Compromise, compromise

DONT

Be a selfish git and get them a bike of their own make them do some work, cos they just sit there on a trailer bike.

If you insist on a hardtail This would be one of my choices

If I was looking for a hardtail now, the Whyte 905 would be top of my list. I know it's dangerous to judge purely by magazine review, but I reckon it sounds a fantastic package and ride for just under £1500. I was saying to my Bruv that it looks like a match for our custom built Cotic Souls whilst saving £300 a piece (and some weight saving too). Check out the latest What Mountain Bike - it looks impressive.

At the moment I'm torn between 2 quite different bikes, a Scott Scale 35 or the Whyte 905.

I can't test ride either (well, not quickly anyway).  What are the relative pros & cons of each?

The 905 gets good reviews, and the fork (Reba 120mm maxle) is very good - I've one on my On One.

I'm sure you could build up an On One 456 with a decent fork for £1500, I'm happy with mine.

If you want an all-rounder (including kiddie duties), I'd probably be looking at steel, although alloy is lighter (and not much heavier than carbon).

On One are current doing their 456 Ti frame at £800, you'd probably struggle though to build one up for £1500 with good parts - but I'm sure you could build one up with the key bits (and cheap stuff), and then treat it as a 'project', for when deals appear.