Which MTB for my 8 year old (4 feet tall, 22.3inch inseam)

The objective here is to upgrade him from his current 20″ wheel bike to a 24″ wheel bike, which should last him a few years and offer him a little more rolling momentum on the Green / Blue trails I tend to do and stay in the ballpark of $500. No, don’t tell me to look for used, right now just evaluating new, I realize I can find used bikes.

I’ve boiled it down to two options, after looking at the geo and standover height of a ton of kids bikes.

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Scor 24″ bike

Decent components, tektro hydraulic brakes, sram 8-speed shifting, but NO front suspension:

[https://www.scor-mtb.com/scr\_eu\_en/0024-mint-scr-23.html](https://www.scor-mtb.com/scr_eu_en/0024-mint-scr-23.html)

(make no mistake I can get a killer deal on that brand new, so ignore the price)

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Marin 24″ [https://www.bikeconnection.net/product/marin-bayview-trail-401503-1.htm](https://www.bikeconnection.net/product/marin-bayview-trail-401503-1.htm)

Does have a front fork (SR Suntour XCT Jr 24″,), Shimano Altus 7-Speed, Power CX7 Mechanical Disc brakes. similar price

I’m leaning slightly towards the Scor because it has better brakes and more gears, and I’m assuming an 8 year old doesn’t benefit that much from a 50mm sun tour fork even if the trails have some rocks and roots… But maybe I’m wrong? Would love anyones perspective. Especially if you have kids 🙂

The giant Talon 24 is around the same price btw, but similar specs to the Marin.

I was also looking at some 24″ wheel bikes from diamondback, but the standover height was just too crazy high for a kid with a 22.2″ inseam (IMO), same thing with Cleary bikes.

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by cmndr_spanky