Bike help

[sx_turbo]

Ok longish story here

Need to get my boy a new bike, he seems to out grow them quicker than his friends.

So bit of background story, he started with a balance bike, was great at it and was time to upgrade to pedals, thought I'd get away with a cheap used bike from Facebook.

Turned out to be a terrible idea it was heavy, awful to steer, terrible brakes, my son hated it, soo much he regressed and wouldn't get on a bike or balance bike for ages

Bought him a black mountain balance bike that can be upgraded to pedals, completely different story, couldn't get him off it.

So bout him a Cannondale 2 years ago, same story loves it, really nice bike, build quality is great.

I learnt my lesson about buying cheap.

Unfortunately he's outgrown the Cannondale, but I'm kinda tired paying mega bucks for bikes
Although he's only 8 he's the right size for an xs 27.5 adult bike (he's in age 11-12 clothes) and has really tall legs

I thought about getting 2nd hand, but I can't seem to find anything remotely close without travelling long distances.

So with budget in mind I'm looking at Carrera bikes from Halfords, What's your thoughts?

Any other recommendations of bikes I should be looking at to keep the costs down?

He really wants an orange bike and has his heart set on that colour but any bike seems to be quite difficult to find in that colour.

Max budget of £300

 

[sx_turbo]

Went round lots of cycle shops today.

Ended up in my old haunt canvey island where there's a really good independent shop.

Got a really good deal on a Scott bike, broke the budget a bit to £350 but in terms of bike quality and the fact Scott are trying to clear their inventory of the "entry level" bikes due to going through a rebrand.

 

[glitch]

Didn't see your original post, sx, but Scott have some excellent kids bikes and they really do design them properly for the smaller rider. Commencal are also very dialled with their geometry and fit for kids.

Wouldn't say that Carrera/Halfords are bad, but you get what you pay for and speaking from experience of friends with little riders it can be worth spending a little more on a quality bike that you'll recoup some of your outlay on when the time comes to move up to a bigger frame.

 

[UTmaniac]

Hopefully your Scott deal came with hydraulic brakes, something I didn't spot sub £300 even with 10% discount from having British Cycling membership or similar, in their current sale.

Best I could see were Carrera moutain bikes with mechanical disc brakes, which could be upgraded to hydraulic with birthday/xmas money etc.

 

[sx_turbo]

Hopefully your Scott deal came with hydraulic brakes, something I didn't spot sub £300 even with 10% discount from having British Cycling membership or similar, in their current sale.

Best I could see were Carrera moutain bikes with mechanical disc brakes, which could be upgraded to hydraulic with birthday/xmas money etc.

Yeah got the hydraulic brakes on this one, the other one they had didn't and was a slightly bigger frame was a small rather than extra small but it was just that bit big and he didn't have confidence in riding it.

Paying the extra money was definitely worth it, he's been begging to take it out every day since, he really enjoys riding it and seems really settled on it.

Just need to build his confidence to attack some down hills

 

[sx_turbo]

Didn't see your original post, sx, but Scott have some excellent kids bikes and they really do design them properly for the smaller rider. Commencal are also very dialled with their geometry and fit for kids.

Wouldn't say that Carrera/Halfords are bad, but you get what you pay for and speaking from experience of friends with little riders it can be worth spending a little more on a quality bike that you'll recoup some of your outlay on when the time comes to move up to a bigger frame.

Having walked round Halfords and then attempt to serve us, decided they would be a last resort. Don't know what it is with shops hiring people who couldn't be less interested.

Evans was good and helpful even though they are very hamstrung with what they can get hold of since being taken over by sports direct.

Cycle king was also good, but again seemed unable to purchase the size bike we needed, they had a GT bike in stock that was the right size but was £700 lol, naturally my boy said that's the one he wanted but was no way I couldn't warrant that, I could if it was his main hobby and he done it as a sport type thing, but not as something he'll ride mostly in the summer

 

[bastic]

have you tried Decathlon ? bigger ones have a large variety of bikes
Triban bikes are really good value for money