Budget Bicycle for My 12 Year Old Daughter

[datlas]

Hi.

I am a fairly serious roadie. My 12 year old daughter is not especially interested in cycling (unfortunately) but she does need a bike for "normal" neighborhood use.

I remember when I was her age, my sister had a 3-speed with an internal gear system. It was simple to use and versatile enough for her use.

I think she would do really well with something like this.

However when I was recently at a dept store, it looks like all the kids' bikes are either single speed ("cruisers") or have rear derailleurs.

My impression is that budget derailleurs are finicky and so I would prefer to avoid them.

Any suggestions??

BTW she probably needs something with 24 inch wheels. She is pretty short for her age, about 4 feet 5 inches and 70 pounds. I might be able to finesse 26 inch for her to grow into. I would prefer a road-type bike or hybrid, not a MTB.

Budget is under 200 dollars.

[andyman1970]

Given her dimensions, perhaps a gently used Trek MT220 off Craigslist? My 10 year old is of similar stature, was terrified of bikes until last year, and now I have a hard time keeping her OFF the bike.

[leob1]

Go used. She will either grow out of it quickly(being a serious roadie you know how important fit is), or not have any interest at all and it will just sit. Get her one that fits her and will be fun for her to ride. And bite the bullet, forget your serious bike, and kit, and ride with her, at her pace, out of traffic. Maybe that will spark and interest.

[MRT2]

Not sure I would worry about a 12 year old riding a bike with derailleurs. My son had a Raleigh with a Shimano Tourney derailleur that worked OK for him for a couple of years. His current bike is an old Trek 800 mountain bike we got used. The derailleur was shot, so we had the LBS replace it with a Shimano Acera X unit, though to be honest, the bike mechanic said that an Altus would have been fine, too.

[dwmckee]

I got my large 8 year old 70 lbs on a small 26 inch Dawes Haymaker 1000 for 300 bucks. It has surprisingly reasonable components for the price, is easy to ride and he had no problem with the derailleur shifting. You may be able to find one used in your target price. Bikesdirect.com sells them. I put smaller street tires on it to make it a great townie bike, which also lowered it a bit too. Not what you were looking for, but propaply a great solution for her.

[dwmckee]

I got my large 8 year old 70 lbs on a small 26 inch Dawes Haymaker 1000 for 300 bucks. It has surprisingly reasonable components for the price, is easy to ride and he had no problem with the derailleur shifting. You may be able to find one used in your target price. Bikesdirect.com sells them. I put smaller street tires on it to make it a great townie bike, which also lowered it a bit too. Not what you were looking for, but propaply a great solution for her. http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/dawes/hay1000xi.htm.

X small size

It has a rock solid Shimano 7 speed rear and triple front.. He is now twelve and tours with us on the same bike. He wiki be approaching a thousand miles on it and it has had zero maintenance since it came out of the box four years ago.