nuttygrandma

I'm driving up to Chesapeake, VA this afternoon so I can attend my grandaughter's Spring Strings Concert. Since we will be riding this summer, every opportunity I can drive up and grab her for the weekend, with a longer trail at the end of the summer, my plans are to plant the idea that she needs to be fitted with a good bike for her age. She will be 11 in August and the original plans were to buy her a new bike. She has really outgrown that 20" bike she has and I want to move her up to a 24" 7 speed now. I cringe at the thought of taking her on a 16 mile rail-trail in Sept on a bike that is new to her. So, I'm planning on doing a "hard sell" on the idea to let me have her fitted for a new bike at a bike shop.

I'm looking for suggestions as to what brand would be good and grew with her for a few more years. I would rather have her extended family buy her bike gear or what ever else she wants, for her birthday and let me make this investment now. I have found plenty of gentle trails for the summer for us to ride between NC & VA. We have a vacation in the planning progress for August that we can take bikes with us that will also give her another opportunity to get use to her new bike. I just need to know what to look for as far as a bike goes. I don't want to use my LBS since I live in NC so I'm gonna have to find a LBS up in the Chesapeake area, for her.

Any suggestions would be greatly welcomed.

atbman

Hi

Just read your other post. I'm really impressed. As far as this one is concerned, I can't recommend any particular make or type. But you might want to contact https://www.vabike.org/contact-vbf/ aka the Virginia Bicycling Federation to get recommendations about bike shops in the Chesapeake area.

I may be teaching nuttygrandma to suck eggs, but I'd be considering:
1. Type of riding so type of bike suitable
then
2. Budget - if it's coming from her extended family, try and squeeze an extra $100 out of them if that's possible
3. Possible sources of coaching/training, especially if she will, eventually, be riding independently on the road. A good source of road training would be League of American Bicyclists qualified instructors. Don't know if any on the link below would be near enough.
https://findit.bikeleague.org/search/?c=&s=VA&z=&r=5

If not, maybe you could find someone close to you for when she, hopefully, visits you.

Of course, you might want to take the instructor's course yourself

Anyway, good luck and miles of enjoyment for you both

nuttygrandma

Oh, sometimes, I'm just a bag of contradictions. I never claimed to have the patiences of a saint but most people tell me I have too much patiences. Truth of the matter is, I try to chose my battles well. I made my trip yesterday and had several hours before the concert. I made my proposal to her extended family. They were amazingly supportive, even helped me locate some bike shops. So, I got inpatient and went out and bought her a new bike. I offered to take my granddaughter with me but she decline. She was under very strict orders to remove drawings from her hand. It seems she got bored and drew all over her hand. I suggested the use of rubbing alcohol for ink removal, telling her she better hope she didn't have any tiny cuts. So, she stayed home and hit the soap and water. She was gonna look really cute playing a violin with green and pink drawings on her hand.

I found a bike shop, gave them my list of my requirements, including a trade up program for youths and bought her a bike. She was really excited. Her adoptive granddad will also be taking her out on local trails which will give him some quality time with her but it will also help her build some stamina for longer trails. She did complete a bike safety course this past spring. Truth of the matter is, there really isn't much she needs for her new bike. She already had everything she needed. It's just that she had outgrown her own bike.

It was my pleasure to find something that she needed and I was able to fulfill that need. I think that's what grandparents do.

When I left this morning, she was already planning her long weekend with me and what trails she wants to tackle. For a girlie-girl who is not sports minded, she has found her niche.