jazzstep

Hey there! So I'm looking for a bike for my son, we had him fitted the other day and it looks like a 43 or 44cm frame will work out fine for him. Any suggestions? I'm hoping to get something around the $350 price point.

Bob Dopolina 

I saw some really nice bikes for kids made by PRO LITE. I don't know what price range they were in as we wwere at a trade show.

PhotoJoe 

Looks nice, but more than I'd spend on a growing 10 y/o.

A quick CL search brought up for 43:

https://www.searchtempest.com/results...min&maxAsk=max

and for 44

https://www.searchtempest.com/results...sk=&subcat=bik

Good luck. I've been tempted to get my 12 y/o daughter a road bike, but I'm not sure they make them in 38cm frames!

Bob Dopolina 

^^^One is a track bike and the other...is a boat anchor.

I did assume the OP was after something a bit nicer since he had his son 'fit' for a bike.

It should be possible for a 10yr old to ride the same bike for 2 seasons then still have a decent bike to sell. At that point they should be into a normal sized road bike and the options open considerably.

ColinL

silly question: don't kids this size normally ride 24" ?

Inertianinja

I looked into this recently.

You're looking for a bike with 24" wheels...the Felt F24 is one...(pinarello manes one too)

New ones are about 750

PhotoJoe 

Sorry Bob. Didn't mean to step on your toes. I was going off the OP's statement:

Just providing options.

Bob Dopolina 

No worries. No toes were stepped on in the making of your post.

Always a good thing.

canam73

Get him the boat anchor. Then in a few years get him a carbon bike and unleash him on the junior racing seen. He'll be a friggen rocket.

JetWave

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/dawes/lt_dt.htm

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/..._al_xi_sc1.htm

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/dawes/lt1000.htm

I brought this used for $300. on CL for my 12 year old girl, even though it is on the heavy side, she is just thrilled to have a road bike like her elder brother & dad.

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/dawes/sheila.htm

DinoShepherd

No pics sorry. My girl has one of the 24" Redline C-X bikes. We are mostly a C-X family, but she rides it on the road. If you wanted you could find some road tire for that bike. Really nice bike.

The problem is that its over your budget. And they are really heavy for what they should be. It comes with the group below Tiagra.

In my quest to pull pounds. She now has a 1x8 setup. I replaced her left shifter with a compact Cane Creek brake lever only. Replaced the boat anchor seatpost. Got her a Ti railed saddle. Slapped a short cage XTR rear derailleur on it.

Still a bit heavy, but is getting there. The next step is some new wheels. The fork is a lost cause, but I am still looking for a nice 24" carbon C-X fork. Bob? Got a source?

The sad fact is that there is very little nice stuff out there. But building it is half the fun.

Bob Dopolina 

A 24" carbon fork for cantis? Fork rake?

That's a pretty tough one.

DinoShepherd

Thanks for the reply. No, I don't know the rake. But I would be flexible within a pretty wide range. You really think such a thing may exist?

I more put that out there as a general frustration with finding quality 24" bike parts. But this is the natural result of the market being so small. I mean, her bike weighs more than a full-size bike. And she's dragging the thing over barricades.

Sadly, the kids will all very shortly grow out of it soon enough.

carpediemracing 

Friend of mine has a similar age daughter. She has a Schwinn road bike, 24" wheel, "stock". It seemed fine other than the wood-like brake pads.

I wanted to mod it (tires, tubes, maybe alum chainrings, etc) but he was more in the "if she likes this then she'll love her first 700c wheel bike" attitude (and he likes to optimize bikes). She rides around with her mom and dad, both good riders (mom is a former Cat 2, dad is a former Cat 3, both had stopped racing for many years, both are itching to get into it again).

kissTheApex

Take a look at this thread in "Rec& Family. Even though the bike mentioned there is a 39 cm, you may find one in the size you need and it seems to fit your price criteria.

There is also the Mercier Galaxy from bikesdirect, but the XS (42) is sold out, and the next available size is 46 (Sora STI, $299 if I remember correctly), Gravity Avenue (43 cm, $310) and Dawes Lightning1000 (44 cm, $390) to name a few.

Then there are the usual Pinarello, Fuji Ace type of kid's bikes, but I believe they're considerably above your set price.

Grasschopper

What size? I didn't see the child's dimensions mentioned. My 10 yr old is 5'1" and I'm looking at bikes with 700c wheels for him. Looking like $500ish unless I go bikesdirect...still waffling on that one.

twodownzero

Toe overlap will be a serious problem at that size with 700c wheels.

Bob Dopolina 

I feel your pain. My son will be 5 in a few weeks and he's already on his second bike. I've got my eye out for the next one (it's like buying a new bike for me but my wife can't give me any grief!)

I had a quick look and think I found an aluminium fork but carbon would require some serious digging.

Grasschopper

I agree but there are only a handful of readily available options for him. 24" will be too small for sure...650c is the way to go and if my LBS could get this Pro-Lite bike I would probably go that route. What other 650c bikes are out there (that aren't girlie looking)?

carpediemracing 

I didn't realize you were looking at 44 cm 700c bikes. Jamis makes one - my sis-in-law just got one. It's definitely entry level (Tiagra) but it was inexpensive. They make them in different materials I think.

mark1974

does he have big guads? is he going to drope the hammer? these are some important aspects to take into consideration before buying a bicycle

John_V 

Check the Fuji web site. They make a 24" and a 650c size road bike for kids. I was going to get one for my 10 y/o grandson, since my LBS carries both of them. I decided to wait as he is just growing too fast and would outgrow even the 650c bike in less than a year. When his growth spurt levels off, I'll get him a road bike to fit him.

Edit: The last I checked, they were running right at $375.00.

Standalone 

Small MTB $100 on CL. Slick tires. Drop bars, new stem, brakes (make sure you get the right ones if you have V-Brakes-- canti brakes will work with road levers) and barcon shifters. Accesorize as you see fit. Can be done for $350. You can probably sell it for reasonable money since kids' road bikes are rare.

The 559 Bead Seat Diameter of a 26" MTB wheel is pretty close to the 540 bead seat diameter 24" vintage road bike that I got for my son this winter.

here's an image of a converted MTB.

picture it with a road stem, and a smaller frame. Even that one is way small for that guy.

Grasschopper

Awesome thanks that looks nice...now can someone explain why there isn't a Fuji dealership within 45 miles of my home?

jazzstep

The Pro-Lite bikes are super cool, I've never heard of them! Thanks so much for that link, I'm going to inventigate, but so far I can't find any place in the US to buy?

I've looked at the Fuji bikes, not a bad Price point (I'm obviously going to need to be a little flexible on price, I'm now thinking somewhere around $500), the only think I dont like are the shifters on the Fuji, I'd really like him to start with STI shifters, but maybe I can change these out. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area and having some issues finding a good Fuji dealer strangely enough...

The Felt F24 is sweet, just wondering if I can justify the $700 price point. I'm now looking to see if I can find one used for a good price (This would be great, I LOVE Felt bikes and was considering buying one for myself this year). I also looked at the F95JR. That looks nice with a $800 price point and 44cm, but I'm thinking the F24 may be a better fit.

Paul