This is your prerequisite for a bike purchase?

 

Bmx

 

That was my thought immediately upon seeing the thread title as well.

 

Easiest?
Probably depends on the rider ability overall.

An easy one to wheelie is the Chameleon. Without having ridden either of your suggestion I'm willing to bet it wheelies better than those will.
While I can wheelie a FSR stumpjumper and Chameleon equal speed and distance, the Chameleon is easier.

Bunny hop, probably easiest on a hardtail. Sorry that isn't a specific brand/series of bike, but it is likely an easier style of bike to bunny hop.

As far as manualing, probably none as manualing is stupid.

You're welcome.

 

my kid has a birthday coming up. he likes to do this stuff on his old bike. I want to get him a mtn bike so he can do what he likes on trails, not only on the street. i ride trails so it would be a plus for me as well to watch him progress.

 

Man, wish my dad bought me an Ibis mojo! You adopting?
A hardtail will be easier to do any of those. Full squish introduces new dynamics that he'll need to learn, although being a kid shouldnt takr long. Smaller tires are easier to get off the ground too, prob 27.5.
Hardtails are great fun and versatile, you can easily use them for urban, dirt jump, or trials too. You could get it slighlty undersized if you want it for techy trialsy riding, but being a kid itll prob quickly become undersized anyway!
Lots if choices. Chromag makes some sweet premium bikes.

 

If he's already proficient on a BMX or other bike, he probably won't have too much trouble adapting the skill to a mountain bike.

It's those of us that never learned (or tried) on a smaller bike with smaller bodies that have all the trouble.

 

hardtail , never thought of that. since kids are made of rubber they don't need much in the way of bike suspension

 

Itll also let you stay ahead of him for a while on the descents, because beforw you know it, he'll be catching you and kicking your butt!

 

Shorter chainstay does make it easier. But if he's already pretty good I'm sure he would adapt to the new bike okay. It's easy to loop out a shorter chainstay.
If I am riding my two bikes often I can get off one and on the other and wheelie down the street. If I have not ridding the Chameleon recently it takes a few tries to get that balance point figured out and it sure does pull the front end up quickly.

I've videoed myself on the two and overlayed the video layers, My overlaid images are nearly identical down the street as far as speed and distance.

The Chameleon is 2.8" tire too, and it does take some getting used to from side to side when on the rear wheel, it likes to roll over more easily than the 2.35 29er.

 

There are some used Canfield Nimble 9's and Yelli Screamys for sale on PinkBike.

-F

 

Unicycle

 

I'm no good at wheelies- I can get the wheel up but chicken about the balance point. So instead of joining the BMX chorus, I'll ask a question. A FS is definitely harder to pop into a wheelie. But, once the wheel is up, is it harder or easier? I see these videos of people manualing through whoops and it looks like it would be a lot more difficult on a hardtail.

 

It is no more difficult to 'pop' the wheelie on FS vs HT, in my opinion. It is, however, helpful if the rear isn't set in the soft setting.

Likewise, I don't have a noticeable difference in holding the balance point.

I have a 29er FSR and 27.5+ Chameleon and I mirror my own motions on both bikes.

I have been riding consistently since 2010 I think. A lot more consistent in the past 3 years. I've always been able to wheelie, but not by the standards of one who is good at it. I feel I'm pretty good now.
Yesterday I had the Chameleon in the air for just over 15 seconds on a dirt road. Thats decent for me. I'm sure there are guys here that would laugh at me for considering 15 seconds to be long though. I feel this summer my ability to wheelie really came around. It just sort of happened, probably from always goofing off and trying just little bits at a time.
Find a smooth surface, with a slight uphill grade and you'll improve quickly once you find the balance point.

I have zero idea how to manual. I can't even wheelie when the road starts downhill, for more than a couple pedal rotations.

 

Schwinn Stingray type muscle bike...wheelie king.

 

Unicycle

 

It's the indian, not the arrow. Pick a bike with the newer, more aggressive geos, and then select the highest spec in your budget. If you son grew up on BMX bikes, racing, riding street, whatever, he will find a way to get those tires off of the ground.

 

Any mountain bike with a dropper post.

 

BMX and not one of those shitty SE Racing abortions.

 

Surely you meant abominations?