Recommendation for 10-14 year-old kids bike.

[XXtwindad]

My daughters have outgrown their Co-op REV CTY bikes: https://www.rei.com/product/143202/c...ough-kids-bike

I’m looking for a bike that will be good through early teen years and capable of going on dirt as well. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thx!

[p nut]

I just bought my 14 year old daughter (~5’ 4”) a 2016 Trek 7.2. Fast enough on MUP’s, upright enough to be very comfortable, 36-38mm tire clearance means dirt roads aren’t an issue.

Something similar would be my recommendation.

[tellyho]

Craigslist 26er of some sort.

[chrismercurio]

I would normally recommend Isla bikes but a search revealed that they just went out of business.

[EB]

Cheap XC hardtail or dirt jumper is your best bet. They can go pretty much everywhere a kid wants to go and it's easy for them to get comfortable.

[Likes2ridefar]

Daughter loves her woom. It is lightweight and comes with quality components. They have few models that work for off road but hers is the woom 5 which came with trail worthy schwalbe tires great for smoother gravel and dirt.

[robt57]

Like shoes, kids outgrow them in a season at this age.

[dmitrik4]

My 12yo son has a Woom 5 Off (24” rigid fork MTB). It replaced a 20” Specialized Hardrock, and is a massively better bike (as well as being >5lbs lighter). He is now scraping 5’ tall so is almost ready for a larger frame. But it’s a great bike for kids.

[trener1]

Plus one on the woom.

[Baron Blubba]

Admittedly a bit biased, but check out the Revere Lynx 27.5 or Sonic 27.5 . They are intended for riders 5'1" - 5'5". If those are too big, there are also 26" wheeled versions for 4'7" - 5'1".
If anything looks good, I'd be happy to offer 30% off. Same goes for anyone with an active account and a handful of posts on Paceline.

[exapkib]

When our oldest hit that stage I chanced onto a used Soma San Marcos in an appropriate size w/650b wheels. It's been an incredible bike for him over the past three years.

He's almost outgrowing it at this point, but it's given him plenty of miles in the situations you describe--mostly road/bike path miles, daily commuting to school in all kinds of weather, and some limited use on calmer singletrack here in the area.

[leftsidedrive]

I've been happy with the bikes from Woom and I would recommend them for all small people that need a practical bicycle.

[XXtwindad]

Thanks for all the feedback. Much appreciated.

[AG77]

More on the trail end of the spectrum, I’ve been really happy with the Giant Talon 1 for our son. Aluminum hard tail, Shimano drivetrain. 27.5 wheels on size small.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/talon-1-2022

[jcs7282]

For "real" kiddo-sized MTBs, check out Trailcraft and/or Prevelo.

My boys had/have 20" and 24" Prevelos and my oldest (11) is on a Trailcraft Maxwell 26 now.

These bikes are overkill for just riding around the neighborhood, but if you really go mountain biking as a family as we do, they're worth it (IMO). And resale value is pretty good in my experience.