I think your point regarding his buds' rides is right on. Also dave's point about shifting is also something to consider. I will need to take him to an LBS and see if he can shift a grip or sti style. After a bit more digging I found that Felt makes a Q24 model (might be a tad big for my 7 yr old) and Scott makes a nice 20. I do really like the Kona Shred 2-0 cuz it's a single speed, looks cool (has disc brakes too, that's nutty), but damn those prices and availability stinks. I spent around 180 beans for his Trek 16 so I am ok with spending about 2x that for his 7-10yr bike. Thanks for your reply.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=569812

I bought my 8 year old (7 at the time) a Gary Fisher 20" mtn bike. His older brother and myself mtn bike together and do local mtb races. The little guy has wanted to join us right from the start. When I took him on his wal-mart bmx-looking thing it didn't work for 2 reasons. One is that it was just too heavy. It weighed as much as him and made it so hard to get up hills. The other is that without gears he was stuck without the ability to gear down for those hills...and face it, at that age you aren't going to clip them in so they can power up hills.

The Gary Fisher bike is as light as my mtn bike which helps. It has 6-speeds that he shifts very well with a grip shifter. It has a working front shock although the spring rate is too much for his weight.
He was immediately able to ride with me on the easier trails and took to the shifting with no problems. I got him a cheap cyclometer and he loved that thing. He clocked 50 miles the first weekend and had blisters on his hands. He even did his first MTB race completing a 5 mile loop on his own.

I think mtn biking is the place to start for kids at that age. I don't want my kid on the open road at age 8 riding with traffic, but for tooling up and down our neighborhood with his friends, a mtn bike is a fine way to go.

This company specialise in kids bikes and are popular on the UK race circuit (road/cross)
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/

They're rated very highly by everyone.

edit - they appear to do far more than just road and cross bike though - they've even got a track bike specifically for kids!

I looked at their offerings, very impressive. How can someone in the US get their hands on one?

I'm not sure. Have you tried contacting them directly?

Any major manufactor should do. When I first started buying my kids bikes I bought a Walmart bike and threw it in the trash after 3 months. Upgraded to a 16" Trek which has since been handed down. I now have a 20" Trek (1987 bike) that was handed down to my oldest...6 speeds, hand brakes...it is still a great bike some 12 years later!

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Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze

In the MTB flavor I recomend
preferably with a rigid fork mounted, the stock fork sucks and is a heavy pig.
This one is now 9 speed in the rear as well since the 34 allows him to ride when others have to push. As configured this is right at 20ish pounds, IIRC and my LBS has one that he WW'ed out for his son at 18 and change. (Carbon fork legs are the main difference)

When the rider weighs 60 pounds having the the lightest bike practical can make a huge difference.

i have 4 kids -- I've had great experiences with the Trek line -- quality matters -- especially with kids who are rough on equipment.
good luck

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Have Fun ** Tri Hard ** Be Kind
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Look up Redline bikes too, the Flight or Proline Mini or Micro. I spotted one of these at the local Kids Triathlon and plan on picking one up for my son. The micro have 18" wheels, the mini 20", rims are narrow, tires are 1 1/8" or 1.5" and semi-slick.

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Head down, thumbs up, give'r
@barrettdj

That's a slick lookin ride for a youngster.

I didn't consider BMW style bikes at first, but they make sense if I am looking into single-speed with hand brake. Shifting gears may present a challenge when all he wants to do is pedal hard and fast. Also, that redline micro is super light at 12.6lbs.

A true BMX track bike won't have a front brake (this may or may not be an issue).
They also can come geared pretty aggresively since they're ridden 45 seconds at a time, all out, standing up. This also may or may not be an issue depending on terrain. They are a much better starting point than an X-mart bike and in some cases are the perfect solution, something a Huffy never is.