sboyle

Hello,
My 12-year old son is joining a mountain bike team. He loves to ride and is excited about joining the team. He needs a new bike and our local shop has 2 different bikes that we are considering. The first is the Jamis Trail X Helix A1 (approx. $550). The second is the Salsa Timberjack NX Eagle (approx. $1600). I don't know anything about bikes and wonder if folks here could offer some advice. The Salsa bike has been rented out a few times so the shop owner would give me a discount and sell it for $1,000. That still seems like a ton of money for a bike for a 12-year old. The shop owner says that the Salsa bike is a better quality/more durable bike that would last longer (assuming my son loves the team and wants to keep it up -- I think he will). He also said that the Salsa bike will retain its value better than the Jamis if we want to sell it down the road. My son took the Salsa bike for a ride and is in love with it. I am a stay at home mom so $1,000 is a lot for our family. But, I wonder if we would spend more in the long run by possibly needing to upgrade sooner if we buy the less expensive bike. Does anybody have knowledge about these bikes that they are willing to share? Thank you very much!!!

Cyclist0108

I just went through something similar with my 16 year old, who just joined a x-country team at the high school. The HUGE difference is my kid is done growing (or nearly so), so the risk of out-growing the bike is minimal, whereas most 12 year olds haven't started their growth spurt yet.

My suggestion is not to get either bike. Instead, I would find a good used cross-country 10 or 11-speed bike with a nice robust Shimano drive train. (The NX (and GX) eagle, in my experience, are expensive and fragile. I have two dead eagle derailleurs on my workbench at home.)

Another option is to find a bike that is two or three model years old, but still new stock. That is what we did for his XC bike (we got a $4K bike for $2K, so there are deals to be had).

CodyDog

Looking at the two bikes, there is a lot of differences between the two. That explains such a price difference. Components, cable routing, Dropper post are some of the few differences between the bikes. I believe the Salsa would hold up better and longer. The old adage..."You get what you pay for". With that being said, a 12 year is most likely going to outgrow the bike at some point if it is properly fitted for him now. That may be sooner than later. The nicer of the two will most likely be easier to sell when your son grows out of it.

As far as the investment in the bike, there are a lot of more expensive sports to get a young man involved in.

I would also check Craiglist and Facebook local market on mountain bike his size.

prj71

Definitely go with the Salsa. If he outgrows it in the near future you will have a much easier time selling it and recouping some of the money vs. trying to sell the Jamis bike.

Happy Feet

You may want to ask what other parents of kids on the team do. It's a bit like hockey where you buy equipment and in a season need to buy a larger size. In hockey there are often stores that have trade in deals. Maybe someone on the team has a bike they have outgrown. At 12 you might expect 1 year out of that bike size wise.

It's a fine line between quality, cost and needs. At 12, and just starting, does he need the Salsa level for the first year? At his skill level will he get the value out of it before he outgrows it? People with no financial concern will always say buy the best but as a parent of three I understand the need to prioritize spending. No matter what you do you will be buying another bike in a year or two.

As far as resale, don't get your hopes up. He's going to abuse it if he's on a team learning, and the Salsa, after only a few rentals, is already 600 off 1600.

Darth Lefty 

I have a Timberjack. It's solid quality, but it's a trail bike, not a cross country racing bike. XC racing bikes will have shorter travel, narrower handlebars, narrower and lighter casing / harder compound tires with smaller lugs, more gears. For example look at Trek Roscoe and X-Caliber. They are the same frame. The Roscoe is built much like the Timberjack with 3" tires and 1x gears that sacrifice the high end ratios, and the X-Caliber is built more XC with 2" tires and 2x gears with a higher upper range. Salsa don't really have a bike in this category but lots of other companies do. Specialized Rockhopper is another.

I guess how serious does he want to be about racing? And how much more is he gonna grow? Because if it's not that serious, and it still fits, the Salsa is a terrific bike. You can do anything with it for years and trust it. The frame has some special features that make it really adaptable and tolerant of fads in new parts and upgrades. But if he outgrows it in two years that's not a good deal, and if he really gets into it and wants to win, he's going to want something sharper.

The Jamis is not really in the same league.

Racing of any kind is a money pit, and bikes are not the worst of it by far. When I was a kid I raced R/C cars and I'd be embarrassed to tell you how much I spent on that. (I did it again in my 20's and that was even more embarrassing.) I don't know how much money you give him or whether he earns any some other way, but invite him to make more / earn more if you're going to be buying him stuff in excess of what you normally would, and thank your lucky stars he's not into go karts.

schiavonec

I echo others advice to check out CL, FB Marketpkace, etc. I just picked up and older GF sugar 3 dual suspension for a good price for my 12 yr old. It needs some love, but runs fine, and I will upgrade parts as applicable. It is 26", which IMO, is sized much better for him. 27.5" are way out of proportion for most 12 yr olds. 29ers are not reasonable. If he was on a team, I would proactively start replacing parts.

Fen

My two joined a team two years ago at ages 12 and 14. I used the league discount and bought them $800 bikes (which became $600 bikes). I knew they would not keep these bikes forever, so didn’t want to spend a ton. The 12 year old has really taken to it. She also outgrew her bike (skills and size) first. At 14 she might be done growing. She just got a bike that cost 3x the original bike. She might upgrade again if she sticks with it. The older kid has also outgrown his bike. He enjoys the team, but is not as into it as his sister. Only really rides for fun and does not compete. He’ll probably get a comparable to his first, especially since at 16 he’s just started his growing and I’ll probably need to buy another one. As for resale of the first bikes.... beginning riders and teenagers not taking extremely good care of them means they are pretty beaten up.

Howard70

I’d check with the team’s coach and see what he says about the type of riding he has the members do for training and what the races are like and ask her/him what she/he thinks of the two bikes. Otherwise I’d get the Salsa, but I’m partial to Salsas.

Howard

jim_pridx

I'd be interested to know what the OP ended up buying for her son. There's a lot of good advice here, and having raised three kids myself, I totally get it!

Phil_gretz

I just picked up a 2008 Specialized Epic FSR for $185, but it'll need a lot of work. With rear shock rebuild, chain, rear tire, cables, cassette, derailleur pulleys and pedals, I'll get it just in under $300 complete. Rocking race bike for a starter, and 26" wheels. You have to search to find these deals.

bikeme

I help coach a NICA mtb team and have a now, 15 year old daughter who started racing as a middle schooler. Kids outgrow bikes quickly. I finally bought the last bike I need for her in late '17 (an '18 model) as her growth slowed. Prior to that, she was on quality used bikes or new bikes we got special deals on (she races for a shop team). I'd rather have a student-athlete on a used higher-end bike rather than a new entry-level one. You'll get better shifting, braking, and better bike feel with a used yet mechanically sound, higher-end bike. This build riding confidence faster. NICA race courses are fairly tame and most kids ride hardtail bikes (front suspension only). Full-suspension is really not required and adds weight. As mentioned by others, talk with your child's coach on his/her recommendations. We recycle bikes through our team at a good price as kids outgrow them--you might be able to find this happening locally. On a related note, youth mountain biking is a wonderful sport and kids growth both in fitness and off-bike confidence. NICA's mission is to build strong minds, bodies, character, and communities through cycling.