quade

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 😁

duplicate

duplicate

duplicate

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

The Scott has great geometry for a 20" Avoid suspension fork, lighties are not heavy enough.... Even 24" is questionable for a front shock We used Isla bikes for 20", but super rare here, there are other brands like frog etc, but not sure what is made locally that is light weight enough I saw a nice grey/silver one at bloomendal bike park, apparently made/available locally, can't remember the name but someone might be able to comment. rim brakes are perfectly acceptable, just make sure the levers and pedals etc are not adult sized components slapped on a tiny frame

Bikehub owners need to make a living as well, it's a small price to pay for service, convenience and piece of mind Let's keep supporting them where possible Running the system isn't free & Facebook is full of scammers

As a 2nd hand buyer (too many kids) I often have the opposite thoughts Why do people think their bikes are worth more than they are? In the car world, you loose double digit percentage as soon as you drive it off the courtyard As previously mentioned new bikes are. 1. Over priced compared to other countries 2. Loose lots of value as soon as you ride it once 3. Too much stock,.and massive reductions are impacting 2nd hand market My brother owns a massive shop in Europe, at the start of the season he dropped his usually millions of euros on stock, but by the end of the season the bike companies were selling the bikes for trade cost at such a low cost, that they appeared in the show rooms for less than he bought at trade cost, so has had to make a loss last year just to clear stock COVID really screwed up the bike market and it's still not fully recovered For 2nd hand bikes, it's a massive risk, I've been stung where a new chain was beyond 50% warn and ended up needing a drive chain replacement, and poorly maintained shocks needed new stanchions etc ..... 2nd hand bikes are a big risk and most people don't know what they are looking for, that coupled with older tech etc gives you some of the reasons why. Moving forward, I don't see huge jumps in geometry etc, so maybe we are now in a similar space where we once were with smartphones, and small increments on technology means diminishing returns on upgrade costs My 10 Year old Scott genius is basically todays Scott spark ultimate with shock travel, but not worth buying a new one quite yet. Perhaps those that can afford to change their bike every 1-2 years probably don't care about the drop, because when factoring in the cost of new components, bearings, wear items etc Vs new bike, it's less painful?

220 minus your age is a guide, and in my experience not a good benchmark My 60 year old friend comfortably chats up hill at 175bpm My 46year old heart rate can't maintain that sort of comfortable conversation at 160bpm Don't stress, we are all different

I was holding off posting anything until it was announced He was from Europe not S.A. I wont mention names as its not my place, my thoughts are with his family

I have heard a crazy story It's from a reliable source but time will tell if it's true ....I hope it's not Clearly they are in damage limitation mode, and they are not being fully transparent so the rumours are rampant. An Austrian website has removed the news article, so they are clearly monitoring and engaging. lets hope its not because the truth is a problem. I wish the guys in ICU a speedy recovery

From a rider who has a partner is in hosptial: Confirmed: (Paarl Mediclinic) - 3x patients on ventilators in ICU, 1 with heart damage. From other sources that I cannot 100% validate yet. UNCONFIRMED: -------------------- rumours of 3 dead and 100+ required hospital treatment. Temperatures were 50C+ --------------------

Pretty sure it's an international brand with international support .... Might be a bit harder, but worth the punt https://gizmodo.com/the-garmin-epix-gen-2-is-almost-500-off-a-premium-smartwatch-without-the-premium-price-on-amazon-2000573825

Amazon UK have the Epix premium Gen2 for £360 at present....crazy deal I just got one and love it ....If you can find a tourist coming

1 event .....then do it for charity Raise money from friends and family Make it clear part of it is for entry and remainder is for charity Set a target you need to get to as a minimum Make the charity something personal that pulls heart strings and is local .....and one you believe in Go large on exposure, chatGPT it to get ideas Good luck