Interesting thread...I'm also looking for a bike for my 9 year old son but may be on a bit more of a budget than the Felt pricing. Any suggestions for used stuff? I've heard mention of occasional sightings on eBay. Any brand suggestions to keep an eye out for? My son and I do ride mountain bikes together (and that's his curb jumper) but he's also expressed an interest in road rides. When he outgrows it he can get a bigger one and give it to his sister...

that sounds awsome (jkimbro) i wish my dad had more time to spend with me when i was younger (im 20 now) and who knows maybe a earlier start in biking or something would have kept me clear of some of the dumber(?) things i did, well anyway start him off learning the matinence stuff and he'll apprectiate it forever, i just purchased my first true road bike this summer after much thought and many years of mtn biking and only wish i started back in highschool,well, i gotta get back to work now.... just sayin props for the involvemtn, it might take awhile but it wont go un-noticed

Saw this Redline Conquest (24") at the LBS yesterday and remembered that it was mentioned in this thread. I took a good hard look at it - it's a nice bike. Is it worth $600 for a kids bike? Tough to say.

http://www.redlinebicycles.com/rl_adult/conquest24.htm

55/Rad

I think it's great that you are getting your son a raod bike at such an early age. I did pretty much the same thing with both my son (12) and daughter (10) and they love the sport. They are both riding the Trek KDS 1000 bikes and have started racing in the junior races. With my kids I have never had a problem with them being too rough on the bikes or anything, they ride them pretty much the same way I do.

Hope you and your son get in a lot of miles.

Dan.

I'm looking for my son too, and the smaller size WSD frames with 650c wheelsets may be a possibility.

"Saw this Redline Conquest (24") at the LBS yesterday and remembered that it was mentioned in this thread. I took a good hard look at it - it's a nice bike. Is it worth $600 for a kids bike? Tough to say.

http://www.redlinebicycles.com/rl_adult/conquest24.htm"

55/Rad

We went to the Cyclocross National Championships in Portland Or. Last weekend and watched the 10-12 Junior race, there were 3 Redline 24" bikes racing. That little 9 yr. old (Logan Owen) in the Redline conquest ad raced in it as well. He ended up 2nd, not bad for a 9 yr. old racing against 12 yr. olds? The Redline pits were set up and you could check out all the Redline cx bikes. We will purchase one very soon (Christmas) for my 10 yr. old son. The old hand me down Mtn bike just won't cut it after watching that race.

I recall that Pinarello makes a children's road bike as well...

You might look at TitanFlex.com. They make very small kid bikes for racing.

I haven't found any prices yet, but try http://www.veloargon18.com. They have the "R2" and "D2" for kids at 37 and 33 cm respectively.

Is there a 24" carbon fork made for these little 24" bikes? I would like to lighten it up a bit.

Does Nishiki still exist? That's what my dad bought me when I was 12. Best thing he did for me. 18 years later and still riding........not the Nishiki though :)

I just saw the Trek in an LBS window. I'm not sure about the exact size, but it looked just about like the BMX my son rode when he was 6yr. and very small. Unbelieveable bike, it looked just like a Madone. BTW I shelled out a small fortune on BMX race bikes 15-20 years ago. I cannot believe they are any less expensive than a kids road bike.

I just read through this thread and will put down what I can contribute. As for 24" bikes, there are at least 10 manufacturers making 24" bikes that I have ran accross in the last year. The Felt was our choice as it was the first and the least expensive of the intire line of bikes. I will also say that Felt has been an incredible company to deal with. The other bikes I can recall are Colnago jr. in 20" road as well as 22" road. Vitus makes a model called the North 40cm 650c wheels. Orbea Carrera 24" road, Javelin Dolce 39.5cm 650c wheels, trek 24" HH racing group pista 24. There is one two more I can,t recall at the moment. As for the money, Felt in my opinion, is the best investment. We actually have two of them because I got tired of changing it back and forth from racing to training. Now we have a triple crank training bike around 19 lbs. and a full out road racing bike at just under 14 lbs. My daughter races triathlons in Calif. I will caution everyone going down this road to think about crank length as these bikes come with 160 cranks for the most part and that is to long for most of the kids that crawl on this bike. As with most bikes, "wheels" are the biggest contribution you can make to these bikes. Wheels and tires are not plentiful but they are out there. The other huge contribution to the felt has to do with the fork. You can knock nearly a pound off the bike with a CARBON FORK. but they do not make carbon 24" forks that I could find. But I found the fix for now and it is safe and sound and not very expensive. IF your interested let me know.