Originally Posted by
riva
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There are some light racing bmx frames you could try to build a road capable bike off of, but in stock config they are so poorly suited to it. Its not an out of the box ready to go deal. These are probably the only truly light "racing" kids bikes easy to find at affordable rates. I've bought them for $100 or less used. I think the conversion could be done though, kind of like a mini velo but economy style. Never tried it even though I wanted to a few times. Super long seat post a la Tomac, drops and some gears. Somebody on this forum posted a pic of him on a bmx setup this way.. and if its good enough for him then its good enough for us all...
My kids and I started BMX racing last summer. It's a hoot, and even the entry level race bikes are crazy light in kid's sizes - kid's size 24" wheel are hard to find though. The main complication in trying to multi-speed one is the 110mm OLD rear wheel. I think some of the folding bikes use that spacing, but I'm not sure.
My kids' normal bikes are 24" specialized hotrock street - I found the pair of them cheap, and I thought they were really light until I bought the boys junior size race BMX.