12 y.o. seeks a bike..

Welcome to the forum. Providing a few details will yield you better answers.

600 what?
Your height?
Bike type? (BMX, road, mountain, hybrid, cruiser, etc.)

Wow, you sure your only 12? And you collect vintage bikes already? Do tell what kind of bikes you collect, I would find that fascinating.

I can understand why you are then turning to cycling for fun, recreation, fitness and maybe someday soon racing?

But as the earlier poster said what kind of riding do you want to do? Usually, though I sense your not usual, most 12 year olds and in that age vicinity would either go into BMX so they can do crazy stunts that I can't even begin to do, or road if they live in area with little off road trails or MTB's if there are an over abundance of trails. There is a young man where I live who has been racing bikes for just 4 years and beat all older racers in a 50 mi road race here in Fort Wayne Indiana to take 1st place just this last weekend...he just turned 17 which means he started racing about the age you are now.

I know very little about BMX stuff, if that's what you want to do then someone here will respond with that info.

If your wanting to road race the biggest problem your going to have is growing. This is a problem because you don't want to spend a lot of money on a road bike that fits you now only to outgrow it in 2 to 3 years. Thus I would either look into either finding a very good condition used bike in your size of course, or go to this site which would have better bikes then Walmart but still spend about $300; see: Save up to 60% off Road Bikes, Titanium Road Bikes, Dura Ace Road Bikes, Ultegra Road Bikes - bikesdirect.com

the top roll of bikes is for entry level riding which is where you would fall. Make sure you select your size, the Gravity Avenue B and the Dawes Lightning 1000 both have a sizing guide if you scan down a bit so you will know what cm fits what height of a person.

The first two bikes on the top roll are the least expensive, take a look and see what you think; the second roll (good/entry level) first bike is the best deal, it comes with better components for just a $100 more but it may not fit you; but back to the top roll and 3rd one over, the Dawes Lightning should fit you and is a very good deal for the money.

If you want a mtb just hit the mtb tab and scan those.

Or since you must be somewhat familiar with vintage bikes you could do what I hinted at earlier and buy a vintage road bike. There are plenty of small size road bikes that didn't get used much that are out there waiting to be bought; and you could get a very high end bike for not much jack.

If your not concerned about the money and you want new then look into the Schwinn Circuit, these have been highly reviewed and retail for $570 which means you should find one for less since August is clearance month at local bike shops.

To make the bike last you longer, buy the largest bike you can ride with the seat all the way down, then as you grow all you need to do is readjust the seat and bars.