Our kid has just outgrown his 24" Specialized Riprock and I was wondering if anyone knew of a solid alternative in 27.5" flavour.
The Riprock that he had hit the sweet spot of bikes for this age, fully rigid, light enough, 1x drivetrain, disc brakes, knobbly tyres, modern geo and easy to maintain.
I've been looking and all I can find are XS versions of Trek Marlin, Specialized Rockhopper, etc. Which are all fine but we don't really need or want suspension (at this price bracket what's the point, aren't they all just heavy steel that don't really work that well?) or a 3x drive train.
Seems like bike manufacturers are missing a trick here.
A simple, no nonsense, rigid MTB for young people.
In an ideal world I'd build him up an XS Surly Krampus/Karate Monkey but it'll end up costing a fortune!
Any recommendations or bikes i've missed?
My advice would be to scan the local classifieds for something like a Vitus Nucleus 27.
the Voodoo bikes are worth looking at, the braag is well specced and the fork is semi decent
Forks are cheap at the moment. If you can get a bike that looks decent otherwise then a set of rebas would be both significantly lighter and more functional than most stock forks. I'd expect to be able to buy a set for under £150 in good condition.
2nd hand 26" may be the way forward. Depends on budget and kid's actual size, as they may grow out of something "kids" bike size very quickly.
There are some great Jr bikes around - Giant Trance, YT, if you can pick one up 2nd hand.
I got my tall 11-year old a Small Rocky Mountain 29er FS brand new at a good price on sale. 1x11.
HT on a budget brand new i'd look at Marin - pretty sure they still do a 27.5" (although I wouldn't rule out 29")
Not mine so don't know if it's any good but there's an XS 26" BFE in the classifieds which looks a bargain.
My medium one is great
Reeksy how is your son getting on with 29er wheels ? I'm currently looking for a small adult bike for my 11 soon to be 12 year old but had only been looking for 27.5 . Wasn't sure if 29 would make the thing a bit harder to handle and get round corners .
He's a bit over 5" and he's fine. He's riding with a coaching crew and loves rock gardens and jumps mainly.
He won't let me cut the handlebars down from full length (God knows why). 
My niece (just 11) had a brilliant Islabike, then - for reasons that remain a mystery - the next bike they got her was pretty terrible but thankfully she's outgrown that and they bought her an XS Trek Roscoe, ex-hire bike.
OK it's heavy. But it's geared super low (and 1x) it's got massive, super-soft grippy tyres and good hydraulic disc brakes. Air forks so they're set really soft too.
It's made such a difference to her riding. The terrible bike prior to that with its crap cable rim brakes, multiple chainrings and cheap tyres really set her back, she had no confidence riding it and the gears were confusing. This one she's still getting the hang of it but she (and the bike) will plough through most stuff.
Short answer - have a look at any ex-hire bikes from the likes of Dalby, Sherwood Pines, Cannock etc, they're usually pretty decent.
1x, disc brakes and the softest compound tyres you can find. Most MTBs will come with suspension so just try and get air forks and drop the pressure right down otherwise yes, they'll be useless as forks.
Good point about the air forks. There's some good Jr designed suspension, but most offerings don't work well on weights under ~50kg. I've found if they've got enough air in to reach full extension there's barely any sag when they put their weight on the bike.
In the spirit of recommending what you've got, my middle and youngest are about or just below 150cm.
Middle one is on a Giant Anthem size small which has RS Recon I had kicking about. Had them serviced by tft and low friction wipers fitted. I'm really impressed by how much they move compared to her old sids.
It's had appropriate cranks fitted and a dropper.
Middle one is on a Marin Rift Zone size xs (which was hard to locate!). Again, some customisation has occurred with it, but all from my spares pile as they have grown into adult sized bikes.
Calibre Line T2 27 or get the Rake 27 which is cheaper again. Go Outdoors usually have them in stock to sit on. Replace anything you don’t like spec-wise from your parts bin.
I appreciate it only fulfils one of your criteria OP ( cheapness) but if you want a size small Specialized Stumpjumper carbon full suss with Fox, XO SLX brakes etc then my missus needs to get rid of hers.
By far the lightest adults full suss you'll find for three hundred quid.
(Manc)
Whyte used to do some great kids bikes - my eldest had a Whyte 405 that he loved and was good for everything from messing about in the street to reds/blacks at Hamsterley and Whinlatter. It looks like they don't offer much in the way of kids MTBs now, but there are still some good second hand bargains.
Wasn't sure if 29 would make the thing a bit harder to handle and get round corners
I was unsure whether my eldest (11 at the time) would suit larger wheel sizes so we tried a Status 140 (S2) at the LBS - well worth it as it has turned out to be great.
He didn't want the bars cutting either... but has now changed his mind!
