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Speedaf have in my experience been a lot more expensive But I've only had Buffalo with Temu Either way, it's a gamble on customs, but it does generally work

Yes, I've had 2 items arrived this week from AliExpress Customs on small items is stupidly high Its not unusual to pay 100% duty on lower value items No visibility on what they charge Temu has been a lot cheaper on customs in my experience

We were also at trail seeker, and sounds like we are in a similar boat. If I were in your shoes I would be looking for a XS or S Carbon frame hardtail, older quick release wheel are fine (ideally carbon or lightweight aluminium) with XT or better components....that is good starting block, and the bike wont disadvantage him against the other riders at that XCO level It will be cheaper this way as it won't last him long if he grows fast, our kids are last 2 years before jumping to bigger sizes at that age, frame swaps are good, but cheaper to buy a whole new 2nd bike sometimes.

One thing I forgot to mention which is often overlooked is crank length for the kids There is a big movement among adults moving to shorter cranks The 175mm cranks are just too long for kids, getting anything below 170mm is super hard If you go on Temu or aliexpress you will find GOLDIX cranks which a massive range of sizes for kids (110mm to 165mm) They are among the lighest i've found for sub 165mm budget cranks, I would point you to the 150mm - 160mm range for him Certainly not over 165mm! ChatGPT his measurements for a recommendation on crank length, Qfactor and offset for crank based on the bike its going on If you get the the temu one, get the BB as well as I had issues getting my Shimano XT BB to fit nicely with it. The Q FACTOR is acceptable, i'm sure there are better out there, but its not as bad as the adult ones, the chain guard on the chain ring is a nice touch https://www.temu.com/ca/-110-127-140-150-155-160mm-aluminum-alloy-square-crankset-104bcd--upgrade-for-mountain-and-road-bikes-with-derailleur-and-derailleur-hydraulic--mountain-bike-crankse-g-601100282093077.html I've also got a kids bike with these cranks on 165mm https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007240676319.html They are also good and light, but the metal arm wears quickly so stick some clear tape over the crank arm to keep the appearance looking nice if you do Q factor is 145mm. Weight for 165mm crankset is +- 550grams If you have money to burn and can get them, PRAXIS have good options https://praxiscycles.com/product/zane-m30/

I have 4 kids, we do all the schools/XCO races in WC and beyond Over time I've collected the full range from 3-16 years We have a mix of rigid Isla bikes, custom builds to full carbon Orbea OIZ M-LTD I recently transitioned my one son from 24" to a 26" XS.frame Its an Orbea aluminium frame, with lightweight Mavic cross max wheels and a lightweight rockshox 80mm front fork, circa 10.2kg I try and keep all the bikes in the 10kg bracket or below My 2 cent: Older tech still works for the lighties, they don't weigh much and don't fully benefit from boost/30mm rim width etc Size the kid to the wheel size, I also have a Small 29" sworks hardtail at 9kg, which my son fits, but it's too clumsy, the 26" is very sporty and agile for him at his current height I would definitely make sure someone knowledgeable sees him on a 27.5 to see if it's ok. Don't go near full suspension for that age Carbon frame might be a liability unless he is super careful with his bike If you insist on a dropper, then get a 50mm gravel one that is half the weight of a normal one, but I don't think it's necessary yet. I've done 1x12 conversions but kinda regret it on some of the smaller bikes 1x11 or even 1x10 with older tech like XTR, and maybe a goat link on a wider cassette will work if you need the range If he is only doing schools league you don't need 1x12, but will need a good range for XCO as they do occasionally have steepish climbs for the young ones. Hydraulic brakes and not cable disc brakes! Finding a donor bike on here is a good option, then just upgrade what you need Rather go for a bike with older XTR than the latest low end heavy components As mentioned try and keep the bike weight low as possible, and use some fast light tyres like a schwable combo of racing ray and racing Ralph in red (not blue) speed compound running tubeless See you on the start line !

I went down this road and ended up using contact lenses, much more versatile Most good sunglasses have the inserts that you have to clip in, you give these inserts to the optician and they make lenses, I've not tried these but that was my initial plan

Yep agree with that ratings, but the risk here is huge I think a temu helmet would be a gamble, I would rather stick to brands I know from reputable shops locally. The risk is too high in my personal opinion. For other stuff it's fine, but a helmet is a life saving device, and I would not roll the dice on that. I'm in the fence about carbon bars too, I only stick them on the bikes for the kids as I know they won't be hitting them hard..... Dental bill is not worth the weight saving.

NEVER BUY A HELMET from china I saw a YouTube video of a guy stamping on different helmets and the one from china exploded easily Fast forward to 12 mins

The last 3 times I've ordered different things of Ali express, I've got an unreasonable tax bill, with no breakdown or explaining, one was 95% of the product cost Hopefully when Ali sort out their Durban distribution centre (meeting just happened) it will sort out the shipping and tax irregularities

I've had stuff serviced in LBS and by RBC RBC are leagues ahead in what they can do, they have a one ton press that can remove stanchions from the crown, they do shocks all day long, and have helped my revive older forks with a stanchion from their parts bin for EOL forks, they are masters at their craft. Robbie is also a super nice guy and will bend over backwards to help the customer. LBS are fine for the quick stuff, but you can send directly to them as well if you want to save on the middle man. Check their calendar and you can catch them at the big races in their crazy kitted out motorhome workshop, so you won't have extra on delivery cost, but the racers get first priority.

ooh, didn't know they were available here Early rider gets 1st place then!! If money is tight, you can also consider buying a cheaper bike and upgrading as you go I did this for a 24" bike, I bought a new momsem JSL40, then replaced the fork with a lightweight aliexpress airfork (nanlio), 28h stans rims on goldix hubs (copies of DT swiss), and built a super light wheelset, carbon bars and seat post, tubeless etc and I shaved upward of 3KG and it runs at sub 10KG now I can get it down to <9KG if i remove the squared BB and put a goldix 150mm crankset on from temu and put an old 10 speed XTR gears on. Tinkering with kids bike is like thearpy for me 😁

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Yes sprocket bikes! That would be my choice if I didn't have a couple of Isla bikes in the garage waiting for the next kid Isla bikes did sadly go under, I ordered a bunch of spares when they did they announcement, but it's risky if you need something like a crankset which are crazy light and bend easy. I've occasionally seen them pop up on this site for sale, but the sprocket was very close. I changed my Isla bike tyres on arrival to big chunkies, so might be worth doing the same if you get a sprocket