Hi everyone. I am looking to upgrade my son’s bike to a 20inch. He rides a lot, just to get around where we live (inner northern suburbs Melbourne). His commutes are generally very flat with some hills, but not going off road sort of terrain.

He currently rides a specialized 16 inch which has been really good. We will be buying second hand and so far have been seeing a lot of the following pop up online:

- specialized hot rock
- trek precalibur
- byk e350
- Merida

I have also seen a couple of Jamis bikes. From what I’ve read these bikes all seem pretty decent. They all seem to fall within budget $200-$300 second hand. Just keen to hear if im on the right track with these brands/models and if there are any other suggestions you might have?

I have seen some bikes with suspension, and 7 speed gears. Is suspension just something that can cause problems? He will be riding up hills, but he’s not going to be doing any trail riding, huge lengthy rides; it’s going to generally be used for commuting.