Child Riding Style Advice please.

Since I bought my son a small 1996 Pantera I am very pleased to say his riding has improved significantly.

The down side is the endless number of buckled wheels as he is at that no fear / ride it like he stole it stage! This may in part be because the Pantera is fully rigid - partly so he has to improve his technique while his previous bike was fully suspended - a Hotrock A1FSR.

Most of the damage seems to occur around the woods etc i.e. off paths or trails.

I don't want to dampen his enthusiasm but the constant trips to the lbs to get his wheels straightened are cause for concern.

So do I buy him reasonable suspension forks for the Pantera or build him a second bike e.g. a jump frame and fit some of the old Suntour or RST forks that are lying around the garage together with wheels etc from the spares box?

I suppose the other option would be to try and get him to take more care by paying for his own repairs but that doesn't seem right to me.

If I go down the fork for the Pantera route, I would prefer they are canti compatible, and can be tuned for an 11 year old! Does anyone have some Z1 / Z2s with a canti brace please? Seriously though what alternatives should I look?

An advice please?

Many thanks

Does he need decent rims? Or is it worth getting someone else to straighten it and see if it lasts longer?

I have only seen rims go out of true because of broken spokes, but there again I am a conservative rider and not an 11 y.o. monster.
Perhaps the answer is for both of you to learn a bit more about bike maintenance and make bike fixing a bonding experience, rather than a cause of friction. There could be some magic shed / garage moments before the inevitable teenage shifts come along.

maby try get a set of dirt jumping/ free ride wheels, if hes banging it up an down steps an logs ect it can soon buckle cheap wheels, when me an my mates used to jump stuff it did seem the more we did the longer stuff lasted as we were less harsh on parts, landing jumps sideways is a wheel killer

Get him a bike that's fit for his purposes rather than forcing your retro prejudices on him?

Well when he had the fsr which I had thought was ideal, he rode like he was driving Miss Daisy! That was my choice. When it was time for replacement he said he wanted to go rigid. I bought him a 13" modern Hardrock which he didn't really like. He tried several of his friends bikes and really liked an Isla something or other but in the end preferred the the Pantera because it is light, stiff and goes like sh*t off a shovel. His choice! I have built most of our bikes from frames with his help but haven't learned to do wheels yet - perhaps I should.

I will check and see what wheels are on it but I don't think they are cheapos.

Edit: they are Weinmann 519 on Shimano Something hubs - cant see in the dark.

Many thanks

Check out the Sheldon Brown website for the theoretical information you need, then have a trawl through YouTube for some practical information. The videos by bike shops and tool manufacturers are usually very good, I think Park Tools have published some excellent ones.
I have seen plenty of wheels by the roadside, or left out with rubbish in the past, failing that a fiver at the local dump will most likely secure you an armful of scrap. All perfect stuff to practice on, if you balls it up, nothing is lost.
It's a cliche, but it isn't rocket science, but a bit like plastering it requires a fair bit of practice. The good news is that the more you do, the quicker it gets.

I used to have issues bitd on my zaskar destroying mavic 217s because they were designed as a lightweight cross country rim, as far as I know, and not for the likes of me jumping and bunny hoping the local town centre. Not sure about your rims but might be worth asking the question of srrong retro rins and where yours fit within that category tbh ibthink wheel truing on the bike isn't too tricky if it's not too badly buckled. Just use a spoke key and turn a group of nipples a quarter turn around the effected area on one side of the rim. You'll soon see what you need to turn and how much by spinning the rim. Think if he learns how to do this ans fixes it himself he'll soon learn to ride the bike a lot more lightly and do it less. Also a v. useful skill to have

Invest 9 quid in the wheelpro wheel building book and learn how to do it yourself.
http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

TBH Those rims are cheap nasties, and if its the factory build, will be fairly feebly built as well with cheap spokes. May be worth investing some time and money in building up some better rims/spokes on to the existing hubs (or some new SLX hubs, there are some deals around ATM). Not only are you likely to end up with better/stronger/lighter wheels, you'll have learnt how to build/true your own wheels.

I build most of my own, and have for 15 years, and they usually last until either the rim wears out on the road bike, or i crash (hard) on the MTB and damage/dent them (i tend to use the lightest rims i can, slightly heavier rims will prevent your lad doing the same.)

And he probably rode the FSR like Miss Daisy because it weighs as much as a small moon.......