Recreational & Family - Pacific Bikes (anybody know anything about them

I am looking for a 20" bike for my daughter. I think if I could find anything with a few gears it would help here with family rides in our hilly area. One bike I keep seeing is a full suspension 7 speed by Pacific Bikes. I have never heard of this company, I have a feeling it is probably equivalent to Next or some of the other department store brands but I don't know anything about them. Thanks in advance.

I can't speak for the quality of the bike, although I think you are probably correct in comparing them to the Next brand (that's a guess). Pacific Cycle is known for buying out the Schwinn name, rights, etc. in 2001, after Schwinn declared bankruptcy. Again, I'm not sure, but I think I remember seeing that these bikes are made in China.

Stay away from deparment store bikes, expecially with suspension, when shopping for kids.

When the bike weighs as much as the child, it can be quite discouraging.

Personally, I'm quite fond of childrens bikes from Specialized, as they are built more like regular adult bikes.

Here are some things:

http://neterprise.com.tw/pacific/web/edefault.htm

http://www.hoovers.com/pacific-cycle/--ID__104015--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml?cm_ven=PAID&cm_cat=INK&cm_pla=CO1&cm_ite=pacific-cycle

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-02-2004/0002140028&EDATE=

Try a Trek Gary Fisher dealer, both make a 1x7 speed 20" bike.

Bike store. That is where you find bikes. Department stores sell toys. And, a department store that sells Pacific-brand bikes is a store with very little repect for its customers, their lives, and their safety. Not just a toy. A crappy, poorly built toy.

A high quality one speed bike is best for kids. My nine year old nephew has been riding two wheelers since age three. He has a number of good quality one speed bikes. The easiest bke to ride has coaster brakes. No bike company, not ONE makes hand brakes that are well designed for the hand of a five year old or seven year old. So, a one speed with coaster brakes are the easiest and safest design. BMX style one speeds from Giant, Trek, Specialized are tough, safe, unbreakable bikes.

I gave my nephew a 21 speed mountain bike last week. I've tried to convince him to just ride it in one speed until he gets used to its size, weight and handling. But, the first time I was out of sight, he had it "cross-chained" from the largest cog to the large chain ring and jammed the chain. Keeping track of cars behind him, cars beside him, cars ahead of him, using two hand brakes, 21 speeds...information overload for a nine year old.

So, for riding on the street, I'm going to keep him on a one speed. We will use the 21 speed at the park, on grass and dirt. Brakes? The gap between the brake levers and the bars is too large for a nine year old hand. So, he is learning to brake by yanking on the lever with his right hand while steering with his left hand...ought to be a "Nobel Prize" for the engineer that figures out that kid's have smaller hands than adults...and designs a brake lever that is a perfect fit.

Electra is making some very "cool" kid's versions of its "flat foot" designs. Kid's want to be able to put their feet down when the bike is stopped. That usually means having the saddle far too low for effective cycling. The Electra design allows a kid to extend her leg fully when riding, yet have a foot flat on the ground when stopped. Maybe it will be the Electra folks who figure out how to make a hand brake for kids.

currently riding a pacific cycle.I have had pretty good luck with it.but I think I am the exception.Go to a bike store.get a decent bike.start out right and you can't go wrong.

Pacific is the largest manufacturer (by number of bikes produced) of bikes in the world. They produce bikes in a myriad of different names, most are low end mass market department store type. They did purchase the Schwinn and GT names and currently market both of those brands in the US and they are of descent quality.
As already stated the Pacific branded full suspension model will likely be heavy and of low quality construction.
Your best best is to find a rigid hybrid or mountain style bike to start her out on. The investment might be a little more but you can likely make up the difference on resale or at least have the satisfaction of passing it along to another child to enjoy.
Another option, depending on the age and size of your daughter, is a trail-a-bike that attatches trailer style to your bike. They allow the child to assit by peddaling or just hang out when they are tired. They also help develop balance and are a great frustration free intro to cycling. Just my $.02.
Good luck and cherish those family rides.

Pacific is the largest manufacturer (by number of bikes produced) of bikes in the world. They produce bikes in a myriad of different names, most are low end mass market department store type. They did purchase the Schwinn and GT names and currently market both of those brands in the US and they are of descent quality.
As already stated the Pacific branded full suspension model will likely be heavy and of low quality construction.
Your best best is to find a rigid hybrid or mountain style bike to start her out on. The investment might be a little more but you can likely make up the difference on resale or at least have the satisfaction of passing it along to another child to enjoy.
Another option, depending on the age and size of your daughter, is a trail-a-bike that attatches trailer style to your bike. They allow the child to assit by peddaling or just hang out when they are tired. They also help develop balance and are a great frustration free intro to cycling. Just my $.02.
Good luck and cherish those family rides.

Mongoose, Roadmaster, and Huffy were among their other recent acquisitions.

Some of the trail-a-bikes have multi speed variants. There is also the Trailgator option which is a tow bar that mounts between your seatpost and the trailing bike's headtube raising the headtube to act similar to the trailabikes while in transit and quickly detachable for her to ride the bike at some destination on her own.

I can't speak for the quality of the bike, although I think you are probably correct in comparing them to the Next brand (that's a guess). Pacific Cycle is known for buying out the Schwinn name, rights, etc. in 2001, after Schwinn declared bankruptcy. Again, I'm not sure, but I think I remember seeing that these bikes are made in China.

If you'll pardon the pun, Pacific brand cycles are the NEXT step above the Dynacraft brand labels (Next, Vertical, Magna).

Living in a hilly area, I also found that I had to 'graduate' my daughter to a 20" multispeed bike earlier than I might have wanted to. But without it, she would have quickly lost any enjoyment in cycling without constantly having to drive to find 'flat' ground.

Restating some of the above, Pacific is a major player, and offers bikes in a variety of price/quality levels. I started a thread a few weeks back about finding a well design/equipped 24"/21spd Schwinn in Target that pretty much matched the Trek my daughter rides now. Everything is made in China today (including much of the production from Trek & Giant), so don't let that comment scare you.

The big issue is service. To me, putting in some time to get the Pacific 20" 5spd bike that I bought at a yard sale a few years ago in top shape for my daughter was time well invested. If fixing bikes isn't for you, then go to your local bike store and buy this service as part of the purchase price.

Steve

Thanks, to all the great replies, to the MEB I have the trail-gator that you were talking about. That works great currently my daughter is riding a 16" wheeled bike and I hitch here behind me till we get to the local Rail Trail then unhitch her and she can ride there as that is almost all level. I have decided to purchase a Raleigh Rowdy 20" wheels 6 speed. It is still a fairly heavy bike but has decent components etc.