First Bike for Child?

Ken said:

I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.

A lot will depend on how handy you are with bikes. Toy store and
department store bikes will not be assembled very well, and may be
downright dangerous to ride. Having said that, I've bought such bikes
when my kids were little. I'd pick out a bike that looked fairly
decent, and then spent a couple of hours taking things apart, lubing
and adjusting as necessary.

You especially want to be sure the brakes are adjusted properly so the
child stop reliably. It's also important that the bike not be too big
or small for the child.

Art Harris

Quoted message said:

Hi. I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.

Does a 16" bike fit?

I'm a 50's kid. Learning on a bike that was too big was awful.
Dangerous, too.

Our kids' first bikes were 12's. Ridden with fun and abandon.

(uncalled-for comment dept.):
Both of our kids benefitted greatly from riding (esp. #2, boy) Razor-
style scooters. Also, they used training wheels to wonderfully good
effect and #2 especially made the transition to two-wheels-only easily
because he had the balance thing down from scooter riding. I've heard
agreement on this from other parents. The scooter is a whole lot
easier to deal with while learning than a bike.

(continuing):
We took both to a "real" bike shop and pretty much let them pick out
the bike they wanted ("couldn't have one like mom/dad's"😉. Enhanced,
and substantially more expensive buying experience. --D-y

Quoted message said:

Hi. I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.

Thanks!

Ken

For teaching him to ride it, do the following:

Find a gently-sloping grassy place, large enough that he could have a good
run on the downhill section.

Remove the pedals.

You take the bike up the hill, he takes it down.

Half an hour and he'll be capable of balance and (some) steering control.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Hi. I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.

_ said:

For teaching him to ride it, do the following:

Find a gently-sloping grassy place, large enough that he could have a good
run on the downhill section.
Remove the pedals.
You take the bike up the hill, he takes it down.
Half an hour and he'll be capable of balance and (some) steering control.

That's great advice. I had a friend who taught adults in that manner in
Central Park successfully within a one hour session.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Quoted message said:

Hi. I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.

There's a vast difference between a decent bike from a shop and what's come
to be known in the trade as a BSO (bike shaped object). Mostly it comes down
to just one thing. There's no incentive for the BSO to be sturdy and
repairable. The customer generally has only one contact with those who sell
it, vs the bike shop where there is (hopefully) a long-term relationship
based upon expectations that such a nice bike will, in fact, last... as well
as delivering a great cycling experience such that the customer will want to
come in and buy more bikes from them in the future. I doubt there are many
people who have purchased bikes at ToysRUs who are so happy with them that
they can't wait to come back and get bikes for the rest of their family and
themselves. Could be, but given that they don't have service centers or
stock any repair items beyond generic tubes & tires, if something goes
wrong, the customer is on their own.

It *is* shocking sometimes for a bike shop owner to see bikes being sold for
about what it costs just to ship something. The economics don't make sense,
but this drives us (or most of us anyway, "us" being those who own local
bike shops) to make sure we take our kids bikes *very* seriously. We
consider them "heirloom" bikes in that they'll survive multiple kids. If
someone doesn't have multiple kids, perhaps they know of someone in the
neighborhood who might not be able to afford a nice bike and would love the
use of one. Or a relative. It's not uncommon for me to see kids bikes that
we sold 10-15 years ago, still running strong, on their 3rd or 4th or 5th
kid.

For learning how to ride without training wheels, you might check out this
article on our website. It's helped quite a few-
http://www.chainreaction.com/trwheels.htm

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

_ said:

Quoted message said:

Hi. I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.

Thanks!

Ken

For teaching him to ride it, do the following:

Find a gently-sloping grassy place, large enough that he could have a good
run on the downhill section.

Remove the pedals.

You take the bike up the hill, he takes it down.

Half an hour and he'll be capable of balance and (some) steering control.

aren't the brakes for kids' bikes often on the pedals? in addition to
balance and steering, we want the child to be able to stop too, right?

i guess it depends on where you buy the bike, but i was in middle school
before i had a bike with hand brakes.

becca

becca said:

_ said:

Quoted message said:

Hi. I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.

Thanks!

Ken

For teaching him to ride it, do the following:

Find a gently-sloping grassy place, large enough that he could have a good
run on the downhill section.

Remove the pedals.

You take the bike up the hill, he takes it down.

Half an hour and he'll be capable of balance and (some) steering control.

aren't the brakes for kids' bikes often on the pedals? in addition to
balance and steering, we want the child to be able to stop too, right?

i guess it depends on where you buy the bike, but i was in middle school
before i had a bike with hand brakes.

becca

Perhaps you misunderstood the word "gently".

Quoted message said:

Hi. I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.

Thanks!

Ken

Make sure his/her feet can touch the ground when in the stationary
standing position.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Best bike for a kid hands down was the 60's schwinn stingray.
Apparently the bike can be bought "new" as the company
pacific bikes aquired schwinn - they made new ones in 2006! Um, different
coaster brake-must be an improvement.
And it looks like it comes with the original slick like the one I had came
with when it was new.
There is a link here to the bike that made biking what it is today.
link here:
http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/bikes_detail.php?id=656
Follow link to find a dealer and enter your zip code.
hope this helps.
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi. I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.

Thanks!

Ken

_ said:

becca said:

_ said:

On 28 Apr 2007 05:14:40 -0700, [email hidden] wrote:

>Hi. I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
>a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
>never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
>get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
>sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
>140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
>if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Ken

For teaching him to ride it, do the following:

Find a gently-sloping grassy place, large enough that he could have a good
run on the downhill section.

Remove the pedals.

You take the bike up the hill, he takes it down.

Half an hour and he'll be capable of balance and (some) steering control.

aren't the brakes for kids' bikes often on the pedals? in addition to
balance and steering, we want the child to be able to stop too, right?

i guess it depends on where you buy the bike, but i was in middle school
before i had a bike with hand brakes.

becca

Perhaps you misunderstood the word "gently".

maybe, but you failed to address my question. if i was five years old,
i'd want somebody to say to me, "and this is how you stop."

becca

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

For learning how to ride without training wheels, you might check out this
article on our website. It's helped quite a few-http://www.chainreaction.com/trwheels.htm

"Sure, it was a bit tough at first watching my four-year-old do face-
plants on the asphalt ..."

Jimmy Casper re-experiencing childhood memories

In article <[email hidden]>,

Rik O'Shea said:

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

For learning how to ride without training wheels, you might check out this
article on our website. It's helped quite a
few-http://www.chainreaction.com/trwheels.htm

"Sure, it was a bit tough at first watching my four-year-old do face-
plants on the asphalt ..."

That's a good article. Sheldon has another one describing a technique
where you drop the seat of the bike low enough for the child to flatfoot
it, and remove the pedals. The idea is the kid pushes the bike around
with their feet, and learns to balance before they ever turn a pedal.
Apparently (said the childless man...) it can be quick and easy.

Quoted message said:

Jimmy Casper re-experiencing childhood memories

Training wheels would not have helped.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos