Hi All, my 10 year old son grew out of his 24" Trek that will be passed on to his younger brother, and I'm considering buying an XS size 27.5" MTB. I was looking at Trek Marlin 5 for what it's worth, and it is priced around $500-$600 depending on the year. What would you all recommend for this price range. This is where they start, and component-wise, Marlin and Rockhopper are pretty similar. Are there any other brands that come to mind that may have better components?
I personally ride a carbon Canyon Lux CF 6 Trail and love it. Canyon has only one bike under $2k which is the $700 Grand Canyon 5. Anyways, looking for any ideas and suggestions. Thanks!

What is your son planning on doing? If not mountain biking then something like that bike is a bike that one could ride. I wouldn't use it as a mountain bike as the components aren't really designed for mountain biking, they are designed to hit a price point and really nothing else.

If actually planning to go mountain biking seriously this would be the choice: https://www.marinbikes.com/bikes/202...specifications
It is a really quite decent bike for the price. Air shocks and Deore 11 speed with plenty of actual decent entry level components which will work and last well enough.

If you are looking to spend less look at air forks and 10 speed components and you will generally get something decent.

If you like to do upgrades, I would start here: https://www.marinbikes.com/bikes/202...at-trail-3#buy

Same frame and better components: https://www.marinbikes.com/bikes/202...at-trail-5#buy

The Bobcat Trail 5 bare frame is currently available on ebay for $199 in small and medium. I'm seriously considering a medium for myself.

I'm building a Trek 26" 13" frame MTB for my daughter as she is getting close to being too larger for the 24" bike she currently has.

We've been riding on trails we have here in Dallas area, but looking to go into more technical types of trails. Dallas is pretty flat, but we're fortunate to have a DORBA trail 7 miles away. He definitely doesn't need full suspension, and I was looking to start him at Trek Marlin. Seems that there's a good following of Marin bikes, so now I must check them out. We'll be doing upgrades, but with kids being kids, he does like to be a little rough on his bikes. His younger brother has inherited his 20" Precaliber which needed significant "tuneup" before he was able to ride it . 10-year-old is pretty tall for his age, so we have the seat all the way up on his 24" Precal, and I think he'll benefit from the larger wheel size (27.5") and an XS frame. Thanks for the recommendations above. Now looking at Marin bikes.

This guy is from Spring, Texas and has objective reviews of the Bobcat Trail. https://bikingroots.com/



You might need to step up to Trek/Specialized to get the 27.5/XS sizing.

Might sound crazy but what about a women's version of the Bobcat Trail - Wildcat Trail
https://www.marinbikes.com/bikes/fam...dcat-trail-wfg

I wouldn't buy a bike to upgrade, get the bike that makes the most sense. If they are rough with bikes, get them a decent bike rather than just price point. Teach them lessons on how to take care of it and maybe do it together or bring it to the shop together and ask if you can maybe watch a little of it. They will gain interest and take care of stuff better generally or at least if they are rougher the better components will be able to handle it a little more.

Nobody really needs full suspension but it is nice and if you are riding a bunch having a bike that can hang will be helpful. If you are riding something decent on the same trails with them, they need something at least somewhat decent beyond a price point bike. It is one thing if it was casual rail trail riding or paved paths once and while but mountain biking really is best with a proper mountain bike not tourney and cheap coil shocks.

Thanks all for your recommendations. I ended up picking up Trek Marlin 5 in S, and it fit right in. Time to ride it now.

That was going to be my suggestion a Trek Marlin 5 or a Norco Storm 5. I personally would have gone with the Norco but both of those are solid bikes.