Bike Upgrades - Trickle Down theory

Bike swaps! The best thing for growing kids. I picked up a Rockhopper 24 at my LBS bike
swap for $35.

"The Ogre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm not certain if everyone else does this or not, personally I think it's kind of funny. My
youngest has outgrown her 24" bike so I decided to build her a new bike. She doesn't ride much,
but enough that I want her to had a decent bike. Instead of just buying all the components and
putting it together (or perish the tought buying a complete bike) I buy nice, higher end
components for my bike. Then the components from my bike trickle down through the family based on
need/ usage.

My old cranks wound up on my older daughters bike since she's been having problems with hers. My
wife's bike is getting upgraded from 8 speed Deore to 9 speed XT, and she is getting disc brakes
in the bargain (I get new wheels, my wife gets my wheels and my youngest gets my wifes tires).

My daughters bike is going to cost about twice what it should but everyone gets some sort of
upgrade in the bargain.

-- The Ogre ogrehut.netogrehut.netOpen ↗

On 19 Sep 2003 09:31:29 -0700, [email hidden] (The Ogre) wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

it's kind of funny. My youngest has outgrown her 24" bike so I

<snip>

How are bikes measured where you are??? I ride a 19" mountainbike. I'm 6ft. How tall is your
youngest? ...or maybe I just have stumpy legs :-P

<ouch> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 19 Sep 2003 09:31:29 -0700, [email hidden] (The Ogre) wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

it's kind of funny. My youngest has outgrown her 24" bike so I

<snip>

How are bikes measured where you are??? I ride a 19" mountainbike. I'm 6ft. How tall is your
youngest? ...or maybe I just have stumpy legs :-P

Most likely a 24" wheel bike.

Gary in VA (at the shop I work at we have 12", 16", 20", 24", 26", 29" bikes, wheels that is)

The Ogre said:

I'm not certain if everyone else does this or not, personally I think it's kind of funny. My
youngest has outgrown her 24" bike so I decided to build her a new bike. She doesn't ride much,
but enough that I want her to had a decent bike. Instead of just buying all the components and
putting it together (or perish the tought buying a complete bike) I buy nice, higher end
components for my bike. Then the components from my bike trickle down through the family based on
need/ usage.

My old cranks wound up on my older daughters bike since she's been having problems with hers. My
wife's bike is getting upgraded from 8 speed Deore to 9 speed XT, and she is getting disc brakes
in the bargain (I get new wheels, my wife gets my wheels and my youngest gets my wifes tires).

My daughters bike is going to cost about twice what it should but everyone gets some sort of
upgrade in the bargain.

That's how it works around here, too. Except, generally speaking, my daughter's upgrades
come via my bike, not her dad's. Lately, when he replaces something, it's because the old
part is trashed. And he can't hand down his wheels because his is the only bike with disc
brakes. In the last six months, probably the only new part we've bought for either kid's
bike is Julian's new saddle. Elaine's getting a new bike computer for her birthday, though.
She's finally got a friend who's as into bikes as she is, and they're both keen on knowing
how far and how fast. Neither kid seems to have any issues with hand-me-downs, probably
because what they wind up with is all high quality and has been well maintained.

Kathleen

"The Ogre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Instead of just buying all the components and putting it together (or perish the tought buying a
complete bike) I buy nice, higher end components for my bike. Then the components from my bike
trickle down through the family based on need/ usage.

Since I'm a 23-year-old college student, the kids-needing-bikes problem isn't one I'm familiar with.
However, the upgrade-trickle-down theory applies. In my case, I bought a nice FS (Fisher
Sugar+..okay, it doesn't kick everything else's ass, but for MD xc riding it's pretty sweet) and,
after upgrading to the point where I really loved that bike, had enough spare parts to build my
hardtail (another Fisher...an X-cal this time). So I'm down with the trickle-down.

Since pretty much all brand-name parts are good enough for occasional off roading, the trickle-down
approach is awesome for second bikes (like me) or for rookies/kids (like you).

Chris sorry for all the hyphenation, and the paragraphs both starting in "since". I'm drunk. A lot.

"Schnauzers" <schnazuers<remove>@schnauzers.ws> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Bike swaps! The best thing for growing kids. I picked up a Rockhopper 24 at my LBS bike swap
for $35.

That's a great idea, none of the local shops do anything like that, but there is supposed to be a
really big one coming up in San Jose.

-- The Ogre

Quoted message said:

"The Ogre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm not certain if everyone else does this or not, personally I think it's kind of funny. My
youngest has outgrown her 24" bike so I decided to build her a new bike. She doesn't ride much,
but enough that I want her to had a decent bike. Instead of just buying all the components and
putting it together (or perish the tought buying a complete bike) I buy nice, higher end
components for my bike. Then the components from my bike trickle down through the family based
on need/ usage.

My old cranks wound up on my older daughters bike since she's been having problems with hers. My
wife's bike is getting upgraded from 8 speed Deore to 9 speed XT, and she is getting disc brakes
in the bargain (I get new wheels, my wife gets my wheels and my youngest gets my wifes tires).

My daughters bike is going to cost about twice what it should but everyone gets some sort of
upgrade in the bargain.

-- The Ogre ogrehut.netogrehut.netOpen ↗

ouch <> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On 19 Sep 2003 09:31:29 -0700, [email hidden] (The Ogre) wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

it's kind of funny. My youngest has outgrown her 24" bike so I

<snip>

How are bikes measured where you are??? I ride a 19" mountainbike. I'm 6ft. How tall is your
youngest? ...or maybe I just have stumpy legs :-P

24" wheels, Something like a 14" frame. You probably figured that out though.

Kathleen <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

The Ogre said:

I'm not certain if everyone else does this or not, personally I think it's kind of funny. My
youngest has outgrown her 24" bike so I decided to build her a new bike. She doesn't ride much,
but enough that I want her to had a decent bike. Instead of just buying all the components and
putting it together (or perish the tought buying a complete bike) I buy nice, higher end
components for my bike. Then the components from my bike trickle down through the family based
on need/ usage.

My old cranks wound up on my older daughters bike since she's been having problems with hers. My
wife's bike is getting upgraded from 8 speed Deore to 9 speed XT, and she is getting disc brakes
in the bargain (I get new wheels, my wife gets my wheels and my youngest gets my wifes tires).

My daughters bike is going to cost about twice what it should but everyone gets some sort of
upgrade in the bargain.

That's how it works around here, too. Except, generally speaking, my daughter's upgrades
come via my bike, not her dad's. Lately, when he replaces something, it's because the old
part is trashed. And he can't hand down his wheels because his is the only bike with disc
brakes. In the last six months, probably the only new part we've bought for either kid's
bike is Julian's new saddle. Elaine's getting a new bike computer for her birthday, though.
She's finally got a friend who's as into bikes as she is, and they're both keen on knowing
how far and how fast. Neither kid seems to have any issues with hand-me-downs, probably
because what they wind up with is all high quality and has been well maintained.

Kathleen

I know about the parts getting trashed part though, I am very hesitant to swap around drive trail
parts, especially if they've been on my bike since I go through stuff so quick. Nothing sucks more
than a brand new chain on a trashed cassette. I did pass my wheels down to my wife, but I had the
rear relaced right before I did (after breaking 5 spokes 1 or two at a time.

This time around I am having my daughter help me build the bike as much as possible. That way
perhaps she will have a little pride in it and treat it a little better. Also the more bike know-how
I manage to pass on to other family members the less bike repairs I get saddled with 🙂

-- The Ogre ogrehut.netogrehut.netOpen ↗

"Chris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"The Ogre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Instead of just buying all the components and putting it together (or perish the tought buying a
complete bike) I buy nice, higher end components for my bike. Then the components from my bike
trickle down through the family based on need/ usage.

Since I'm a 23-year-old college student, the kids-needing-bikes problem isn't one I'm familiar
with. However, the upgrade-trickle-down theory applies. In my case, I bought a nice FS (Fisher
Sugar+..okay, it doesn't kick everything else's ass, but for MD xc riding it's pretty sweet) and,
after upgrading to the point where I really loved that bike, had enough spare parts to build my
hardtail (another Fisher...an X-cal this time). So I'm down with the trickle-down.

Since pretty much all brand-name parts are good enough for occasional off roading, the
trickle-down approach is awesome for second bikes (like me) or for rookies/kids (like you).

Chris sorry for all the hyphenation, and the paragraphs both starting in "since". I'm
drunk. A lot.

I was planning on using some of my spare parts to build a singlespeed, but it just hasn't
materialized yet.

I'm not a big fan of Gary Fissure myself, I just broke my third Fissure frame, the carbon fibre
separated from the aluminum on the rear triangle on the Sugar 3/ 3+/ 1. This was a warrantee
replacement for a warrantee replacement. And now I need to get a warrantee replacement for it.

Other than the frame cracking thing I though it was a decent bike. Perhaps I'm just too big and ride
too hard for a Sugar.

-- The Ogre