I am considering buying a MTB for my 12 year old son.
I am trying to stay on a tight budget while still getting something that is trail worthy.
One bike that really seems good to me is the Fuji Bighorn 1.5, it isn’t excetely a bike that you will see on the trail much but it seems to be a very well spec’d bike, really nothing to upgrade, has a dropper, tubless tires, name brand cockpit and at the current sale price $1250, it is a nice buy.
https://www.fujibikes.com/products/bighorn-29-13-22?srsltid=AfmBOor_3yAksqS_JHdvL0h-Fb_rzmT4qMRcu16-QgMaA5wkDbPl1Mbx
The other one that piqued my interest in the Scott Spark 960, it’s obvously a FS, and the spec is a bit nicer a shop near me has it on sale for $1500, but would a kid really need a full squish? and would all the extra complexity be a hindrance down the road?
https://www.scott-sports.com/us/en/product/scott-spark-960-bike-black
Looking for some hive insight here.
A few questions. Where do you live and what type of riding do you expect to be doing? What is his current skill level? Will this be your son’s only bike?
My initial thoughts are that a good hard tail will be more versatile and a good platform for skill building. The Spark seems to be a very capable bike though.
I live in the NYC area. So we have access to fast flowy trails out on Long Island and techy rocky trails out in NJ or just north of us.
I don’t know his skill level yet because the only ride he has done so far was last week at a demo on LI, but he had allot of fun there and picked it up pretty fast, we ended up doing 11 miles and he wanted to ride more but we just ran out of time.
He already has a “road” bike so this would be in addition to that, unless we sell his road bike.
I’d say get him started with the hard tail. Growth will probably limit use to just a couple seasons then you can think about next steps.
Don’t sell the road bike (unless he’s outgrown it)! That said road riding (at least in my area) is more uncomfortable than it was 10 years ago. Not sure I’d do some of the routes my son and I used to today.
+1 on a hard tail. At a given price you can get a much better spec’d hard tail, and it will probably result in them being a better rider. I feel like starting off on a FS bike just gets kids plowing over stuff, whereas with a hard tail you’re forced to be more deliberate with line choices, which will pay off in the long run.
I just went through a similar thing with my son and we live in the same area as you. I really wanted to go FS for him but given he rides around town as well I went with a used 29” hardtail. It took him a minute to feel comfortable on it but now he’s hitting jumps etc. with no worry.
there are some good deals on new bikes as well. Transition has a hardtail that was on sale. Cannondale also. I’ve also heard good things about Marin. either way I’d make sure it’s a “real” fork and maybe get a dropper.
enjoy the time riding together!