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Helping out a friend, his son is part of an MTB group and the coach has suggested he needs a better bike.
I was a bit annoyed to hear that 11 year old kids are now being 'coached' that they need full suspension and dropper posts but I think to some extent it's just about keeping up with the rest of the group who are apparently all on £1k+ bikes 🙄
Anyway, they're looking at a Cube Stereo HPA 160, a Banshee Rune Mk2 or an Orange Five, all circa 9 years old.
I'm inclined to dismiss the Orange as it 'only' has 100mm Fox Floats. Assuming it's 125mm rear suspension it sounds a bit imbalanced, especially for a kid learning to jump etc.
I had very dim recollections of Banshee bikes having issues with bearing or bushing wear? Or was it that bushings were difficult to replace?
Cube are a bit of an unknown quantity to me, and it has Manitou front and rear shocks which bothers me as I don't know anything about durability or serviceability? The others have Fox or Rockshox which could hopefully be serviced in most places if spares still available.
Any recommendations?
Ta
I have a Banshee (spitfire) which i totally rate mine is the V3 however so a slightly different design, i haven't replaced any bushings etc as yet, but i do know Banshee sell spares kits of bearings and fittings in a little bundle, and they are pretty much the same across their bikes, generationally i think.
And Manitou,. i swear by, although its a bit trickier to find UK suppliers for Manitou stuff i haven't had any issues keeping my Manitou forks serviced (DIY) over the past few years
What’s the budget and how tall is said 11 year old?
Pay close attention to seat tube heights. Cube used to be quite tall (Germans eh?) and limiting.
Orange Five would have been 140mm anytime after the mid-noughties. Deffo don't buy one that someone's chucked a 100mm fork on.
But an Orange could be a great used buy for reasons of simplicity, geometry and generally being nice to ride.
Edit: Are Banshees a bit hefty? Maybe an issue for a kid?
his son is part of an MTB group and the coach has suggested he needs a better bike.
I was a bit annoyed to hear that 11 year old kids are now being ‘coached’ that they need full suspension and dropper posts but I think to some extent it’s just about keeping up with the rest of the group who are apparently all on £1k+ bikes 🙄
That's a bit poor but equally I can believe it. Some kids at the local junior club I help at have fancier bikes than me but they're a minority. Most are on hardtails in the £400-700 region: Vitus Nucleus 24/26, etc being very common. I admit, it'd be great if every kid had a dropper post from a coaching perspective but it's not essential.
Got to go on height rather than age. My 11 yr old is 157cm and on the taller end of height for a girl of her age. About to swap from a Nucleus 26 to a small Ragley Marley 27.5. I was briefly tempted by FS for her but really isn't essential for the group she rides with.
What type of stuff is he riding? On older bikes especially with what is pretty old suspension components it may be tricky to get the sag, rebound & compression set correctly for someone who is likely to be around the 40kg mark. Newer stuff has, as we know, better internals and getting the sag right is easier.
Another thing is the bikes listed aren't going to be light, especially a 160mm Cube and will hinder him more than anything, granted if he's riding around on some BSO with crappy forks I'd be inclined to agree that a "better" bike is required, but it's all relative. If it's XC biased take a look at national level U14 & U16 kids and the vast majority are on hard tails as it does teach them better skills w.r.t descending and also climbing - perhaps something like one of those Vitus or Nukeproof type trail HT's could be better?
My 11yr old (151cm / 42kg) is on a Scott Scale 950 (29er) with 100mm forks and a dropper and he'll happily chuck it off anything he's ridden, think Red routes, natural stuff round the Peaks, Wales and local stuff.
Some good points
I don't think Banshee are hefty bikes, as such, famous for some of the best aluminium frames out there. My Spitfire comes in at just over 15kg without any particular weight saving efforts, all trail level stuff.
While the nipper's Orbea MX 27.5 hard tail built with lightish forks and wheels was still breaking 13kg
Re rider weight, Manitou do offer guides for shimming to suit lighter riders if required
All good stuff, thanks guys. I'm more reassured about the Banshee now which at least comes with Rockshox equipment so hopefully better/easier serviceability.
I'll check re: the boys weight and size. He is on a sort of dirt jump-ish hardtail which is slightly better than a BSO but not by much. The forks in particular are terrible. I'll ask his dad if he can weigh the current bike just to give them an idea of how different the new bike might feel. Either way, I don't think he'll notice if the suspension can't be set up 'perfectly' as it will be a massive step up from what he's used to I think.
I def. think he's more into bike park type stuff (and has a half-pipe in the back garden!) so probably better with bikes of this ilk than an XC hardtail.
With Cube it would very much depend on the model year and size. Their HPA frames are usually pretty light compared to the majority and tend to be better in the smaller sizes up to medium, occasionally large depending on the model and year.
I would take a Manitou shock over an RS Monarch any day.
Some of the older Banshee's were prone to cracking at the welds, even though the frames looked solidly built and were pretty hefty!
Vitus of some sort as mentioned above or if they are tall enough a Jamis Dakar or Faultine from Go Outdoors, Ultimate Outdoors, or whichever of that lot has the best deals going. I'd avoid a decade old bike for wear and tear faff and spares reasons.
As above, a lot depends on his size. I recently got the Canyon Neuron Young Hero for my daughter who is 10, 140cm and 40kg. It’s 27.5 and although it looks like a fairly big bike, it’s a great fit with spot on dimensions. There are lots of similar bikes that would be far too big for her, so he needs to either try before buying or get your tape measures out! <br /><br />
We’ve had several bikes with Manitou shocks and forks, they’ve been amazing for lighter riders 🙂
OK thanks guys, needle perhaps swinging back around in favour of the Cube although I've asked his dad exactly what he's riding on it and sounds worryingly like 160mm is overkill after all (basically just thrashing around in the woods and not necessarily gravity assisted).
yer could be, my 13 year olds bike is 120 both ends and it seems hugely overkill for almost anything
maybe a more premium hardtail would be more suitable?
Thinking about this a bike from 2013/2014 is pretty old.
This comes back to what’s the budget and what size he is.
I think a few years old Calibre Bossnut or Vitus Escarpe or something along those lines would be a better buy. More modern geometry / sizing has got better in terms of longer reach and shorter seat tubes etc. it might only last him a year or 2 if he’s growing fast so something not too expensive.
Just doing a search on Pinkbike for bikes £500-£1500 in xs or s frame sizes with min 130mm travel and max 150mm travel is on the following link:
The 2018 small remedy for £1095, Spec Stumpjumper for £1200 look very decent.
For a bit cheaper the Marin Hawk Hill in XS for £650 is a decent option.
Somewhere in between the 2 x Giant Trances could be worth a look.
If you look on eBay there are quite a few calibre Bossnuts going around the £500-£600 mark which would be ok buys.