nice kids' bikes

[Seth Vidal]

The discussion of good kids' bikes comes up from time to time.

I caught this today on fastboy cycles' blog/flickr feed and I thought
some of y'all may be intrigued:

http://www.fastboycycles.com/teachingcancertocry/?p=829
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fastboy/7419479154



thought some of y'all might find it interesting.

-sv

[cyclotourist]

Thanks Seth, that's a really nice bike!

I'm so tired of 20" kid bikes that weigh more than my 29er.

FWIW, the best production non-MTB kid bike I can find is the Redline Conquest 24. It's not perfect, but best option out there that I have latched on to.

Anybody know of small sized (<45cm) cross bikes w/ 26" wheels?

-sv

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[Thomas Lynn Skean]

Surly lists a 42cm Cross-Check. I've never seen one. Does that qualify?

 

Yours,

Thomas Lynn Skean

 

On Friday, June 22, 2012 12:53:19 PM UTC-5, cyclot...@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks Seth, that's a really nice bike!

[cyclotourist]

It has 700C wheels, so nope :-)

A LHT is pretty close, and probably what we'll end up with, but a lighter/tighter cross bike would be perfect.

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[Thomas Lynn Skean]

Sorry... got confused. It's the LHT that they offer in 26", which I assume wouldn't qualify.

 

Yours,

Thomas Lynn Skean

On Friday, June 22, 2012 1:34:01 PM UTC-5, cyclot...@gmail.com wrote:

It has 700C wheels, so nope :-)

A LHT is pretty close, and probably what we'll end up with, but a lighter/tighter cross bike would be perfect.

On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Thomas Lynn Skean  

wrote:

[cyclotourist]

Happens to the best of us! :-)

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[Thomas Lynn Skean]

 I basically gave up looking for a "quality" kids bike. Even with my almost-10-year-old's love/like of cycling, he's only going to ride a few hundred miles a year, if that. We'll go on 10-15 mile rides many good-weather wekeends. But ride while cold? Nope. Raining? No way. Too hot? Not a chance. It's not his fault. Not everyone loves "bicycle cycling" the way I do. So while he notices when his knees hit his handlebar (which prompted us to get him a 24"-wheeled bike to replace his 20"-wheeled bike the day we saw it happen), he doesn't notice/care when his seat is too low or his tires are squirmy or his arms are somewhat stretched or the bike feels "funny" or "dead" or "twitchy". I've observed him riding enough to feel okay about the safety of his fit and his "seat" on his new bike. But I couldn't rationalize spending the money to go to the next level at this point.

Now, the way he's growing, it wouldn't surprise me if he could ride a 48cm Hillborne in a few years. Even more likely a 50cm Betty. If his desire to ride grows along with his limbs, that's not out of the question at all. My wife could ride the Betty once he's outgrown it. And he'd get a chance to experience unracer riding before completely choosing his own bike.

Until then, though, it's a cheap-and-heavy-but-not-totally-crappy Novara pseudo-quasi-mountain bike with a suspension he'll never compress and a top tube he'll comfortably span only when his knees bruise his chest while riding. Who designs these things? It couldn't possibly stand up to actual mountain biking. And the only thing the suspension adds to normal road/trail riding is weight. (At least it is a somewhat lighter than my totally be-racked/be-fendered/be-leathered double-top-tube 60cm Hillborne with a 40-spoke Phil-hubbed Cliffhanger rear wheel and wood grips. I bet if I stripped the racks to just the R-50 saddlebag quick-release, replaced the wood grips with cork, and left everything else the same it'd go the other way. As it is his is not that much lighter.)

Oh well... at least I know it was put together by someone who wasn't completely stoned. (My experiences with non-REI LBSes in my area has been bad, to say the least. I haven't been back to one since my front wheel and fork fell out while loading my "repaired" bike onto the rack on the back of my car. They hadn't clamped the stem to the steerer "very well".)

Fortunately, so far the doesn't have to deal with his father's biggest (biking) problem: excessive (engine) weight.

 

Yours,

Thomas Lynn Skean

On Friday, June 22, 2012 12:53:19 PM UTC-5, cyclot...@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks Seth, that's a really nice bike!

I'm so tired of 20" kid bikes that weigh more than my 29er.

FWIW, the best production non-MTB kid bike I can find is the Redline Conquest 24. It's not perfect, but best option out there that I have latched on to.

Anybody know of small sized (<45cm) cross bikes w/ 26" wheels?

On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 8:34 AM, Seth Vidal wrote:

The discussion of good kids' bikes comes up from time to time.

I caught this today on fastboy cycles' blog/flickr feed and I thought
some of y'all may be intrigued:

http://www.fastboycycles.com/teachingcancertocry/?p=829
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fastboy/7419479154



thought some of y'all might find it interesting.

-sv

--

[cyclotourist]

A good kid MTB to consider is the Specialized Hotrock 24. I'm very happy with the one we have. Enough so to buy a second for kid #2! You already have a 24", but if you find a cheap used Hotrock, check it out. The newer ones are de-contented a bit over the ones a few years old.

I'm really obsessed on weight of kid bikes. More so than mine!!! So many weigh in at, or over 30lbs. That's 50% of my kid's weight! It's like 170# me trying to ride a 85lbs bike up a hill! The Hotrock is lighter (forget what exactly, maybe 25#???) than most other 24" bikes, and the aforementioned Conquest 24 is super-light for the segment. Somewhere around 20 IIRC.

I mentioned it before, but so wish someone would be a distributor for Islabikes here in NA. They really seem to get the kid thing and have really focused on the market. This is the bike I would love to have for my kid: http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/luath26.html

Anywho, wasn't Grant mentioning a kid-bike recently? That will be a really interesting development in the marketplace. It would be one of those investments that keep on giving for a long time! I think it was 20" though, so my kids are pretty much sized out consideration.

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[Andy Smitty Schmidt]

I think the end result of the Rivendell kid's bike was that a prototype was made but in the end it was going to be too expensive for a kid's bike. 

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[Mark Fredrickson]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: We need to bug Surly to make a kids bike. It can have super fat tires or whatever kick they are on this week. I've emailed them. I encourage everyone to do the same.

[cyclotourist]

Surly would be a good one. Especially as the folks that work for them start having more kids! When I mentioned "someone" should import Islabikes, I was specifically thinking QBP (Surly's Big Poppa). But Surly doing a 20, 24 then a 26" bike would be just as awesome. The 26" LHT is almost perfect, so just doing a 20 and a 24" version would be pretty cool. But cost is the kicker. It would have to be a loss-leader to promote the brand. I imagine all kid bikes are like that from Tre-special-iant. I don't know if Surly could work that way.

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[singlecross]

We have been happy with a Raleigh Scout 24" MTB for my 8 year old. We went to this because my son was riding a 20" wheel singlespeed/coaster brake and was getting tired after 8 miles or so of hilly riding, as you would imagine. The biggest improvement was the gears for him because of the hills where we live. Grip shift 3x7 gearing for the hills, Aluminum frame and NON-SUSPENSION! fork. I wish they made the same in a 20" wheel for my 5 year old.

http://www.raleighusa.com/archive/2011-youth/mtn-scout-11/

Adam

Downeast Maine 

[PATRICK MOORE]

I would not discount the better cruiser-type bikes. I bought my
daughter a top-end Electra Townie model (3-i) with 24" wheels for her
ninth birthday and it is surprisingly decent: light for such a bike
(aluminum frame and parts), 3 speed coaster brake plus V brake, bottle
cage mounts. I upgraded the tires (probably needlessly) and it was not
cheap at $700 total with tax from LBS, but it will last her into
adolescence -- it is almost big enough for me with seatpost extended,
and I can ride a 60 with a fist and a half showing.

The Bianchi Milano is also very nice and comes in sizes small enough
for an average 10 year old; tho' my knowledge of this model dates back
two years when I tried to persuade Catie to accept one. (No, she
wanted a pink Townie.)

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[Andy Smitty Schmidt]

The Specialized Hotrock 20 Street is a similar bike with 20-inch wheels. 

--Andy 

[cyclotourist]

That bike is fantastic!

On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 2:46 PM, Smudgemo <rchri...@comcast.net> wrote:

You sometimes just need to build them yourself:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smudgemo/sets/72157629763987691/

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[Thomas Lynn Skean]

I'd've considered the Rambler if I'd stumbled across it. I don't know that I'd've gone for it; it is pricier than the one we bought and basically looks like an identical frame.

 

Unfortunately, what I want is for RBW to sell an Hillborne or AHH in my son's size with Roadeo tubing in my son's size and sell the frameset for $500. Okay, maybe $600. I might even go for a proper-sized Soma San Marco, though I'd prefer that it handle wider tires with fenders. Again, with the $500-$600

 

And I completely understand why that will not happen.

 

:(

 

Yours,

Thomas Lynn Skean

who will have a dilemma when his son fits a 48cm

On Monday, June 25, 2012 8:27:11 AM UTC-5, Geoff Cisler wrote:

I've also been looking at this one:
http://opusbike.com/en/bikes/kids/24/rambler

it looks like a proper city bike, which is the kind of riding we do.  At 27 lbs, it's certainly not light, but it looks pretty rugged.  I figure on our next trip to Montreal, we'll check out a dealer and take one for a test ride.  (or two, since I have twins)

On the other side of the pond, there's also the German brand Puky, which I've seen in person and I really like.  They have 20" and 24" in 3 or 7 speed IGH:
http://www.puky.net/en/mod_produkte_produkt/kategorie/skyride_24_7_alu/produkt/Skyride_24_7_ALU_flieder_schwarz/index.html

I figure that my kids have already had 3 used bikes (12", 16", 20") each, their next one can be something a bit nicer.  But I'm also happy to see all the other options people have posted!

Geoff