MTB

[nickk]

Advice welcome,my son wants ONE ,he doesn’t have any knowledge,just likes certain colours ,the lad who works for me brought his old one in,which he drooled over,and it’s as new 4 years old and carbon! it’s a cube aim,wants £500,I have no idea on value what’s it worth,I’d like him to have a decent one ,as so far all his bikes have been freebies,now he’s getting selective and fashion sensitive he’s going to have to park it properly instead of abandoning it at the exact spot that he became bored.

 

[roblane65]

sounds pretty cheap for a carbon framed MTB though you need to go over the frame with a magnifying glass for cracks
if the components are half decent a good buy . Can you post some sneaky pics to give us a better idea ?

 

[stuvy]

@Ashley Burton any ideas

 

[mr haynes]

Are you sure it is carbon frame?
I thought the Aims were all hardtail ali

 

[Wedg1e]

I read that as Motor Torpedo Boat
I'll settle for the Brave Challenger

Brave Challenger – Classic Triple Gas Turbine Ship

bravechallenger.co.uk

Hmm, not much on that site, looks like the boat could be under new ownership, try this instead...

Brave Challenger | National Historic Ships

www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk

 

[Nomad]

Hi, same as above - I came very close to buying one of the Cube bikes new several years ago and Aim was nice but one of their lower spec models, I suspect the one you've been offered is either not carbon or not an Aim.
As a first "nice" bike it should be fine, the disk brakes and forks are basic but should be an improvement on what he's used to.
Asking price (after looking on Ebay) sounds high, sold bikes range from £100 to £500 on Ebay, most £200-£300, there even an a couple of new ones at £500 / £550 (list price new is £550 )
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=cube+aim&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1
Dealers often had sales with ex-demo bikes reduced but I think all bikes have been in high demand for the past 18 months so your choices might be limited.

For info, I bought the bike I'm now using more than 5 years ago and only used it for 1 week before putting it into storage, last month was the first time I've been able to get it out and start to use it (I bought it then I had to move house) so you can sometimes find bikes that are a few years old that look brand new.

 

[Kayos]

For as much as I have started tinkering with bikes, when it came to the kids we went to a decent shop, let the kids pick, paid and went home.

Likely to do that with my daughter next time but my son wants to build his own so I will probably find a frame he likes and do that

 

[Munkul]

For a first MTB for a boy, the "musts" would be

- Nice fork. Cheaper suntour spring forks are fine, but ideally an air fork.
- hydraulic brakes. Ideally something like a set of shimanos, which are almost trouble free, no matter what model.

Everything else is nice-to-have. Ideally a "proper" MTB groupset, something like Deore/SLX. I could go on all day about the ideal specs, but you'd end up spending a fortune!
I have a Cube stereo 160 from 5 years back, it was my ideal spec out the box and it's been great I'd buy Cube again.

The frame IMO doesn't matter all that much other than being the right size, bigger is better. Nothing worse than trying to ride a bike down a hill with a small frame!

Not sure what's standard kit with the carbon Aims but I'd assume it will be pretty decent... if it is a carbon. Worth £500 easily if it is good spec.

 

[atomant48]

My 2p...

having owned a couple carbon MTBs I’d never buy one second hand. Just wouldn’t. even aluminium we used to say 5 years on the frame and then it’s unknown .... but there are plenty of Ali frames much older than that still flying about. I have a steel frame hard tail that will outlast me I reckon.
anyway getting to the question - how old / big is your son? There are so many factors that affect whether this particular bike would be good for him - wheel size and frame size can vary wildly. What does he want to do with it? Ride it to the shops with mates or take it downhill racing ? Has he done mtb before? He might have an idea of what he likes.
My 8 yr old has one of the Islabikes MTB and it is fantastic. But your son may be way beyond that in age !

500 probably goes a long way on one of the halfords or local bike shop sales. As above I’d definitely recommend hydraulic disc brakes and I would add to stick away from tubeless tires and full suspension. Just keep it simple and light - that makes a huge difference to youngins.
great to hear of another child that wants to get cycling though!

 

[northwest]

Bit of a let down this thread really. I thought Nick, you being near water and such it was a Motor Torpedo Boat your boy was wanting. Far more useful.

 

[Ashley Burton]

Yeah some pictures & specs of the bike would be good

 

[pcwizme]

Just seconding the issues with carbon second hand, I am part of the r/cycling (on Reddit) and the number of people saying "bought this carbon frame second hand" and then finding a small area of de-lamination or damage and its a whole world of pain to get reparied or just replacing the whole frame is scary. I would look at your local bike store and see what he really wants. What sort of MTB, whats the end goal?

 

[nickk]

It’s a cube GTC,NEver realised the lifespan restrictions of CF.

 

[cr500dom]

Don’t get too big a frame, most kids are on bikes way too big for them which means they can’t move the bike around underneath them off road.
Shimano SLx is a good start point for gears/brakes
Get a hard tail, don’t be totally set on suspension forks either, most lower end forks are over sprung, under damped and weigh more than the frame.
He’ll learn a lot more with a rigid fork and a big volume front tyre, it’ll be way lighter too.
Get a proper lock, and teach him how to use it too.
Or it’ll be gone before you know it.
Stay away from second hand carbon it’s a potential world of pain.
An idea of age, how tall he is and what he wants to do with it would give us a better idea where to point you too

 

[nickk]

Thanks for the advice,he’s 4’8” tall at 9,so it’s his 10th birthday present in 3 weeks,he wants to put his own £150 towards it.

 

[roblane65]

Try the singletrack forum theres usually some good kit on there as they want the lastest kit and sell stuff to upgrade.
havn't been on there for some time though it's probably been nearly 10/11 months since i've been on my bike

 

[atomant48]

Thanks for the advice,he’s 4’8” tall at 9,so it’s his 10th birthday present in 3 weeks,he wants to put his own £150 towards it.

Islabikes Creig 26 or 27. You’ll need to put a bit extra into it but when he outgrows in a few years you’re guaranteed to get most of your money’s back.

 

[nickk]

No problem there @atomant48 ,we’ve got upcoming twins next,only 5 each of them lol.

 

[Ashley Burton]

@nickk Aluminium Hardtail with Shimano Hydraulic Brakes, Basic Shimano Deore Drivetrain is plenty good enough

I would avoid budget Sram stuff, Its rubbish imo

Drop us some links of anything you find & I'm happy to help advise

 

[Munkul]

Pinkbike has good selection of second hand bikes for sale. Bought quite a few parts and a couple of bikes off there in the past.