Good bikes for an 11 year old

[AndyCh]

Hi,
My son is 11 in a few weeks and he would like/needs a new bike, as his old. He doesn't ride that much and will probably do a mix of road/path and park riding, so a hybrid is probably best best. I did try him on some drop bars, but he wasn't keen, and will end up on park tracks a bit anyway.

I've been looking for kid specific bikes, but wonder if small adult bike is the way to go. He's average height for his age.

Any recommendations? He had a go on a 15" Trek 7.2 and quite liked that, and size was ok, with a bit of growing room.

Seemed easier when I was a kid, Raleigh Grifter or Arena or a BMX!

 

[DCLane]

An XS adults bike - my 12 y.o.'s short for his age but he rides an XS mountain bike / cross bike / etc.

An alternative would be a ladies size frame for the moment.

Or if I was being cheeky, which I'm not, : https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/o...s-42cm-for-age-8-12-carbon-frame-700c.214902/

 

[Milkfloat]

If you can get him onto a 26" wheeled XS adult bike then you are likely to pay less and get better components than an equivalent kids bike. Unfortunately my daughter (9 at the time) was just a tiny bit too small, so we went for a cheap 24" kids bike as a stopover. She is now ready for a 26" bike come her birthday.

 

[kingrollo]

Id go MTB - you then have the freedom to do anything.
As others have said an XS frame with 26 " wheels is way to go. I got my lad a decathlon at that ago. been great.

 

[keithmac]

My 10 year old lad had just outgrown his Merida MTB, to be fair it's done him proud and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

He was in Go Outdoors and was quite taken buy a Kona, can't remember the model off hand.

Think MTB is the best all rounder at that age, road bike wouldn't last him 5 minutes bouncing up and down kerbs etc..

Will have to try him on an adult xs bike to see how he fits, seems anything with "child" in the description is instantly more expensive!.

 

[screenman]

My son paid 400 quid for his son's Isla bike sit 4 years ago, it has done a lot of miles and been very well used even raced a couple of cross seasons, it has just sold on EBay for 275 quid.

Just found it ££££££. Wondered where it was hiding.

 

[cosmicbike]

My lad out grew his MX24, and I hunted around a bit on the used market, but ended up getting him a Wiggle Verenti Mesh 29er in the smallest frame. Loads of growing room, and he handled it well around Swinley blue to not too much bike either. Reasonable spec for £300 odd

 

[Cycleops]

An MTB is a good choice. He's still got plenty of growing to do so why not get a used example as he's likely to grow out of it . As @keithmac says it'll stand a bit of abuse. There are loads on ebay, Gumtree, Preloved etc and many have been lightly used having been bought on a whim and chucked in a shed. These are the ones to go for and will still provide plenty of service.
I recently bought a used Claude Butler MTB here in a small frame size and once overhauled will provide a decent mount for my nine year old.

 

[Mrs M]

Kona Fire Mountain seems a good bike.
I tried one out a while back but it was too small for me, I'm 5'2"
Think size was xs.
Might suite the wee chap.

 

[bozmandb9]

I have sons of 11 and 14, the 14 year old is a keen road cyclist, and has been since 11, so has a road bike. The 11 year old has a small mens mountain bike, which he uses a little, though his big brother uses it a lot more (he cross trains on MTB).

I'd be tempted to either go for a road bike, or an MTB, rather than a hybrid. I'm no longer convinced that a hybrid offers that much more flexibility.