General Cycling Discussion - Buying my Son a Bike

I've recently bought a Bianchi Eros for myself as I wanted to start cycling because I was bored to death in the gym. My son (Brian) is 13 years old and wants me to get him a road bike so he can ride with me. He's 5'6" right now and has grown a couple of inches just over this summer & I'm sure there's another growth spurt right around the corner. His Dad is 6'3" and I can just tell by the way my son is changing that he's going to shoot on up there -- probably -- himself.

I'm not sure what bike to get for him. I don't want to spend a fortune on a bike that he'll grow out of but I don't want to get a bike he won't enjoy riding when he goes out with me. Any suggestions?

Why not get a bike similar to you'rs if you can afford it of course.. THen he can have one like dad's. at 5'6" probably around a 52-54cm frame.. then when he outgrows it in a year or two buy a new frame. Buy for the components and not the frame, because you know he will outgrow the frame the components he can not outgrow. 2nd option get a used road bike, 3rd option get a tandem :)

You're son is almost as tall as I am right now and I'm 29 hahaha, I was 5'7" when I was 13 and never grew after that, but my dad is only 5'10"/5'11".

As large as a bike as will fit him now, with a sloping top tube and the seat almost all the way down and as short as a stem as possible.

The new compact geometry might work better with a kid growing since they fit a wider range of sizes..

You can buy him the next size up from his normal size and then put a shorter handlebar stem on it and scoot the saddle forward and down.

If you do this, make sure that IN THE SHOP the bike will fit him. With the Handlebars/stem all the way down, and the saddle set to his correct saddle height, the saddle should be roughly level with the top of the brake lever hoods. The bars really shouldn't be too much higher than this.

I'll bet that a 58cm/23" size, in a diamond(non-compact) frame, is going to be as large as you can go. That will allow him ~6-7" of growth. You'll have to get a shorter stem installed, so he isn't reaching to far. And you'll have to change the stem length every 2-3" he grows. If you have a very good shop to work with, they will help you get him set up. I would recommend you learn as much about setup as possible by reading some books on road riding and bike setup.

Obviously the ideal is to get him the perfect size, but if that isn't possible, getting him fit correctly is. Do that and he'll enjoy what he's doing and have a better chance of staying with the sport.:)

Thanks guys! :)

Used is the way to go-there are so many bikes available in his size.