Recreational & Family - My 11 Yr Old nds a bike for Boy Scouts - What Kind?

My son, who is not the most athletic child, needs a good mountain bike for scouting overnights and boy scout camp. We are hoping the biking and hiking will help him get in shape.

He is not quite tall enough for an adult bike so we know he will outgrow whatever we get him but we would like it to be sturdy and not too heavy. We like the idea of having shock as well to ease the trail rides.

We have been looking at new and used. What brands should we steer toward? We would like to keep it under $150. We are open to buying used but that would mean relying on ourselves to make a good decision. (No salesman to help us out.) That in itself is a little scary. Advice is welcome.

Are these organized scout trail rides or something? And what scout camp is it? 11 years old sounds like probably still cub scouts, or maybe first year of actual boy scouts? I don't recall the age I was when we moved up.

I remember I used to ride a "Murray" mountain bike back then, no big deal because everyone else had them too. No shocks or anything. I'm not sure if you'll be able to find a bike from a LBS for under $150, so you might be stuck with a Wal-Mart type bike. They are heavy though, and these days have more suspension than is really needed.

I remember when I used to go to Tomahawk Scout Res. pretty much nobody had a bike. Even though it was a good idea, nobody did it. Too much other gear to haul, plus the distances around camp really weren't so far that you couldn't walk. We were on the southern most camp site too (Sioux Camp), farther walk than anyone else... For a couple years a few guys did the horsemanship badge, and they had bikes because the walk was 30-40 minutes minimum I think.


well, enough of my jabbering. I suppose I suggest you first visit a bunch of bike shops in your area, if possible. See what they have for a smaller youth mountain bike selection. If they don't have any, or very few, ask if they can recommend any shops. If you can't find any good actual bike shops that carry something that will work, then maybe check out what the Wal-Mart bikes have to offer.

You could also ask some of the other scout parents in the troop if they have extra bikes at home and if your son could borrow one. Or maybe buy one, then he wouldn't feel bad about borrowing his buddies old bike.

The trail rides are organized and I believe they will break them up for the less experienced boys vs. the more experienced. They do that for the hikes.

I don't know what LBS is. I've seen it mentioned in the forum and I wonder if it a store out west or something? We have Walmart and Kmart here in the Boston area. We looked at Toys R Us yesterday and found a bike that said "Kawasaki" on the body. I don't know if that was the brand of it was just a label to make it look cool for the kids. The price was $139. It had shocks and that funky frame where the seat is free floating from the frame giving that shock absorption as well. My son liked it but it is very heavy. We were not sure if it was a good investment or not. Toys R Us also had a Mongoose brand for a little more that was similarly built but it was men's bike so too big for my son.

I looked in the want ads but as I said, I don't really know about bikes so I can't say what is good or not. I found a UNIVEGA mtn bike 18" for $75. It didn't say much more but I did see adds saying UNIVEGA has a light aluminum frame. I will check out a local bike shop to educate myself a bit more. Thanks.

LBS = local bike shop

Unfortunately a lot of the bikes you'll see at places like Wal-Mart and such are made to look cool, but really aren't that great. If you do go that route, I guess I'd say to avoid ones that have rear suspension, since that will add a lot of weight. The weight, and bobbing up and down while pedaling, will both hurt your son's ability to ride fast enough. I doubt the group will be going on any trails that are so rough that he really needs rear suspension anyway.

Local Bike Shop. Boston has plenty of them.
They should offer some advice on sizing as well as checking the final assembly of the bike. Discount bikes are notorious for poor assembly as well as poor parts.
$150 is a tight budget for a rideable MTB. Non suspension models are fine for off-road use but it is difficult to find them in new models.
You would get more for your money with a decent used bike but you have to be sure it is not damaged or worn out. There is a bike shop in your area that may be worth checking out:
http://broadwaybicycleschool.com/bicycles2.html#reconditioned

My son liked it but it is very heavy. We were not sure if it was a good investment or not.

Sorry to say this, but heavy bikes like those are not good to ride and they will discourage his riding.


I looked in the want ads but as I said, I don't really know about bikes so I can't say what is good or not.

I have an 11 year old son also, but I know about bikes and was able to build him one from parts. Buying a bike without some knowledge is going to make it very difficult. More often than not, you'll end up buying a bike because it looks good, not because it rides well. Unfortunately, there is nothing in Craigslist right now that I would recommend either. I bought my 8 year old a K2 from REI this past spring and it was a good bike for around $200. They didn't assemble it properly though, so I had to fix a few things before he could ride it. You can also try mail order. Ibex bikes has some kids bikes, but they are over $300 and he will probably outgrow it in a year. Finally, you could try Costco. Their bikes are not great, but they are better than ToysRus. However, they are still very inferior to LBS bikes.

Get him a Trek 3000 series or a Specialized Hot Rock, they are around $300 and will last longer than most department store bikes.

Building off what DirtDevil says, if you do go that route, see if the shop you buy from does trade-ins, that way when your son outgrows his bike, he can trade in for an upgrade.

At his age, a good quality bike will not go amiss--kids that age are old enough to take care of their stuff, and he should be able to get a good three years out of it before he hits that major growth spurt.

"Their bikes are not great, but they are better than ToysRus. However, they are still very inferior to LBS bikes."

I would have to disagree with this statement till I am blue in the face. I am a road biker but wanted a half way decent MTB for riding with my 11 year old son. I checked every store in our town of 100k. I ended up back at Toys R Us and ended up with a Pacific hardtail. It is an Aluminum frame and very light. I have used and abused this bike for 2 years now and it still rides like new. Just cause you buy from a big box type store doesn't always mean its a POC. If you do your homework you can find the dept. store bike that is made by a parent company such as Pacific(schwinn). In my area Pacific isn't available anymore and Schwinns are sold in they local big box stores. They are not of the quality components, i.e. Tourney instead of Deore. But for kids it gets them a better bike than the huffy we grew up on and it will last alot longer than the Roadmaster that Wally World seems to love.
Stacey

"Their bikes are not great, but they are better than ToysRus. However, they are still very inferior to LBS bikes."

I would have to disagree with this statement till I am blue in the face. I am a road biker but wanted a half way decent MTB for riding with my 11 year old son. I checked every store in our town of 100k. I ended up back at Toys R Us and ended up with a Pacific hardtail. It is an Aluminum frame and very light. I have used and abused this bike for 2 years now and it still rides like new. Just cause you buy from a big box type store doesn't always mean its a POC. If you do your homework you can find the dept. store bike that is made by a parent company such as Pacific(schwinn). In my area Pacific isn't available anymore and Schwinns are sold in they local big box stores. They are not of the quality components, i.e. Tourney instead of Deore. But for kids it gets them a better bike than the huffy we grew up on and it will last alot longer than the Roadmaster that Wally World seems to love.
Stacey

"Their bikes are not great, but they are better than ToysRus. However, they are still very inferior to LBS bikes."

I would have to disagree with this statement till I am blue in the face. I am a road biker but wanted a half way decent MTB for riding with my 11 year old son. I checked every store in our town of 100k. I ended up back at Toys R Us and ended up with a Pacific hardtail. It is an Aluminum frame and very light. I have used and abused this bike for 2 years now and it still rides like new. Just cause you buy from a big box type store doesn't always mean its a POC. If you do your homework you can find the dept. store bike that is made by a parent company such as Pacific(schwinn). In my area Pacific isn't available anymore and Schwinns are sold in they local big box stores. They are not of the quality components, i.e. Tourney instead of Deore. But for kids it gets them a better bike than the huffy we grew up on and it will last alot longer than the Roadmaster that Wally World seems to love.
Stacey

The main problem with buying a bike at a place like Kmart or Bennys is not so much the bike but the assembler. They are not bike people and have little or no idea of the importance of proper assembling. There is a very high probablity of a major malfuntion within the first week or even the first ride.

If you do go to one of these place for an inexpensive "starter" bike, get it in the box and have is assembled at a bike shop.