10yo - a new road bike - Felt F95, HOY650, Worx JA26 or ... ?

[DCLane]

My youngest is outgrowing his Decathlon Triban Junior (for cross) and the Trek 24" wheel bike he's been lent from Kirklees Cycling Academy. Both have been used; the Decathlon's done about 800 miles this year and the Trek 500 with him doing up to 40-mile rides with me. Having raced a bit this year he'll move up to the Under-12's from January. He's 10 and is 138cm / 4'6" so is a bit short for his age therefore a 700c wheel is not an option. A 26" or 650c wheel size seems to be better at this stage rather than trying to shoe-horn him into a Ridley X-Bow XXS size which is over budget (at £870) anyway, as is the Culprit Junior (at £895).

We're looking at a few options for his next stage and have so far found:

• Felt F95 Junior - £350 on eBay
• HOY650 - £600 at Evans
• Worx JA26 - £495

We've also looked (online) at a Moda Major/Mezzo on sale at Wiggle (heavy and an odd 650a wheel size) and also an Islabikes Luath 26. He's seen a Dawes Espoir 3000 (heavy) and a Scatto JCross (OK-ish and local).

Budget is around £500, and he's contributing some from his spare Decathlon once a new fork is sorted plus a bit extra. Our preference is the Felt F95 Junior at the moment.

Any thoughts?

 

[DCLane]

An update: we've ordered a 2014 Felt F95 Junior that's available for £438 (£150 off retail). It's a bit big for him but will be an early Christmas present. Ordered online; I only hope now that it is a) in stock and b) arrives.

The Worx only has 9 gears (single front ring) and the Hoy, whilst nice, was probably not worth £160 more for the same componentry. The Felt is the only one with a carbon front fork as well.