Kids Bikes

[strombad]

My first "real" bike (22") was a Norco. Probably 15 or so years old and still does just fine. Rode it back and forth to school everyday (even a fair chunk of winter days) for about 7 years without any real maintenance.

10/10 would buy.

[macker]

Kids won't know the difference for bike weight for the most part. Just the parents who pull a rotator cuff loading the bike I think Norco is a good choice, Canadian based, although aren't they owned by CCM now? Haven't had to buy one in a long time as the Norco we have has lasted for years.

[Clarkey]

The difference is in the weight, with all the hills in Calgary it takes more juice for them to get going. Even some of the bikes at Bow Cycle are just as heavy as the Walmart/CT special. I think the Specialized were pretty light, I would look on Kijiji for a Specialized.

For guys with 2-5 year olds, I got those run bikes for my kids last year and my 3 year old was riding a 2 wheeler by the end of the summer and my 2 year old was close (had the technique but not the patience).

[pylon]

Yup, if I wasn't such a vain cyclist, I would be all over Norco. You get all the top end build elements of high end, without the 'cache' of the more boutique brands. I have always considered Norco to Trek and Specialized, what VW is to BMW or Mercedes. Plus I believe they are a Canadian company. They hit that perfect mid range niche.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Clarkey

The difference is in the weight, with all the hills in Calgary it takes more juice for them to get going. Even some of the bikes at Bow Cycle are just as heavy as the Walmart/CT special. I think the Specialized were pretty light, I would look on Kijiji for a Specialized.

For guys with 2-5 year olds, I got those run bikes for my kids last year and my 3 year old was riding a 2 wheeler by the end of the summer and my 2 year old was close (had the technique but not the patience).

Run bikes are awesome, our 3 year old will be riding a pedal bike by probably about June this year. They learn balance so fast on those things.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by pylon

A $99 Walmart Bike, will likely get ridden very little, ride like crap, will be worthless after a year or two, and will likely be broken half the time. If you buy your kid a top end bike, with good components, with some simple maintenance, it will be worth half of what you paid still in a couple years, and your kids will love riding it, if for no other reason to ride around and show it off a bit. My old man always ended up buying me really nice stuff he couldn't really afford, simply because I destroyed cheap bikes with how hard I rid them. In 1983 he bought me a $600 Diamond Back Pacer 500 (the Ferrari of BMX bikes back then) and I rode that thing for 5 years, and I maintained it like a master mechanic, because I knew how special it was. I saved all summer to buy my First Kuwahara Mountain bike in 1989, and it still hangs in my parents garage, and is completely rideable, as I always kept it well tuned and maintained. In fact my dad still uses it a few times a year.

Almost all the guys I know, that are huge into cycling in their middle age, typically had really nice stuff as kids. We always talk about our old top end BMX's and First Specialized or GT Mountain Bikes like they were awesome old Hot Rods. In fact, even as a car guy, I am sooner to hand someone the keys to my BMW, than let ANYONE, so much as touch my totally personalized and personally hand built Devinci I painstakingly put together over 2 seasons with exactly selected components.

A good bike is truly an investment in your kids future if they latch on to it young. Worst case scenario, you buy them a nice Jr. Trek, Giant or Specialized, they hardly use it, and you can get 60-70% of your money back on Kijiji. I do know, some shops offer youth trade up programs too, that will soften the blow.

Just my 2 cents.

Couldn't agree more. My wife went and bought a kid's bike (he was 6 at the time) from Toys'R'Us. This thing weight more than my mountain bike from 2000. He absolutely hated riding. It's unwieldy, too heavy to ride up any kind of incline, and the brakes are so horrible that he's scared about going down any kind of incline.

[Burke Salad]

Raleigh used to make a quality cost efficient bike as well on par with Norco. not sure if that is still the case though?

[Northendzone]

Have you tried looking on pinkbike.com for a used one.

Otherwise, I'd go with the middle of the road bike - save your money for when they get older.....

[aaronck]

I'm looking for a bike for my 10 year old for this season, went by sport chek and they had a few bikes that would fit her, but none with an an aluminum frame. I'm going to start looking at Kijiji and maybe some bike stores to see if I can find an used or last year's model for a bit of a discount.

[bossy22]

Bow Cycle is having an early bird Blue Light special coming up Mar 29-30. They also carry a couple of used bikes from customers who can't be bothered with kijiji and are upgrading. They quite often will have one or two kids bikes.

[burn_baby_burn]

Look on Kijiji. Like other people have stated in this thread, kids will get a new bike and hardly use it before they out grow it. Plenty of those on Kijiji. I paid $20 for a bike for my son a few years ago, sold it for $40 on Kijiji after a years use. Found another one for $20. Take advantage of the young innocent minds not caring how much you spent on a bike for them while you can.

[habernac]

department store bikes might be ok for the newbies, but please buy them a decent bike shop bike when they get older. They'll thank you for it. I've still got a Redline BMX frame I got in 1982. The Canadian Tire specials from that decade and the two following are long ago in the landfill.

[GGG]

So what I ended up doing was Kijijing a departement store bike for $30 while I will still keep an eye out for an aluminum framed new or used bike. I see going to aluminum frames and getting to the sub 20lb weight as the biggest advantage in spending more on a kids bike. I don't think things like the steal framed treks provide any advantage over a department store bike.

For the 20" bike next year a bike shop bike will definately be purchased.

[kevman]

The biggest thing you get with buying a bike shop bike vs. a department store bike is that you can be confident that the bike shop bike was assembled safely. If you're confident with your mechanical aptitude and can check over the bikes there is nothing wrong with a cheap bike at that age.

Now when they're finally big enough to ride a 26" bike that's another story...