NRissy

I am a school teacher who lives 1 mile from the elementary school where I teach. I can easily bike to school. The problem is my son. I bought a tandem thinking we could ride that to school, Can't make the middle of the block crosswalk because the curb cut outs suck and the sidewalk is too narrow. I have let him ride his own 20in bike twice, but the problem is it is a single speed and we live on top of a big hill, All down hill to school, all uphill afterwards.
I would also like to get back into Mountain biking as we have a have a nice mountain biking place that I would love to bring my son to.

So I am looking at getting him his first geared bike. I have it narrowed down to a couple, now looking for insights from you guys What bike would you buy for your son? Wanting to spend under $500. Any others that I am missing I should consider?

Trek Precaliber 20 7-speed 24.07 lbs, $399
Co-op Cycles(REI) REV 20 6-Speed Plus Kids' Bike 23.93 lbs $399
Polygon Relic 20 25.35 lbs $399
Polygon Premier 20 inch Ultralight 21.16 lbs $249
Polygon Premier 20 in Ultralight MTB 22.71 lbs $269

Trav1s

https://rascalrides.com/best-bikes-kids/ is a great place to begin.

Here are the lessons learned with my 8 year old daughter.

1. Bike weight matters and lighter is better
2. Fit matters and riding before purchase is suggested
3. Local bike shop can be a great resource long after the purchase

If i were to do it again, I would make she was on an aluminum frame bike the entire time.

As to your list, I only have experience with the Trek Precaliber line. Her Precaliber 16 I purchased new was an awesome bike and worth every penny spent. She rode it for 3 years and loved it - light, easy to ride, and very stable.

That being said, I'd go for in person trial with the Trek and REI bikes. Also, last year's Cannondale Quick 20 (very similar to the Precaliber you mentioned) is currently on sale and is a great option IMO. It weights 19.2 lbs so it would easy to ride - https://www.cannondale.com/en-us/bik...ku=C51752U30OS

I have read that Polygon bikes are a good value but the online purchase experience can be frustrating. (FWIW - Polygon and Marin frames are built in the same factory/owned by the same company. The Marin bikes I have looked at were really nice and offer a good value).

If I were to order online (and I was very close with the bike for her), I would look at Woom and Clearly. They have the direct ship model down and provide solid support.

Trav1s

NRissy any luck with your decision process?

SPlKE 

I have a like-new Trek KDR1000. I see you're in Nebraska. I'm in southeast Pennsylvania, looking to sell it locally. Any chance you might be touring the Philadelphia area anytime soon?

https://products.roadbikereview.com/.../kdr-1000.html

Chuck Naill

Check out the bikes at Dick's Sporting Goods. They have both aluminum and light weight steel.

NRissy

Haven't made a decision yet. I have time. My son actually road an old Trek 20 for about 15 minutes at a demonstration and he fit it really well. Has no idea how to shift yet; but that is to be expected.

REI is 2.5 hours away on the other side of Nebraska. Going to be going by there in two weeks but won't have any space to bring a bike back as we are headed on vacation.
Their is a Dicks Sporting Goods in 45 minutes away, may have to check them out and see what they have. They also have two local bike shops so will defiantly spend some time next weekend there.

Not going with the Trek KDR 1000. Not getting east of the Missippi this year and I want a MTB not a road bike for him.

NRissy

Last night I was online and saw that REI was doing an anniversary sale. 30% of their Co-op bikes. That puts their Co-op cycles REV 20 6 speed at $280. With membership, $310. REI is on the other side of the state, little over 2 hour drive, sale goes through the 29th. I could pick it up Tuesday or Wednesday, if needed, but was not planning on driving 5 hours to get a bike this week.
https://www.rei.com/product/143168/c...-mountain-bike

Hopped on FB market place and discovered a Gary fisher Precaliber 20 for $75 that was listed today! It's a 2010 but by the three photos online, it looks to be in good shape.
https://www.bicyclebluebook.com/valu...eCaliber%2020/

My son is 7. He has brothers who are 4 & 2. so we will be using this bike for at least the next 6-8 years.
I am worried that the Gary Fisher will need work done and by the time I replace parts and keep it's 13 year old bike ridable, It would have just been cheaper to but the REV 20.

What are your thoughts?

Trav1s

The Co-op bikes are nice and the big positive over the used Gary Fisher is a solid fork. I think suspension forks on kids bikes are unnecessary as they only add weight. In hindsight, I should have passed on the Hotrock for my daughter for that reason. YMMV

robo

We picked up a Specialized Jett 20" 7sp bike for our daughter recently, and have been very impressed. It was $400 new, so within your budget. We were looking at the Woom 4 (she was riding a Woom 3 earlier) but it was several hundred dollars more expensive and the Specialized was similarly well equipped and lightweight. While it's not marketed as a mountain bike, it is perfectly capable off road, at least for what most kids will be doing with it. Specialized sells a more aggressive 20" MTB but IMO that's a worse bike for kids - it's heavier, for one thing, with a suspension fork of dubious value.

The only thing I felt the need to change on the Jett was to install a quick release seatpost binder. The allen key binder was a bit of a cheap-out for a kids bike where the seatpost height is going to be adjusted often

t2p

Craigslist and FB Marketplace can be great places to find bikes

(just make sure bike is in good condition)

also might want to check local bike shops that sell used bikes and/or bikes on consignment

most of the bikes our kids rode at that age were used - came from flea markets etc - including the two small Gary Fisher ATBs pictured above (top GF Shortcut is 20”, bottom GF Tyro is 24”)

in addition to the ATBs, they also rode BMX racers at that age ... I geared them lower and they were then able to climb fairly well with them ... they can be very light - the one pictured bottom right was around 12 lbs .. maybe 13 or 14 ? ... slightly larger Redline weighed only a bit more

Darth Lefty 

I ordered and assembled three kid mountain bikes this Christmas.

For the girl on the 20": When I was shopping, I thought the Giant 20" mountain bikes looked pretty good. At a higher price so did the Woom and Prevelo. I wound up getting a Spawn because I think she'll be able to tax it before she's big enough to upgrade.

For her oversize twin brother I got a 24" Diamondback Sync'r. It was the best of the three as a consumer product for a dad to mail order and build. Everything well thought out, well packed, included. It was a freaking monster truck. Probably a year too soon for the kid who got it. He'd have fit on the next paragraph's bike I made some changes to make it easier for the kid but it's mostly because of his size, nothing wrong with the basic idea of the bike. I will undo them as he gets bigger and it may last him til he's ten or eleven.

For the older boy who'd needed a 24" for some time I got a Cleary: I was not happy. It had a serious manufacturing error in the frame that Cleary didn't seem to understand, and it wasn't really up to date for its price. Other than that it's a straightforward aluminum mountain bike. If it weren't for the flaw it would have been an amazing deal because they were blowing out their post-covid overstock. They do specialize in kids bikes and they did have a 20" version coming soon. Their steel bikes are unique and long-runners and much more hybrid-style. They are mostly single or 3-speeds.

I can't tell you if the older kid would have liked it because he's a spectrum kid and is still clinging to his Hotrock - which by the way is also a perfectly ok bike. He's starting to look like a clown on it, though

Lots of good info at the website Two Wheeling Tots but if you spend too much time there you'll become radicalized and have to buy a Woom every two years

robo

Darth Lefty what was the "serious manufacturing error" on the Cleary?

Extremeengineer

We've had great luck with Trek and Specialized from the LBS. Daughter was on a Precaliber 20" (SS) till this year, she's 6, when she got older brother's Specialized Riprock 20" with front suspensions and gears. She is loving it and scares the crap out of me with how fast she rides lol, but then that was me as a kid and I only had a few days that required debridement. She does not need the front suspension for where we ride, so I'd forego that weight doing it all again, but the Trek would be a great bike.

NRissy

Ok, I guess I should give an update. I took a chance and got the Gary Fisher, and I am glad I did!
The guy bought it for his son for a Christmas present. In February he took a much better job that moved him here. His new neighbors had two sons the same age as his son. The neighbors also had a pool and dirt bikes. His son never rode the bike. He is cleaning out his garage and I got a great deal!
The bike is in perfect condition!

Extremeengineer

Looks like a great deal! That should serve all the kids well.