My son who is 15 and has shown increasing interest in older road bikes is getting this 1979 Raleigh Grand Prix for Christmas. I have serviced it, rewrapped the bars and now just waiting for tires to arrive. I have a vice stockpile of parts for him to raid and set it up for himself, hopefully he chooses DT shifters and a turkeywingectomy first. Not the best bike out there but a good start and test to make sure its cared for and maintained before a step up.

That's great! good approach to see if his interest stay, and a great way for him to learn the mechanics and patience it takes to care for a bike. I've done the same this year for my daughter, although she already has a nice vintage road bike, I bought her an older MTB for Christmas this year and have gone though it, replaced cables, etc. We both like to ride road and trail so now we both have road bikes and mountain bikes.

You've started the road and path on the way to the c&v addiction/disease.

Is he tall enough to ride that at 15 already? It looks to be something like a 62 cm ST.

Good thread as I just sold a bike to a guy (the father) for his son as a Christmas give. Best business transaction ever, everybody wins.

Good for you, giving him a nice C&V bike speaks volumes about you. Hope he sticks with bicycling and that you both get many quality hours together. I returned to MX racing to spend the last decade with our son when he was a teenager, best thing I ever did, now our daughter has the bike bug so I am delivering the R500 to her home in Atlanta where she lives and works, in January.

Bill

This one is a either the 23.5 or 25.5 I'll have to measure (not good at eyeballing yet) and yes he is taller than my 5' 10", I say 15 but he'll be 16 12 days after Christmas. With how he grows I might have to get a larger frame to play with soon.

Awesome.

A Grand Prix makes a great first bike. It's much nicer than the Free Spirit I started with!

Nice starter bike. Hope you guys have a good time setting it up for him. That's the best part!

Great stuff! Wrenching/home improvement with dad is some very good father and son quality time.

Great gift!
Some of my favorite times spent with my now 16 yr old daughter include riding and working on bikes.

Funny...my daughter is getting a Grand Prix for Christmas too. The one I have is pretty beat up, but she wants something that isn't flashy, but faster than her city bike. So the Grand Prix it is. My son is getting a city bike custom built on a Raleigh frame from Dad.

Aaron

He was very happy with it, not so happy with the three days of snow since Christmas and we haven't been able to go for a ride yet, I've got the Nishiki I posted up to give a run down before deciding on keeping or selling. Still have to find myself a commuter I really like and fits me.

It was my SON (at 12) that dragged me back into cycling, starting with a 52cm Takara he found in the back of the garage. We fixed it up, and the day we did 25 miles, him on that and ME on a Magna MTB (trying to kill me) I got BACK into road biking...with a 79 LeTour IV. At 14 now, He progressed through to a Mangusta and now on a 54cm Team Fuji (86), I'm doing an 87 Bridgestone and my "Modern" 2002 Felt...he is hooked on C&V, and disdains lesser bikes! Great father and son bonding time. We did a 50 mile ride earlier this year for him to finish out his Boy Scout Cycling Merit Badge....and he didn't DROP me! What will he ride next? Well, his brother grew 3-4 inches a year for 3 years in a row at his age....so....have to start planning ahead....have a 64cm AustroDaimler...a 62cm Jamis (frame only) a 64cm Trek 400 (just picked up...basket case) one of those MIGHT do in 2 or three years!

Cool gift! Introduces him to a sampling of new skills and hobbies. Enjoy sharing time.

Very cool, My son also got me back into biking with a garage sale Peugeot Ao8 a few years ago and as the sig shows the collections (especially his) has grown quickly and fitness levels have gone up dramatically.