Kids Mountain Bikes

Hi,

Looking For Some Help Regarding A New Bike For My Son. He Is 7 Years Old And Has Out Grown His 20" Wheel Bike Already. He Has Just Started Racing X-country This Year And Is Doing Quite Well But Gets Fed Up Having So Few Gears To Help Him Up Hills Etc. And Everyone Else Having Trick Bikes, Such As Specalized. As Complete Newcommers To The Sport Can Anyone Advise Of What Or What Not To Buy And Should We Avoid Second Hand If Something Became Available.
He Needs A 24" Wheel Bike Or A 13" Or 14" Frame I Am Told. Does This Sound Correct For The Next Stage.

Cheers.

size wise he'd want a 24" wheel with a 12" frame. Trek do a bike called the 220 its pretty cool and Richie just got one for his daughter and she seems pretty chuffed with it. It has the smaller than normal 12" frame as most 24" bikes have a 14" frame. Merida have some nice kids 24" wheels. Have a look at these http://www2.merida-bikes.com/en_INT/Bikes.Detail.135
http://www2.merida-bikes.com/en_INT/Bikes.Detail.133

The only other viable option is specialized. I tried getting a scott scale jr, but the price was silly, and with no scott dealer here, I had to pay shipping too.
My 7 year old has a specialized hotrock 24". expensive new, but I got one secondhand. Keep an eye out for one, or contact one of the Banbrige parents, as they seem to have thousands. Most are well cared for, so secondhand shouldn't be a problem. use common sense here.

What's with all the capital letters...that must have taken an age to type! hahahaha

Get your son to show you how the keyboard works

Try Mike Jordon in cycleways in Tallaghfifornia.
I got a super dooper deal from him on a little girls Specialized hotrock. Its a great proper little mountian bike.

Thanks everyone,
Still not sure what to go for but have narrowed it down conciderably to Trek, Merida or Specialized, if I can get one at the right money.
I was offered a Coyote 24" with all the parts changed to Shimano, quick shifters and twin discs for £265.00 brand new. Does that sound reasonable? I have read somewhere that they are not very reliable!
Mike.
PS Just for Stan, caps lock is off this time, my 4 year old helped me!

This crowd do a good range of kids bike - don't know if anyone here stocks them though:

http://www.islabikes.com

I'll have the Specialized out at the BLAST on Sunday, if you want to let him have a spin on it...

Thanks for the offer Fat Fecker,
We are racing at Dunmore on Saturday in the Ulster Championship so we are not sure about Sundays Blast yet. How experienced would our kiddo have to be?
Mike

Hard to know really.. I'd like to think my lads can ride above average, and they should find it do-able. I'm sure you can run beside him down the course. At EPIC the idea is to encourage them, not frighten/intimidate them. We had a big group out last weekend, and they all did what was thrown at them. It should be a fun day out.

O.K. we'll see how Saturday goes at Dunmore mountain in the Ulster Championship and maybe take a charge down on Sunday morning. If not we are hoping to be at the next kids day.