Originally Posted by europa

Prepping a bike for your son?
Take him to the lbs and buy the best quality cables, inners and outers they have. Buy brake blocks. Buy tyres and tubes if they're the slightest bit iffy.
Take all the stuff home and then make HIM fit it all, with you teaching/guiding him. He's going to have to do all of this stuff during his time with the bike so teach him now. Lubricate the cables and if the bike's going to spend any sort of time out in the elements, show him how to add a bit of lube from time to time.

To quote James May (of Top Gear fame) - the best thing my father ever did for me was to make me to fix my own bikes.