Recreational & Family - $239 bike for 7 Year old?

I just saw this thread. Expensive bikes for kids, come on!! really ;)

Just playin' . I already have two bikes I custom built for my daughter (even though she just upgraded from her tryke to a Jamis with training wheels. and now that our son has arrived, last wednesday at 06:58hrs, I will need to build him a bike also. When the bikes are compleatly finished they will be pricy and if my little one keeps going like she is now they will get beat all-to-hell (she already rides off curbs and no handed :D ).

I mainly do it because I love bikes and building up custom rides even if they are not my own. I am not to worried if she will like them because she loves any bike. I just happen to be able to build her nice ones.

:beer:

Keep in mind, there are good Target bikes... and Wal-Mart bikes for that matter. I remember my first "real" bike was a Kent (make all the jokes you want, I don't give a crap) that had gears... breaks... the whole works. I did'nt get a more expensive bike until I was 11 and my dad knew that I loved riding bikes. Personally, I don't think $237 is too much to spend on a kid... but thats just my opinion. Compromise and get your son a Schwinn from Wal-Mart.

By all means buy a Wal-Mart bike. Then go out and buy yourself a bike which weighs in the region of 150lb

Kids can have fun on an el cheapo (for roughly 2 miles), but he'll love going out with dad on a "proper" bike for "proper" rides and he might astonish you how far he can ride.

One of our club's 8-year olds did the 70-mile Wetherby-Filey charity ride in Yorkshire and killed his dad on the climbs - tho' he did flag a bit over the last 10 miles

I bought my kiddo a really nice bike from Target for his birthday last June. It has suspension, grip shift gears and it's pretty light. I think we paid about $80 for it. My husband is very mechanical so he was able to make sure everything was assembled correctly and my son really enjoys riding it. We have started riding to and from school instead of driving and he is getting a real thrill out of that. When he outgrows/wears out his current bike, I would consider getting him a nicer one but only from a bike company that offered a trade-in program. Otherwise, I don't think it would make much sense. On the other hand, if my son REALLY gets into cycling, we might consider an upgrade. However, we would require our son to do something (odd jobs, whatever) to help finance the bike as we feel that would teach him a valuable economic lesson.

We've all seen parents buy their kids brand new cars when they first start driving... it doesn't make a lick of sense. I think the same applies for bikes. Just my 2 cents worth - good luck in your decision and take care :)

To add more fuel to this debate while working yesterday at a shop I sold a $549 13" Fisher Marlin. Why I mention this, granpa bought it for his grandson so he could ride when he visits. Grandpa also bought one but the Marlin was almost twice as much. We had bikes for less than that but they chose that one, amazing!

Last night I came home with a new cassette and chain for my son's road bike, he was so happy that helped me wrench it and today rode it hard. He was so happy with the gearing change that we're riding again tomorrow morning.

If the bike is going to be used to ride around the block, to the friends house and left unattended go ahead and buy the department store bike. If the kid is passionate about bikes and riding and the parents can afford a nice ride go ahead and get it.

For whatever it's worth, I've been frustrated with the 'cool looking' xmart bike purchased for my son by his aunt. The bike it too heavy for him to put away properly in the garage and it lacks mounting points for fenders and racks, forcing him to carry his books in his backpack, which affects his balance a bit.

We use our bikes a lot for running all sorts of errands along with commuting to work and school. This 'gift' bike has been a real irritation. I can't wait till he outgrows it. Unfortunately, it's also a bit too big for him and he LOVES it 'cause it looks cool. Sigh.

The answer to the question of bike purchase is the same as for any purchase.

Buy as much bike as you can afford - no more, no less.

I bought the $54 x-mart special mountain bike while I was on a business trip for a week and a half, just to commute from my hotel to the client's site and do some site-seeing (in a city I lived in for five years). The bike really was a piece of junk. I broke a pedal and burst a tube in less than a week, the seat was little more than a hunk of steel with a faux-leather covering, the bike thought it knew what gear I wanted to be in better than I did (index shifting. right.), and the front brake moved about half an inch out of place by the end of the trip. Not to mention that whoever built it had mis-adjusted both brakes to make them almost entirely useless.

To be entirely fair, I didn't expect much more from the bike, and I bought it just to junk it when I came back home (cheaper than renting for 11 days). The requirements for an adult bike are also a lot higher than for a kid's bike. I doubt a 30 pound kid is going to break even a cheap, plastic pedal, short of crashing the bike.

I also had a 20" x-mart hand-me-down that I learned to ride on, and while the thing was as heavy as truck, it also outlived several higher-priced bmx frames and forks in my early teenage years.

I steer anyone I can away from crappy bikes, but sometimes there just isn't a good alternative. Buying a used bike is difficult (at least for more casual bicyclists) and sometimes worse than buying at x-mart, and not everyone can afford better. It's pretty hard to make someone see the value represented in the $200 price disparity from x-mart to LBS, and that value diminishes to very little if the bike is not used very often.

I think alanbikehouston might be on to a worthwhile venture (making cheaper, quality bikes). I think the problem would be packaging a bike with directions simple enough for x-mart employees to put it together safely.