Specialized

Pros

• REI if you’re a member, otherwise the big corporate owned bike shops (Trek, Pon, Specialized) also tend to have trade in/trade up programs on kids bikes.
• Whereas with Specialized everything is more or less readily available or quick to order.
• Trek and Specialized do a good job with XL or XXL sizing. Both have high quality flat bar bikes which I'd recommend here - Trek FX or Spec Sirrus
• Yep. I bought all 4 of my kids used treks (3) and specialized (1) from fb marketplace for around $100-125. $75 is a good deal. They are great bikes. Way better than what you’d get from a big box store.
• I have had luck with specialized. Decade old saddle is still working well.

Cons

• Local spesh dealer near me is closing - one of the reasons the owner related is that when Specialized started selling direct to consumer during Covid, their sale prices would match whatever Specialized actually sold the bikes to the LBS...
• One of the highest revenue shops (but also high operating cost) in this area was bought by Specialized a couple years ago, and now Specialized has sold it to an independent chain.
• Pretty soon there will only be concept stores from Trek, Specialized and Ari in a few major cities.
• Yes, Cube doesn't have the cachet of Specialized, and their paintwork is maybe a step below specialized or trek, but these days their value is very hard to beat.
• I'm not too familiar with Trek, but Specialized often uses their higher end frames on some of their less expensive builds.