Time...
 

So my 13 y old can ride my bikes now (i am 46). I ride 60-65cm road bikes, 55-59cm mountain bikes from the 90s.

I recently purchased a 60.5cm Albuch Kotter city bike and have been tinkering on it in full view of the kids, and using his acrylic pens for touch up. He is artistically endowed, I have supplied him with a full set of paints, and so he has the supplies I need.

So today, he said he wanted to ride it. i lowered the saddle a cm, and off he went. No worries on fit, for sure.

Maybe my 65cm french fit bikes are a bit tall, but he can ride everything I own, with practice.

oh man, time does its thing.

I’m not getting rid of any bikes for this very reason

I have two boys that already enjoy cycling on their little bmx bikes, I’m sure they’ll enjoy riding around on daddy’s bikes one day

I’d give anything to have one of my own father’s bikes from back in the day

This is nothing but a good thing,

of course before long the tyke will be faster than you.......

My folks weren't cyclists, but chance made me one. Now my kids are. The youngest has real skills that i never developed.

I'm happy my eldest thinks 80s and 90s splater paint and neon is really cool, and that he likes the 90s mountain bikes I build him for his "new" bikes.

But it seems he is graduating to the road stuff now ...

My grandfather had a Mercier 300 he handed down to me when I went to college. It was laughably small; I was nearly a foot taller than him. He was not a nice man, but I still would have cherished this "heirloom" had it fit me.

Here's hoping my kid gets to be over 6' so he can have my bikes. Definitely looking that way so far.

Me too but he didn't have any, he rode mine when he worked on them and helped make sure I had good ones when I was growing up.

My big hope is that I am transferring a bit of an appreciation of "normal" bikes to them--pre-compact frame size and geo, rim brakes, side pulls or cantis, non electric, rigid, steel (to the extent possible --most little kid's bikes are aluminum today, and i will admit the modern kid's bikes are better than their vintage vorbrearers). Sure, those are my things, maybe they won't be theirs. But if they feel confident adjusting a canti, then they are a few steps ahead in terms of mechanical self sufficiency.

No one in my family, past and present, or friends like riding bikes. They all think I’m nuts and could care less about what’s out in my shop. I don’t think anyone has ever been out to my shop, I kinda like it that way.

Several years ago, my son took over the “10 speed” bike I got back around 1980. I have lots of fond memories on that bike over the years. Hardly anything is original except the headset and front and rear derailleurs (which are workhorse Suntour Vx parts that really show their age). There are some Campy, Cinelli, Suntour Superbe, Shimano, and even Huret parts thrown in the mix! Its not light, but its rugged and functional.
When he first rode it, I had to slam the seat, but he was very excited to have it. By now he has grown into it and it’s about the right size.
He has gotten a lot of good use out of it during high school, and now he has his own memories from it I am sure.
Whatever price my dad paid for that bike, it was a bargain.

When my son was about 15, he asked if he could ride with me in an upcoming charity ride. At the time, he only had a mountain bike, so I told him he should have a road bike, since the ride was 150 miles over two days. He was nearly as tall as me, so I pointed to my 1989 Club Fuji and said "How about this one?" He tried to stay cool about it, but the grin on his face gave away how thrilled he was. Early on, he crashed while reaching for the downtube levers, so he asked me to install a pair of STI levers. He did the charity ride, rode it through high school and took the bike to college (always stored indoors). He said he would always get complements on the bike from his friends when they would go riding together. He still rides it now, 15 years later. When he broke his collar bone a couple years ago, I gave him a trainer so he could ride it indoors while he was healing. I am trying to thin the herd, so I told him I would give him another bike that he could keep on the trainer full time. He thought that was a great idea. He lives in another state, so we haven't yet been able to coordinate the transfer.

My children had numerous bikes growing up. Neglected cycling from about age 15. Now in their mid-30s both are riding occasionally on nice bikes. I predict (and hope) by age 40 they will be regulars at cycling instead of owning flying automobiles.

I know deep down they enjoy riding.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4179ccfed9.jpg
Who doesn't like a Seuss-mobile?

After a day repairing 20 and 24 inch bikes for the little ones after a few crashes, i had some time to turn to the big bikes.

I realized that I got my first real bike, a Bridgestone RBT, around his age now, it made a huge impression. And a few years later, I got an Italian road bike... All down hill from there.

The RBT was stolen, but the Bianchi i have as a frameset still, easy to built it up. And I have a nice French frame that is a bit too small for me that is ready to go...so the big question -- introduce Jr to Italian or French frames first? (I think Italian will be cheaper for me...)

But I just didn't realize that he was already that big and ready for real bikes. If he were just a bit more careful...