Riv'ing out a kids bike

[Gabriel DeFelippis]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and wanted to know if anyone has done this to a kids bike. Did the children immediately roll their eyes? What kind of handlebars did you use? Most kids bikes come in either an extreme paint color or a highly feminine paint color, did you repaint it to something more pleasing for everyone?

[Edwin W]

I have done this with many kids bikes: adding fenders (Wald stainless steel), dynamo lighting, cloth type and twine, racks... all with either very little interest/appreciation by my (otherwise wonderful!) children, or eye rolling, or even occasional disappointment. The bikes in the shop window look cool to them! You may be able to eke out a little bit of cred by the bike shop employees who say "man, your dad made you a cool bike," but don't count on it (the kids liking it, not the mechanics' reaction - they will appreciate it).

Helplessly hoping,

Edwin

[Jim Whorton]

Great topic.  The approach at our house was, I took my 7-year-old daughter to the art supply store and she picked out spray paint.  Then we stripped her bike (a very un-Riv hand-me-down with a suspension fork and grip shifters) to the frame and hung it from a tree branch, and she painted it (green and blue, it took her 5 minutes).  Then we put it back together (mostly I did, but she helped) and put a basket on it.

So it's Riv'd out in the sense that she made choices about it, the whole process was fun, and she loves it.  She knows how the gears work.  When she's taller we'll find another cool frame and then we'll work on friction shifting.

We kept the components intact, including the handlebar--she doesn't care about that.  We added a bell and the gaudiest reflectors I could find.  And we didn't spend much money, so I don't freak out when I see it standing in the driveway without a lock on it.

Jim in Rochester

[A. Douglas M.]

I zip tied a strawberry basket to my son’s handlebars and he loved it. 

They all have bells.

I also cut up reflective tape and let him put it where he wants. 

Best,

Aaron in El Paso 

[Gabriel DeFelippis]

Would be nice to find a rigid replacement for the front fork. Not sure why a 24 inch bike needs suspension. If anything I want my kids to be shooken up a little bit. I'll update this thread as the bike becomes more rivendellian. Right now I've picked up a specialized hotrock 24 off craigslist and pulled it all apart. I am thinking about stripping the paint and clearcoating the aluminum. Maybe it'll look like an airstream when I'm done