Does The Boy stand a chance?
 

So last weekend I took The Boy (age 7) out the the "local" BMX track and had him take a look. He's hooked. He wants to race this weekend BUT he does;t want his "nice" bike stripped of farkles and beat to bits. I have had the extreme good fortune of having a totally beat Redline 340 AND a Fitbike Tech1 donated to his race team. The Redline is in pieces and it looks like he'll be running the Fit this weekend. Does the boy have a chance?

Are you asking if he has a chance of winning?

Anything is possible, but the main thing is that he try and most importantly has fun. The rider makes the bike so what may hold him back is lack of experience if this is his first race, and never been on a track before.

Good Luck this weekend!

If this is going to be his first race, let it be a fun race without the pressure of winning (which is unlikely) due to the learning curve of more than just riding a bike.
There is the start to learn, holding lines, protecting his lines, riding very close to others, endurance at race speed and more. Let him make as many practices as he can and repeat to him that practice is not a race, there are no winners.
Good luck, have tons of fun, take pics and share them with us.

If h's 7, he may well be riding against kids who have been doing this for 3 years already , - just like any little league sport

Best to consider it a victory if he doesnt eat it hard

Took him for a test ride on the Fit. Total no-go. The cranks are too long and he doesn't like that he can't sit down at all. I told him that he's going to have to race his Schwin Predator and that went over like a fart in church. I'm seriously going to wind up with, like 4 fridge bikes for this kid. Still, with a total investment of about forty bucks in parts so far it could be much worse.

Is it a vintage Schwin?

Sounds like he may need a JR sized frame.

It's a mid 2000s bike. He definitely needs the Jr. Frame. I got him a low-end Redline from a not-very-local bike shop today. Cheep money, already tuned up, no emotional attachment. It was a good find.

Awesome, was it in time for the race?

Yes but he couldn't race this weekend. Were training for next weekend though.

Keep us updated with his progress!

My last race bike was a Schwinn Predator back in the 80's. I got it the first year black chrome was available (IIRC) and used some of the best parts from my Redline. Looking back the RL was probably a better bike but that black chrome was so sexy.