Best bike for a 6-7 year old
 

Been out looking at a decent bike for my son.

Really want an aluminium frame as he us VERY light for his age and height.

Lots of high end stuff around by Marin, Spesh, Ridgeback and a Halford Carrera.

Any experiences to share? Riding will be country lanes, not much in the city.

Carrera is pretty good used to have one of their bikes myself, no point going crazy as no doubt he will quickly outgrow it

They grow so fast so unless you have tons of money just get one of ebay



* you have tons of money so forget the first part :D


Honestly we got our 11 year old one from ebay and he loves it. That gets passed down to the 8 year old etc

The little princess got a pink expensive one but she is a girl after all and cant have the smelly boys one :D

Decathlon have some well spec'd bikes for sensible money.

D

Got mine one of these for Xmas ... http://www.falconcycles.co.uk/Corporate/CBJ/Beast.shtml .... Fairly light for a kiddies bike. Not really looked at the very expensive stuff but ALL the cheaper kids bikes weigh a ton. Definitely much more than my bike(s). I think the frames must be cast iron!

My lad is quite tall for his age so we got the 24" wheels size. Seat is near the bottom so hopefully he'll get a couple of years from it. Like yours, he doesn't do much "rough stuff" so suspension is superfluous - and the reason for lots of weight on kiddies bikes.

Dave

+1. Both mine 6 & 8 have decathlon bikes (B twin), they are great, and very good value....you can pay silly money for kids bikes...

Lol. An relate to bike weights. Bought my wife a cheap bike as she wanted one to use once in a blue moon. Lifted it up and it weighed a ton compared to my specialized hybrid. Nearly did my back in.

KX65 small wheel :D

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/kawasaki-k...item256b8031a2

Don't go mad at that age, as stated above, he will grow out of it before it's no longer any use.

Carrera etc, yes, but I WOULD look at second hand......

Kids LOVE toys etc, so go for gears, as may as poss, suspension on the FRONT only.

And get ready to start and learn how to maintain it, set up gears etc, unless you already know, or be aware of a frustrating and expensive time to come;)

I am familiar with setting up a bike as I have had my own MTB for well over 20 years.

Personally I am struggling to understand why a 20in bike needs any form of suspension for a kid that weighs in at a massive 15kgs and probably won't even activate it.

To me suspension is for marketing purposes only and only adds weight!!

Found a great thread about a guy who made his own ultralite kids bike for his 5 year old - work of art and weighed in at peanuts. His son won a junior triathalon with it!

I reckon this bike will be important as it will cement his love of cycling (or not) and will last him a good three years as a 20in bike is pretty extendable.

How about Isla bikes then?

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/

Shaun

Thanks Shaun - they are on the list as good quality, lightweight quality bikes.

In the garage I have bikes by Raleigh, Apollo, Trek, Ridgeback, Basso and some elder statesman in the name of Bob Jackson and Falcon......

Overall the best bang per buck new has to be the ridgeback as I bought the previous year model :)

Shaun

Why does it need suspension?

It doesn't:D
But if his mates' bikes have suspension, ah, then that is a whole new ball-game;)

True. But then if he beats all his mates with his "non-cool, no suspension" bike who's the coolest .... :thumb:

I remember as a kid (10 or so) I had some mates over for the afternoon and they came over on their bikes. One lad had a new 5-speed bike, whereas the rest of us just had the old 3-speed Sturmy Archer gears. He left the bike at my house and got driven home and I rode his bike to school the next day. Anyhow, as per usual, my brother was with me on his 3-speed non-cool bike and he beat me to school. 'But you had 5-speeds, that's much faster. How come he beat you'..... Even at that age I thought 'hang on, did he just talk b*llux' ..... :wonder:

You DON'T give in to your kids just because a) they want something and complain loudly and/or b) their mates have got it.

Dave

Both my kids, 7 & 9 Have mountain bikes and regularly do 15 mile rides with me on all kinds of surfaces. Both bikes are non-suspension. They do though, complain that when we are riding trails etc that their arms and hands ache with the vibrations of a solid fork. Therefore, the next bikes I buy them with have a front suspension fork & aluminium frame. :thumb:

Have bid for an Islabike on ebay :)

No, you don't, but if you want happy, accepted kids in THIS day and age, you give them what others are getting if it's at all possible.

My youngest has always been a ManUre fan. When he was 6 he had a red footy shirt, my wife hand stitched a ManUtd badge to it. He proudly wore it to school.

He came home that night very upset. The other kids had laughed at it and called it a fake. He would no longer wear it except at home.

What would YOU do Dave?

These days, for kids, ESPECIALLY boys, it's all about being ACCEPTED.

My son will be cool like his dad - I have no suspension either with a bike that the cognoscenti seem to think has one of the best vintage framesets!

Your choice.
Best of luck with him as a teenager;)

16" - 18" wheeled BMX, he isn't going to get any benefit from suspension if he is lightweight...and if you want him to be cool its the only choice ;)

Good variety here;

http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/catego...Inch_BMX_Bikes

The F-it it probably the pick of the 16"s :)