Children's bike recommendations

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

Quoted message said:

sans mudguards, rack, not a lot of choice, heavy, etc. Edinburgh Bikes
seem to have some nice ones but they're in Edinburgh. (Any recommended
tryable places in the vicinity of Manchester?)

Edinburgh Bikes are also in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, not exactly next door but
closer than Edinburgh. Their bikes are very good value for money. I'm pretty
sure they'll do mail order too...

Cheers

Mike

I'd double your budget and buy something that may fit them for longer.
Remember a premium maker will retain more value come resale. You may
also get a discount for buying two together.

You don't mention height or inseam. At 12 I might expect both to fit on
a 26" wheeled bike. If not, then Dawes and Trek make 24" aluminum
framed bikes which are really scaled replicas of adult bikes. Both
priced at the 200 pound mark.

details here
Dawes: <\url:
dawescycles.comdiscovery 201 junior.htm>Open ↗
Trel: <\url:
trekbike.co.ukdisplay page.phpOpen ↗

Personally, I'd go for the more utilitarian Dawes, depending on leg
length, possibly the adult 201. I'd also ask for 15% discount from your
local dealer (must be one in Manchester). Trek dealers will be
reluctant to give discounts. Hub gears will be hard to find at this
price point. Mudgaurds will add about 10-25 pounds per bike. A Rack
about the same.

Of course my boys ride a <\url: http://www.kmxkarts.co.uk/kclass.html>
and I expects some interesting comments when it goes to school later
this week :-)

Hope this helps,
daren
--
remove outer garment for reply

Richard said:

I'm after suggestions for a brace of children's bicycles for the
following criteria:

- 12 years old (the children, not the bike. One of each sex. Average to
slightly weightier than average build.)
- can ride, but have't ridden at all for several years
- suitable for riding to/from school (about 2 miles) and around the
neighbourhood in a city, perhaps occasionally on Sustranish trails.
- no more than UKP 100 each (yes, I know, but the bikes will almost
certainly have no more than a 3 year lifespan at max - family is moving
abroad then, plus the kids are growing).
- would be prepared to up the price if it had hub gears.
- half of the children's parental unit is an engineer and thus ;-) can
deal with maintenance, etc, but would prefer for this to take up minimal
time :-)

I've looked at some of Decathlon's cheaper offerings but they all seem
sans mudguards, rack, not a lot of choice, heavy, etc. Edinburgh Bikes
seem to have some nice ones but they're in Edinburgh. (Any recommended
tryable places in the vicinity of Manchester?)

cheers in advance,
R.

Freeads, looking for basic 24 inch wheelers, add mudguards, racks etc to
suit with the change from the 100 quid each your allowing. Smarter bikes
at school attract the wrong sort of attention, basic Apollo's secondhand
have served our boys well...

Richard said:

I'm after suggestions for a brace of children's bicycles for the
following criteria:

I am 42 and 5' 3", son is twelve and almost the same size as me. We
bought him a bike two (?) years ago (Emmelle, [24" wheels front
suspension only]not much use without the model name I know but I can't
find the name anywhere and nothing I have found on the web looks like
it)and he is too "big" for it now, he basically "fits" on my bike (will
need to let him go a decent distance on it to see if he stretches out
too much on it). What I would do is take him to a LBS and have him
measured against some bikes as he may well be too "big" for a child
specific frame. The young girl would she not be better off with a
"male" frame (I have always believed them to be stronger) that way you
will avoid the "his is different to mine can I have a shot of his". All
IMHO of course
--
This post contains no hidden meanings, no implications and certainly no
hidden agendas so it should be taken at face value. The wrong words
may be used this is due to my limitations with the English language .

yours S
Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione