Kids whyte Hard Tail vs Full Suspension- £1k difference??

[Cimaguy]

Whyte hardtail vs full suspension... theres one £1k price difference. Can this really be justified?

[The_Jackal]

Yes if the full sus is better specced.

[Cimaguy]

£1k of better spec??? On a kids bike?

[lufbramatt]

Much smaller market for £1600 kids bikes so tooling, jigs, setup costs have to be spread over a smaller number of units.

[Minnsy]

My boy has the 403... for the stuff he uses it for, more than adequate.... full suspension at a grand more.... no amount of man maths is ever going to make that work...!

[Cimaguy]

Exactly how I'm seeing it. It's a grand for literally rear suspension!

That said we would have the bike for at least 8-9 years as both kids will use it. One is 9 and the other 5.

May just wait for clearance deals.

[ThorB]

How about going for a ladies bike? For £200 more than the hardtail - https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-bossnut-ladie...

[Pedro Raynard]

The Whyte 403 has 100mm front suspension, 9 speed rear with brake rotors 160mm.

The Whyte T120 has 120mm front suspension, 10 speed rear with brake rotor 180mm. The rear shock adds cost on it’s own.

Reading the specification there are other differences, brakes, levers rims, tyres to name but a few. I’m not familiar enough with brands, but the 403 will I bet be specified lower cost than the T120. So you will be paying for a high spec’d bike as well as full suspension.

I’ve two boys, from my experience BMX was more the scene and they really didn’t give a monkeys about full suspension despite having access to one. Even now they are much older cycling does not float their boat, despite them having full suspension MTB’s they gather dust in the shed.

Based on my experience I’d suggest going for the 403 and if the older one takes to it get him an adult sized full suspension when he’s big enough and you know he’s going to get some use out of it.

Pedro

[The_Jackal]

Does your kid actually need a full sus, or is it just daddy window shopping with budget creep?

[velocgee]

lufbramatt said:

Much smaller market for £1600 kids bikes so tooling, jigs, setup costs have to be spread over a smaller number of units.

This.

The_Jackal said:

Does your kid actually need a full sus, or is it just daddy window shopping with budget creep?

And this.

Little ones, due to their light weight, tend not to need full sus.