it'll be harder to get hold of good 26" tyres (written with sadness as I have two 26" wheeled MTBs...!)