Turbo for family use?

Bit of a lottery of information isn't there, just looked at the elite which simulates slopes of 6% with a maximum 1500w resistance and the Tacx slopes of 6% with an 800w resistance.

At those prices i'm sure you won't be disappointed with them!

Halfords have the Elite Novo, apparently an exclusive 'updated version of the Qubo, for £180, which seems great value for a smart trainer.

My own experience from my Elite crono fluid is that the Elastogel roller material on the Elite trainers is quite gentle on tyres, so I don't bother with a trainer-tyre.

I'm considering a Novo for Zwifting... my only reservation is the max 6% gradient, not sure if this matters in the context of the game.

I got the Tacx smartflow from Halfords, pretty much the cheapest option that's got a 2 way power (i.e. feedback to make gradient tougher). I think it only 'works' to 6 or 8% and after that effectively just slows the speed on screen (i.e. if you were moving at 8mph on an 8% and the ramp ups to 16% your speed and the video moves at 4mph).

For me, budget was key but so was the desire to make me want to use it, turbo bores me shitless. Having the turbo change resistance is awesome and without ever preferring it to the road I know i can challenge myself and get a good workout. The trainer can cope with different sized bikes and wheels, it'll come with opne qr to fit so you may have to pay £10-20 for a second.

As suggested above, I use Rouvy as I prefer roads to a computer game feel, it also now has augmented reality so other riders to pass or be passed by. Myself and the other half have our own profiles and use on an iPad.

Do you all wear look cleats ?
Garmin vector pedals and any spin bike will work.
It won't control the terrain but you don't need that.

I know you mentioned using Zwift but if you are considering other options, have a look at Rouvy. If you take out their premium subscription you can have 2 other users with their own separate accounts at no extra cost.

Other thing to watch out for is tyres. On a turbo they will quickly wear a flat profile on to a normal road tyre. We got 26” and 700c trainer tyres, and I mounted them on spare wheels.  I haven’t found one for a 24”, but daughter is 10 and small, so doesn’t wear tyres out too much.

Is son riding BMX? Otherwise 24” wheel seems a bit small for a 5’ rider. He would fit a Luath 700 large (other bikes are available).

Can you get turbos that take various wheel sizes?

I ran into a similar dilemma with my wife - to save money I thought we could join with 1 account and just share it.  Whether this will work for you or not depends on how you want to use it.  If you just want to ride around the worlds and get some exercise, no problem.  Just joining in group rides is also no problem, you can choose the level that fits your ability / strength.  

If you want to take advantage of the training facilities it becomes a bit more complicated - as you ride, Zwift will autocalculate an FTP for you.  This will naturally be dictated by the strongest rider, and this figure will be used to determine the structure of the training sessions (and their difficulty).  I'm sure each user can probably go in and adjust the FTP each time, but it's potentially an extra faff.

Similar with weight - your speed is essentially dicatated by your watts/kg - again, you could change the weight each time, or just pick a middle somewhere and accept that your performance might not be a true reflection.

In the end, I wanted to use it as a training tool so wanted the data to be as consistent as possible so I could track my progress, so it stays set up for me.  You can buy multiple accounts, but obviously that is extra cost - all depends on whether this stuff is just a minor inconcenience for you, or a pain in the backside!!