Well, my wonderful child has just turned 12, and having 2 parents over 6' - she has been growing like a weed.

She currently rides a Polygon Cleo 2 in XS that she got for her 8th birthday which has rapidly become too small for her.

After joining this forum, lurking and looking at AliExpress I thought it would be a good opportunity to use the collective knowledge of the forums and build my daughter a lightweight Chinese carbon bike!

My goal is pretty simple - I want to build a 29er bike that will last a good few years, and I want to to be as light (or lighter) than her current bike (XS frame, 27.5" wheels), I want it to be comfortable and capable on suburban streets, but I also want her to be able to to come riding with me on the MTB trails.

So I have started making purchases, and should hopefully have it ready to ride in a month or so.

Frame
I have gone with the Carbonda FM1306a.
I had sent an email to Wing last year enquiring about one of these frames for myself - but heard nothing back - that is when I found out that the emails had most likely ended up in my junk mail! Wing has been an absolute dream to deal with, super quick with replies, very detailed and helpful.
The frame ended up costing a bit more than I had hoped (US$230 shipping is a hard pill to swallow), and I also paid extra for the chameleon paint scheme as my daughter had requested it.

Fork
I was lucky to snap up a second hand RockShox SID off Facebook marketplace for AU$450. It was un-used, and taken off a 2024 Giant Anthem Advanced 29 3.

Wheels
I bought some EliteWheels off AliExpress - I will add more details later.

Brakes
ZTTO MTB Team Brakes in Silver and Gold.

I will update this post over the coming days with more information - been stuck busy at work...