"gangler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Anyone got any comments on a Carrera Subway with 24" wheels as a bike
for an 11 year old boy? They have it for about £180 in Halfords (which
is the
LBS where I live :-(
It has no suspension, and a 7-speed rear shifter only. It seems v
light, and
he seems to have accepted the point I keep making that all that
suspension
he would really like (and has on his current 20" wheel bike) makes it
much
heavier and harder to cycle. The Carrera is even lighter than his
current bike.
Any other suggestions? Any good compromises in the ease-of-cycling
vs looking-cool trade off?
My son is v.happy with his Subway though it does have a double chain ring at
the front. He was four years older than your son when I bought the bike and
after doing a 25 mile ride with me that embraced some mild green laning he
was a convert to zero suspension having previously insisting on Y-framed
double suspension eye candy. The matt black finish helped.
There isn't anything intrinsically wrong with the Carerra range. The Subway
and the Kraken have both had good reviews in the comics. There are some
compromises made in getting the price down but my son's Subway seems to be
coping with the abuse and neglect that he metes out.
Seven gears for a seven year old is a bit of a hoot when I look back at some
of the bike that i had in my youth - Sturmey Archer 3-speed hub gears. Sun
3-speed derraileur and quite a few single speeders. I wonder how we all
coped with such a limited range of gears ;-)
I think the bike will do the job well and your son is likely to out grow the
bike well before it expires if, indeed, it does.
Don't be put off by going to Halfords. You might have a very competently
staffed branch. I have never had less than satisfactory service from the
three branches in Leeds.
