YogaKat

I've already worked on the smaller bike that she rides including installing a cup holder and more comfortable saddle, replacing tubes and I always check the air pressure. She keeps me busy.

VegasTriker

I'm glad to read that you aren't trying to put your child on a bike that is too big. It is a serious safety issue. She needs to be able to reach the ground when stopped. I can't count the number of parents I know who bought a bike a size or two too big with the idea, "he will grow into it." That's downright stupid.

There have been lots of comments on how well people got along on department store bikes. Take a good look at this one. In order to add a cheap and nearly useless rear suspension, the manufacturer abandoned the usual, strong, reasonably light diamond frame. To compensate they used oversized, heavy tubing in the frame. It also has nearly useless front suspension which again adds weight to the bike and takes away from using slightly better components elsewhere. Hence, the use of a one-piece crank on the bike. No decent bike ever uses a one-piece crank. That's reserved for the cheapest of the cheap. This bike is designed for the "wow factor," something that looks impressive.

It is not to say that you can't find some pretty decent used bikes in this price range. I have two in my garage, a Cannondale SM800 mountain bike ($20) and a Giant Yukon ($30). The both came from local second hand stores. Neither one has suspension. Both are substantially lighter than any WalMart bike and have much better components. I probably wouldn't have given a second glance at the OPs bike when I saw no quick release wheels and the one-piece crank.

Fastfingaz

I agree with you Gato,,,,

delcrossv

I just like my kids to get results for their work. An no, none of them ride anything new.

YogaKat

Anyone wanna buy a 20.00 bike?

NYMXer

Talk about bargains, I bought (2) Diamondback Wildwood Deluxe bikes, a matching set of men and women's models in great shape with a Thul triple bike carrier for $100. I would post pics but apparently they are too large for this site to download and I don;t know how to make them smaller in bandwidth.

ltxi

Hell yeah. I still think that one would be great workshop wall art.

NYMXer

I like my Farrah poster better, lol

I-Like-To-Bike

My kids just enjoyed riding their bikes, always; neither I nor they ever considered riding bikes as work. The only results we were looking for from our riding was getting to where we wanted to go while enjoying the ride, but then we were never using our bikes as some sort of exercise tool.

Indyspeeddmon

You touch on a subject I wanted to point out. Why does it have to be the kid riding and the adult fixing? We all bemoan the fact that many of todays youths seem to be inept at fixing things but choose to not show them. Buy the bike and teach them how to work on it and/or repair it like I did when I was little. The time spent with dad doing maintenance (major construction in my young mind) sparked a long ongoing history of wanting to know why things worked and how I could make them better. Now I'm not saying let the kid handle it all because we all know how unsafe that would turn out, but let them grow use the cheaper bike to learn and grow. If they don't take to riding or badly mangle something, at least your not out a huge amount.

YogaKat

You bring up a good point. I know while adding the couple of additions, she was wanting to help (and I let her.) She also insists on working the air pump until I tell her when to stop. Kids really do tend to want to join in on these kind of things, especially when it comes to their very own bike - new or old. Plus it really makes me proud that she is learning to be an independent girl, like her Momma. (Even if I haven't mastered spotting the best bikes at the garage sales yet. haha)

rekmeyata

This is true, I actually tried to teach my daughters how to do their own repairs on bikes but they were completely mechanically challenged, however my oldest grandson who is 7 is slowly coming around. Some people, like my wife, just will never get it, she can't even put air in the tires? Maybe that's because I'm around so I don't scream at her to do it, I just smile and say "yes dear" and go put air in her tires.

This is how bad my wife is with mechanical problems, she comes home one day and tells me the car is making a funny noise, funny noise? she never hears odd noises, so I go out to the car and as soon as I turn the key I hear a rod hammering...that was the funny noise she heard and still drove the car 23 miles home from when it started!

SloButWide 

To be fair, I have the male-linked gene that gives me an extraordinary ability to not see housework that needs to be done :-)

rekmeyata

Yes, I do to, so I guess that's how the men get back at their wives for not having any mechanical abilities...we have no housework abilities.

no motor?

I learned a lot from repairing things with my grandfather. Somehow we never worked on too many bicycle projects, but those other repairs made us closer and I know they were a lot of fun for him.

delcrossv

So do mine. As usual you intentionally miss the point.

Edited by Moderators

bakes1

Children have been riding mass produced, poorly crafted and poorly assembled bicycles for 50 years.
It is not the ideal scenario but there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. A dad or a knowledgeable friend usually was around to gave the bike a once over to make sure it was safe and off you went.
As a similar comparison, most children have also traditionally worn the cheapest sneakers and shoes for about the same amount of years. I grew up playing basketball all day in cheap canvas Converse sneakers. I survived and grew to love those sneakers and still wear Chuck Taylors when I can to this day.
Do you think that the new drivers of my generation all drove top quality cars that were perfectly assembled when they first got their license? Not in my area and I grew up in a pretty affluent section of North Jersey. Our county is annually rated as one of the top 25 in the country and has been for years. We drove some pretty damn cheap and old cars for the most part.
I wish I still had my original poorly made Schwinn Varsity 10 speed bike. I would ride the hell out of that heavy beast today.
Do you think your judgement as it pertains to bicycles these days is clouded because you seem to be a serious enthusiast?
I don't mean that in a bad way but it sure seems like maybe it is.

pacificaslim

I figure kids should start out on bmx bikes and do all sorts of crazy things on them at the age when falling really doesn't hurt. Then move to mountain bikes, and finally road bikes. That way they will be adults that have great bike handling skills, have the ability to fix and modify their own bikes, and will be as puzzled as I am that there are people who crash in all sorts of weird ways or can't unclip their feet and fall over or take more than ten seconds to figure out how to ride on rollers!

ramzilla

That's pretty advanced stuff...............

CannedPakes

Turn it into a racer!



Walmart bikes are fine. I commuted on one for a couple of years. Eventually the back wheel got so bent that I had to remove the rear brake to keep it from hitting.

veganbikes

That doesn't sound fine at all, it sounds down right dangerous and a real bad idea. One should never remove a brake unless they are adding another brake to replace it (at least for non-fixed gear bikes).

CannedPakes

Forgot to mention I got the wheel fixed for $20 and my grandpa has been using it since with no issues. I beat the hell out of the thing too, surprised it still works at all really.

rob_ralph

About those bargains.......picked this up two weeks ago. $20......YES $20

BobbyG

Twenty bucks for a ride-ready kid's bike, and in her favorite color? GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!

one4smoke

The "high dollar" bikes are severely over-rated, and the store bought bikes are equally as underrated.