Road bicycles for children

On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 16:02:46 GMT, "Hull Fulweiler"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

My 6 year old son has outgrown his coaster brake beginner's bike and now
wants a road bicycle. The only juvenile bicycles in stores are BMX and
mountain bicycles. Do anybody know how to got a road bicycle with hand
brakes, gears and narrow tires that will fit a 52" tall child?

Get a rigid MTB and change the tyres to slicks, is probably the
easiest option. It worked for us :-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Hull Fulweiler said:

My 6 year old son has outgrown his coaster brake beginner's bike and now
wants a road bicycle. The only juvenile bicycles in stores are BMX and
mountain bicycles. Do anybody know how to got a road bicycle with hand
brakes, gears and narrow tires that will fit a 52" tall child?

Last I checked, there were some Italian-made child-sized road bikes
which were somewhat more expensive than adult road bikes of equal
specification. But I don't recommend that you get one.

It's not just for marketing reasons that skinny-tired bikes are not
often made for children. Kids (heck, most adults even) are oblivious
to matters as subtle as proper tire pressure, brake rub, etc. They
also like to skid their tires down to the cords, if memory serves.

These factors are somewhat mitigated by the use of fat tires. There
are now plenty of 20" slicks from 1" to 2.35" in width and
withstanding pressures as high as 130 psi. The wider ones are almost
as free-rolling as a road bike tire and much better suited for kid
duty. I recommend the Primo Comet, the Tioga Comp Pool, and the
Schwalbe Big Apple.

In my experience as a shop mechanic and volunteer at a donated-bike
community shop, even MTBs for kids appear to be a poor choice most of
the time, since derailleurs require a certain amount of coddling to
maintain their proper function. Rim brakes are also heir to a number
of problems that _will_ go unnoticed or ignored by a kid until the
brake fails entirely.

If you are happy to inspect and fix your kid's bike more often than
you would your own bike, then a kid's MTB with slicks would probably
be a fine choice, with drop bars a possible retrofit if that's what
floats your kid's boat.

Chalo Colina

My Daughter also outgrew her "trainer". We found a 6 speed Kuwahara Bandit
that was being discarded. New tires, a coat of paint, and upgrades to the
derailleur and crankset and she is ready for the road...

As presently equipped, it looks more like a scaled-down adult ATB, rather
than a "kids bike".

Hull Fulweiler said:

My 6 year old son has outgrown his coaster brake beginner's bike and now
wants a road bicycle. The only juvenile bicycles in stores are BMX and
mountain bicycles. Do anybody know how to got a road bicycle with hand
brakes, gears and narrow tires that will fit a 52" tall child?

Hull Fulweiler

Hi, the last time I was at my LBS, they had a little, baby Felt road
bike. I think it sold for somewhere in the high $500s. I recall a
Tiagra RD, but didn't notice the rest. It had what appeared to be 20"
road tires. It was really cool. I honestly don't think it is a good
idea.

When I was a kid, a little older, maybe 10 or so, we would take 20"
bikes, and convert them to sting rays. We would put the banana seat
and tall handlebars on them. Maybe you could do something similar, but
make a mini road bike. Put drop bars, hand brakes, and a narrow saddle
on it. At 6, I would try to avoid gears.

Life is Good!
Jeff

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

Quoted message said:

My 6 year old son has outgrown his coaster brake beginner's bike and now
wants a road bicycle. The only juvenile bicycles in stores are BMX and
mountain bicycles. Do anybody know how to got a road bicycle with hand
brakes, gears and narrow tires that will fit a 52" tall child?

Hull Fulweiler

http://www.feltracing.com/2004_bikes/f24.html
I bought a 40cm F24 for my 7-year-old.
I had the shop swap the chainrings for smaller ones, and install a shorter
stem (backwards).

The extra "cyclocross" brake levers at the top of the handlebars are a
thoughtful touch.