underway

Wanting to get an inexpensive bike for a 10 year old girl (gf's daughter) for Christmas.

She does not have much riding experience yet.

So, thinking about 24 inch, (right size she is just under 5 foot), cruiser, with 3 speed internal hub, so it is easy to shift without confusion.

Sure wish I could find one with free wheel and hand brakes, but not yet.

So, is the micargi tahiti 24 nx3 any good? Big problems?

What about micargi rover 24 nx3?

And firmstrong urban 24 nx3?

Any others around $200 bucks?

Or where in LA area to find a better bike used?

Thanks!

Don

kaliayev

The Trek 220 Mountaintrack is a decent bike you should be able to pick up pretty cheap used. I found a 2005 for my daughter to use when she is at my house. It had very low miles (nubs where still on the OEM tires) and cost just $100. She is eleven and quickly adapted to the shifters. Her other bike is a single speed so she also had to get used to to the different breaks and she did this quickly as well.

geo8rge

Used: Craigslist, ebay, flee market, goodwill, freecycle. You get extra points if you ride around on recycling day and pick one out of the garbage, often in near new condition. You might educate yourself on safety issues, search this mesage board. Consider a folding bike with 20" wheels if one is available. I do not know about the hills in your area, but a one or three speed should be fine for her purposes.

If you are handy you can learn how to maintain it on sites like parktools.com and sheldonbrown.com. It is a good idea if she atleast knows about maintaining brakes and tires.

JoelS

My 7yo got a Specialized Hot Rock for his birthday this year. He's already logged about 500 miles on it. It's a hair big for him, but he's managing well. It's a 7 speed. Nice little bike, around $300. And he loves it. Except, now he wants a road bike.

badmother

+1 for a folder. Also a lot of great bikes in dumpsters, fleamarkets and so on.