Originally Posted by
Bad Lag
Those were things the OP mentioned as needing to be changed. I don't disagree, sort of, except to say I think this bike is, overall, the wrong starting point.
Does the OP ever post here any longer? I wonder how his kid is doing these 13 years later.
It's probably due to them wanting to upgrade it with the square taper. He also said he wants to upgrade the brakes but they don't need to be replaced in order for it to work. I don't think kids are that picky when it comes to quality of bikes. I don't think I realized the different types of cranks in which ones were better until I was 13 years old.