| Re: Good bicycles for kids
They aren't allowed to watch television. This cures a lot of the
fad-stuff and they know, from watching how easily their mom and
grandfather ride, that their trendy bikes don't cut it. Furthermore,
sister has started riding to school with them 3 miles and they leave
their bikes and she rides home and then rides back in the afternoon to
meet them to ride home. They have already said they want a bike like
their Mom's (it's a 10 speed, but with the handlebars for sitting
upright?). I'll suggest that my dad take the kids to a bike shop in the
DC area when he is up there next, although a couple of makers names who
make good kids bikes would be a help, since Dad hasn't bought a child's
bicycle since the late 1960s
I have bad fibromyalgia and cannot tolerate riding a bicycle anymore,
but miss it badly - was a milbrat and had the aforementioned bike and
then a couple of Italian bikes bought on the other side of the pond
NYRides wrote:
> You need to be conscious of the fact that kids have a need to conform when
> it comes to something as personal as a bicycle. Yes, the quality of what's
> out there may not seem up to par with what you or I had as a kid, but in the
> end, if you get the kid a great quality bicycle that all the other kids
> laugh at, you're going to lose anyway.
>
> When my kids were pre-teenagers, the movie ET came out and started the BMX
> craze. Up until then, one was riding my old Schwinn Orange Crate and the
> other, my old Schwinn Lemon Peeler. For a while, they were the absolute
> coolest kids on the block. The day after they saw the movie, neither would
> ride those old heaps anymore. Eventually, they each saved enough money to
> plunk down most of the $400 for their new Supergoose 20" bikes that, in my
> opinion, were made like garbage. But at least the kids rode again. I went
> through very similar situations with electronic gadgets, sports, equipment,
> etc. with them over the next several years. Today, they're smarter and more
> practical about their purchases, but at the time, they needed to fit in.
>
> More recently, I ran a bicycle recycling project in my community and
> supervised about 40 kid volunteers per year. I taught them all about what
> makes a quality bike and showed them the difference over and over.
> Fortunately, the kids in this neighborhood come from families that can well
> afford the best bikes out there. In the end, though, these kids all ran
> after the X-Games bikes or those death trap full-suspension mountain bikes
> from K-Mart. I felt like I had been preaching to a wall. But the truth is,
> when you're a teenager, it's not about doing the right thing -- it's about
> doing the cool thing, in spite of knowing better.
>
> Your niece and nephew will fast outgrow anything you buy them at this age.
> I say go to a bike shop (not a department store) and let them pick out what
> appeals to them, as long as it's within your budget. If it's a decent shop,
> they won't let you buy something dangerous.
>
> "vwpalmer" <vwpalmer@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
> news:m22Bd.1194234$Gx4.528381@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
>
>>I've scanned through and not seen much about this - when I was a kid in
>>the 1960s, my father bought me a very nice English-made 3/4 sized
>>bicycle. I rode it for years, then my sister and two godchildren rode
>>it - and it still wasn't worn out.
>>
>>However, I now have a 8-y-o niece and an a 6-y-o nephew and we are all
>>appalled at the dismal quality and configuration - as well as the weight
>>- of the commonly available kid's bikes. Does anyone make anything like
>>what I had as a child? I think it was called a touring frame with
>>non-dropped handlebars and it had a 3 speed gear ... we'd dearly like to
>>get the kids bicycles they can enjoy riding instead of the trashy
>>heavyweights that seem to be standard stock these days. Not a mountain
>>bike, not a bike for stunts, etc. just the kind of bike a kid can ride
>>for a few miles on.
>>
>>
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