Hi, so I have a pretty good idea of the feedback I'm going to get, but here goes anyway 
My toddler is about the age where we are going to start spending a lot of time at pumptracks and skills parks. I currently only have massively long and heavy enduro ebikes.
The obvious answer is to buy an old or even new DJ bike. But I'm hitting 40 this year and my knees and hips are definitely on the endangered species list, already had to get foot surgery last year. So I'm pretty relunctant to go hardtail.
At the moment, with various sales, you can pick up a smaller 26" full sus bike for the same price as a nice DJ (e.g. https://www.yt-industries.com/products/bikes/jeffsy-primus/26/655/jeffs…). The geo isn't that far off a DJ except for the slacker head angle. Then just put some DJ tyres on it and we are good to go.
I want to re-iterate that I am not interested in getting into real Dirt Jumping, there are barely any public spots for that around me, this is purely pumptrack + mtb like jumps at skills parks while my kid is on his stroller, and rides around town (hence interested in having gears) etc. With the benefit that in 5ish years he will have a sick bike waiting for him.
the issue with jr bikes is that they might not be strong enough for an adult. i personally wouldn't chance it, but i'm 230lbs / 105kg. if you're light enough it might be an option.
i'd suggest trying to find an old fs slalom/4x/slopestyle bike. some of them are on the old side but if you look you can still find them. just a few off the top of my head:
specialized sx (not sx trail)
specialized p slope
i believe the NS Slope is made in a fs version
yeti 4x (more rare)
commencal meta 4x
some more ideas here:
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/20-short-travel-bikes-of-he-british-natio…
Ah thanks great comment, I actually contacted YT and they said they rate the bike up to 120kg!
Cheers, for the great link, it actually features 2 youth bikes including the Jeffsy I am stupidly considering! I took a look for "slopestyle" bikes on buy and sell sites, but this isn't a very popular category in my area. Due to the currently market, I can basically get a new bike with warranty for less than an old beat up slope bike!
I say just get a cheap dirt jumper, at most. As for your knees—biking with toddlers has a lot of running…it was tough on my knees for sure. Honestly you could just draw a bike on a refrigerator box with a sharpie. Lean it against a tree while you “ride” with your little one!
Save that money for a the first few BMX bikes that are coming.
Update:
So I ended up getting a DJ bike shortly after my first post, hit up all the local pumptracks had a great time. My "local" one was about a 20 minutes drive and I was able to hit all the double after a few sessions. There are half a dozen other ones within an hour's drive.
However, I am now back to square one. Velosolution built an incredible pumptrack about 20 minutes cycle from my house, and most importantly 5 minutes from my office. Unfortunately, my office is at the top of a pretty big and steep hill, so riding the DJ to the pumptrack and then up to the office is out of the question. So I'm back to thinking about getting a short travel trail bike to do some minimal trail rides on the way to work and hit the pumptrack.
For what its worth, velosolution have been evolving their designs, and not necessarily for the better, this new one has massive doubles and tabletops for which you want to be a very experienced rider to attempt. I prefer their older designs from a few years ago with more spacing, smaller and less steep rollers. Not really sure who these new designs are catering to.
I got a used 2022 S2 specialized status 160 for similar use (bike park, pump track, pedaling around with the kids etc). I’m too old and sore to jump a hardtail anymore. I run the suspension and tires super stiff.
It was pretty beat, but got it for $900 and threw some used parts bin stuff at it. Been perfect for the intended use. Also a good backup trail bike if ever needed.
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