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 >> >> > > > -- > Cheers, > David > Redlands, CA > > ** > “I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America > that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I > love.” > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/01fyl4sDdvAJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
