Using the 25% discount offered through my kids mountain bike racing team, I put 2 hardtails on layaway. This was September 2021.

The shop only carries Trek (I know).  They told me they expected  two of the new X-Caliber 8 hardtails on January 30, 2022.

That got delayed to February 14 (still ok).  

Now it’s been pushed back to May (not ok).  The kids start practice at the end of February, and their races are all in April & May.


Their old bikes are 3x9 but the kids never touch their front derailleurs.  (Yes, they theoretically could use them, but they don’t).  So they are missing out on a huge range of gears. And real air-forks would be a big improvement on what they have now.


What would you do?  Cancel the layaway, miss out on the 25% discount?  and hunt down something else?

I have to buy 2 identical (or similar bikes) in either M/L size or L size, and I don’t have a ton of $$ for full suspension (plus - they do not need it in XC or cross country they race).

Any and all thoughts welcome.


UPDATE:  bought new bikes; see post below.

I think you have it backwards: they have a huge range of gears with the 3x setup.  Less so with 1x12.

I guess your only choice is to buy used.  Or a different brand without a discount.

check pinkbike buy and sell usually some good bikes available

Pinkbike is a great suggestion- thanks!

I was aware of The Pros Closet.  They seem pricey.  Maybe I’ll have better luck on PinkBike.

Ive bought and sold many pikes on pinkbike never an issue, also offerup in your ao might have some as well. 1x12 with a dropper is far superior to 3 front chainrings

Look at chainreactioncycles.com. They have lots of options in stock that are likely cheaper than the trek with the discount. I was eligible for the 40% off Trek discount through NICA a couple years ago and it wasn’t worth the savings co side ring the weight and the higher price trek thinks their bikes are worth.

Thanks Offspring!

I checked out the link.  Interesting!  They seem to be based in England?  How does shipping work with that?  I did not recognize some of the components and brands mentioned.

Not necessarily opposed to Direct to Consumer bikes.  Our NICA coach specifically mentioned Canyon brand hard tails.

Just not sure what’s in stock in the kids size.

Its been a few years since I bought from Chain Reaction Cycles, and it's possible they have a warehouse in the US that they ship from these days, but the pedals I ordered did ship from England and took forever, partly because it seemed they got hung up in customs. So I decided it isn't worth their reduced prices. With Covid shipping issues, I wouldn't even chance it, personally.

Some people love to deal with them though.  If you see something you like, you could call them and see what they say about their shipping times to the States these days.

I got a new bike last January at one of our LBSs.  I just kept checking their websites every few days to see what had trickled in, and when one I was interested in (and the right size), I moved quickly... after I said I'd take it right now, they told me that there were at least 2 people that said they were going to be in to look at it that afternoon.  I had a high budget, so I figure I had a better chance of it not being sold before it was even assembled.

Thanks!  

Given my disappointment in the delayed-delivery date, I’ve decided to go the LBS route and not risk the “direct to consumer” Route,  this time.

I will say:  my own full suspension came from Bike Island, and was a steal, price wise.  It arrived with all the parts, and the few scratches on the frame don’t bother me.  Would do it again, but I need 2 bikes for the kids ASAP.  New post inbound:

Just bought 2 of these from a LBS:



Scott Scale 970, aluminum frame 29 Hardtail SRAM 1x12 for kids’ XC racing in NICA and the VAHS league.


The good:

- paid for in full (pick up tomorrow AM)
-air fork (RockShox Judy)
- remote lock-out (kids first race starts with a steep climb up a gravel road; lockout should help)
- Maxxis tires on tubeless ready rims
- decent 29 geometry
- rear derailleur is an “NX” from SRAM - a slight step up from SX
- 29 lbs with tubes  (normal to light for an AL hardtail) - ditching tubes should shed another pound
- the LBS offered to set up front forks for both kids + free adjustments for 1st year + 1 free full tune up at end of year.


The “not great”

- old school, skewer QR axles instead of 15mm maxle
- centerlock brake hubs instead of 6 bolt (I already bought 6 bolt rotors)
- tubes in tires + need new tires to go tubeless.

In any event, the new Scale 970s are a big step up from the bikes the kids raced last season:

Daughter’s old race bike: Cannondale Trail 7 with basic 3x9.  The WTB tires were too thin and not at all grippy.  


Son’s old race bike: REI Co Op DRT 1.1 with 3x7 drivetrain:




The Cannondale’s cheap Shimano drivetrain broke several times.  The WTB tires were total junk and too thin.

The REI DRT, in contrast, held up 100%; would not hesitate to recommend since it’s been a great bike. But it is not a 1-12x and my son outgrew the medium size frame (plus it rolls on 27.5 instead of 29 inch).

I have received orders faster from chain reaction than I have from retailers in the US. As for the canyon hard tails, I got a 15% discount on a 2019 Canyon Exceed CF. It has been a great bike!

I'm converting my 2018 Scott Spark 730 from a Shimano 2x10 to SRAM 1x12.  The SRAM NX cassette uses the same HG freehub, so it's a bolt on swap.  I'm using the SRAM NX cassette, NX chain, and GX derailleur and shifter.  Cost was about $300 in parts.  I'm doing the labor myself, it's not hard, you just need a handful of (cheap) specialized tools.

I bought a Nukeproof 29er and it showed up in 7 days.  Blew my mind.

This is really good info - thanks!

Few questions for you:

- are there advantages to using the NX chain and NX cassette?  Are they lighter weight?

- is the GX derailleur an advantage over the current NX on the 970?

NX cassette is the only 12 speed one that fits on the HG freehub.   GX and above use an SRAM standard, and the newer Shimano stuff uses microspline.  I didn’t want to buy new wheels, so it made sense to go with NX cassette.   GX cassette is lighter and 10-52 instead of 11-50.  

Chain, I imagine they are basically interchangeable.  I was mostly concerned with cassette compatibility.  The large cassettes use thinner chains than the smaller cassettes.  The 12 speed cassettes probably use the same chain dimensions but I didn’t want to pay the difference to find out that they don’t.  

GX derailleur and shifter were only very slightly more than NX so I went that way.  Shifter was three bucks more than NX and derailleur was like 20 bucks more. The GX derailleur has bearings on the pulleys and other small improvements.  Shifter is probably the same except for the aluminum cover vs plastic on NX.

I did find that I needed a different derailleur hanger to do the swap.  My Spark model had a Shimano directmount hanger, which has the wrong geometry for the SRAM derailleur.   Good news is that the part I need exists, bad news is that it is another 30 bucks.   The biggest pisser is that I didn’t realize it until I got into the swap, so now my bike is down while I wait on shipping from some bike shop in BFE Idaho.

UPDATE:

Kids finished the Spring 2022 VAHS 4-race series on the Scale 970s and did great!

They are now 2 races into the Fall NICA 4-race series.  

Daughter earned her first top-10 finish despite complaining about being out of shape from lack of training (she joined the marching band, and it conflicted with many team practices)

Son (12) is in a much larger field: up to 70racers in Middle-school “B.”  But he’s the fastest of the B riders on his team so far this year (there is a kid who’s probably quicker but has had mechanicals, unfortunately).

Speaking of mechanicals:

Rode my sons bike during a practice and:  crashed!  On an easy section Daughter laughed and said “oh, yeah, the stock tires slip a lot.”  

Converted to tubeless.  Daughters bike went smooth.  Son’s back rim was full of dents!  Bent them out; still wouldn’t seal.  His back tire has a tube again for now.

Have already replaced a hanger on son’s bike due to a crash or two.  

Numerous adjustments made due to cable stretch, wear, etc.  Most concerning though

Mechanic said chain and cassettes are “getting tired” (worn out).  It’s only been 6 races (8 miles each) and about 50 practices.  

To be honest, I have been lax about really cleaning the cassettes and chains.  I most just keep adding lube.  I recently cleaned up both really well: completely degreased and re-lubed.  

Next race in about a week at Miller School:

https://virginiamtb.org/race-4

They raced this venue once already as the season opener. Next race uses a different course:

This “might” be the course they will race - except they will not end by hopping into a canoe on a pond, without oars: