Yet another flipping bike thread!

Might as well add to the growing number of bike threads. Looking for a bike for our soon to be 9 year old, I know pretty much what would be best suited for the type of riding we do so thought it would be easy to come up with loads of choices. A 45 minute google has proved otherwise so I'd thought and come and test your collective wisdoms.

We do mainly rides around town to parks and country roads up to about 15 miles (obviously this will increase as his stamina does) at a time at the moment and are looking for something that would last a few years (those years being being between 9 and 11/12).

Essential requirements are alloy frame and 24" wheel size.
Definitely not wanted, rear suspension.
Preferably not wanted, fat tyres and front suspension

I was thinking of some form of Junior Hybrid for want of a better term but so far Google has only provided me with one option, this.

It pretty much ticks all the boxes but I've never heard of that make or bike shop, anyone know better? I can't believe there aren't any other alternatives or has the entire country been sucked up into believing that all kids bikes need some form of inertia draining suspension and roll resisting fat tyres on them. Particularly for a bike that isn't going to anywhere near a mountain.

Going further in the road bike direction would lead to this which much as it may be a good seems to be a huge amount of money to spend on something that is just going to get chucked on the ground. We do also do very light trails so a hybrid would be better than an out and out road bike.

I'm trying to find alternative to this sort of thing of which there are plenty of options.

Hi there. Can I ask have you asked your son what type of bike he wants?

He might want something with suspension or even a bmx and may not always be riding the same terrain as you if he's out with his mates or something? (Even if he doesn't go off on his own now, he might by the time he's 11).

I don't want to be negative, but if I'd have been given that Buffalo hybrid bike when I was young, I would have been laughed at all the way home. *I'm only stating my opinion, which 'might' be his, but you are selecting the bike. I'm all for buying a bike that does the job though, I have a hybrid (MTB style) now myself.

To be honest, that Giant XTC looks like it might do the job. It looks good and should take a battering too, which is what kids give them. Change the knobbly tyres and it'll be okay on the road. Also, I'd guess the Giant is much better build quality than the unknown Buffalo.

Although, as Adam rightly points out, you are choosing the bike and probably know best, I can chip in with a little hard-won knowledge: If there's one thing I've learned about boys choosing bikes, it is that they will - with unerring accuracy - choose exactly the wrong bike for the job and base their decision 100% on what they think their mates will think is "sick". Watching stepson 2 ride a BMX a couple of miles on the road into town, rather than use a sensible hybrid or even a MTB makes me want to eat my knuckles, but the alternative is war!

Indeed, and there is no 'Do It All' bike for someone that age either.

Are you *sure" that front suspension and knobbly(-ish) tyres are not required? I find myself agreeing with AdamGT, and I think Master Wishy might like the front suspension even on "light trails" which can get pretty bumpy on a rigid bike (from experience of my commute which includes forest trails).

I would get front suspension but look for less knobbly tyres that are better on road (quieter, quicker) but still able to provide grip on light trails (mud, sand, stony trails) or just accept that you might want to change the tyres later. I have an old rigid Ridgeback hybrid and never even thought about the tyres that were on it until my recenty foray in to Cyclocross bikes (hybrid with drop handlebars with road gearing), where I've put Schwalbe Land Cruiser tyres on one of them and have been very pleased, they are very similar to what came as standard on my hybrid all those years ago.

On the road I don't think the suspension will hinder progress too much, and it does help avoid pot holeimpacts on your arms, but never having ridden a bike with suspension, I couldn't tell you for sure.

We have a Land Rover Criador with 24" wheels which was bought for our oldest son, now our youngest (aged 10) has it, but if it were mine I'd change tyres. Both sons initially struggled to get the hang of the gears when they had more than 1 wheel at the front, but eventually they get it.

The oldest son now has a Diamondback Overdrive, it's quite "cool" because it has front disc brakes (no better than rim brakes in this case), and although it seems monstrously heavy to me, you have to remember that kids have boundless energy (when it suits them). I think we had a choice between that and something from Giant (may well have been the XTC) but it was colour and disc brakes that won it for my son, their reasons for choosing may not be the same as yours! But at aged 13, he's moved on to 26" wheels, so you migth want to check how tall Master Wishy is now, and whether he might fit on a larger bike that will last him more than 3-4 years.

Thanks for the opinions, I'll try and answer them in order.

He will be getting a choice beforehand , I'm just looking to see what is out there first rather than handing him my credit card and letting him loose on wiggle.co.uk. He'd probably end up picking something like this and end up disappointed that it didn't end up appearing from inside a pile of wrapping paper on his birthday. He'll be given a range of choices and although that range won't be the entire cross-section of bikes available in the known universe, it will include options that I, MrsWishy or common sense wouldn't necessarily pick including *coughs violently* bikes with suspension.

Front suspension and fat tyres are a "preferably not wanted" from my point of view and not a definite no-no if that's what he prefers. When we started cycling as a family I bought a mountain bike thinking that we'd be up the hills in Hamsterley Forest every weekend but the reality is that it's a lot more practical for us to be straight out of the front door and onto the bikes meaning country roads and light trails. With this usage profile in mind I put rigid forks and thinner tyres on my bike and have seen a world of improvement. This is what has shaped my opinion. I appreciate this will change when he starts going out with his friends but that isn't yet and if it's when he's 11 (sticks finger in air and picks number) then he'll be 3 summers into the new bike and probably thinking for himself more about what he'd want and close to growing out of this one. Another factor is that as a family this usage isn't likely to change much (shorter, easier rides if anything) as microWishy will probably be losing the stabilisers next year and joining us rather than weighing me down like a sack of spuds in one of these. When I say light trail we don't go anywhere that I didn't go as a kid on my racer so it really is very light. The tyres are less of a consideration (for me) than the suspension as they are easily changed.

That aside, the other possible options alongside the Giant are these below, I just didn't link them all in first post.

Ridgeback

Mongoose

Cube

Specialized

As a guide I'd stop short of spending this much because I'm a tight wad . There's also this which is a larger version of what he has now.

MrsWishy has just got a Giant hybrid and we're pretty happy with the quality hence that was just the first one I linked. I'm still surprised that the likes of Giant or Specialized don't have junior hybrid offerings to try and wean younger riders into their stable before they start looking at the higher end adult options.

He's never mentioned any hankering for a road bike or BMX so haven't really looked at them. I'd be more than happy to look at a starter road bike though and fortunately none of his mates have bikes for dwarves yet so it's unlikely that he'll request a BMX yet. Another silver lining is that as of now the only thing that he thinks is sick is vomit.

I'll have a look at 26" wheel options although I feel at age 8 he may be drowned by them. He's probably just average height for his age.

Essay over.

I'm going to throw in Islabikes.
Second hand values are stunning, apparently.

The Kona, wow nice bike for a kid!

I'm currently chugging around with my 2 year old in one of those rear seat carriers (well my wife is mostly) so we don't do anything strenuous at the moment. Although we went to Cannock Chase at the weekend and did the blue trail and I didn't expect a hill that steep!

Those other bikes are all decent brands. Even though my bike is a Specialized Crosstrail, I do think they are highly priced for the spec, so make sure you compare closely. The cubes are supposed to be good value. That's just what I hear generally though, not sure if it applies across the board.

I also wondered why companies like Specialized and Giant didn't do hybrid kids bikes, but I think it's because at that age the most popular selection would be the mountain bike style, so probably wouldn't be popular. The market thinks more about what's cool rather than what suits a specific type of riding at that age.

This - totally!!!!

My 12 yo has the Bienn 26 and it is fantastic and ticks all the boxes. He uses on the road with slick tyres and we stick on knobblies for some MTB races we do. Quality is fantastic, it's lovely and light and it's been completely trouble-free. Importantly he loves it. And the secondhand values are brilliant. I wouldn't buy a kid any other bike!

Ticks all my original boxes does that. How good exactly are the resale values?

Go to BikeRadar.com and look in the classified ads.

It's a great bike - my son has the Large but he's very happy with it and it's soooo much lighter than many bikes aimed at kids

Lots of 24" around £200-250 as you have seen, but that Bienn 26 could last him forever if it would fit him now, so would be worth the extra £100 or so. But have you dragged him to any local bike shops yet or just looking online?

It's just me looking online for ideas at the moment, MrsWishy will have a filter through the thoughts in this thread and then we'll ask him what he thinks before having a look at some local shops. We have a couple of small independents and a Halfords to look at in town. There isn't a desperate hurry as it will be either for his birthday in October or Christmas. He's actually using a borrowed bike at the moment and his old one is already on Ebay.

Didn't see any second hand Bienn 26's on Ebay but the 20" are going for nearly £200 and they're only (hic) £250 new. Looking at those residuals, the extra £100 isn't putting me off and they seem like a good business to give money to if that makes sense.

Islabikes have a very good rep and are very much in demand used so once he grows out of it, if no sibling to hand down to, you'll easily sell it on

Beinn 26 wins, took delivery today. It is currently squirelled away at my folks house waiting for Santa to deliver it. Thanks for all the suggestions (except for the ones for Islabikes as my wallet is now empty).

Seriously though, we'll be going for the pass on to younger sibling followed by Ebay option so will get our moneys worth.