small bike for son wanting to get into road biking
07-18-11, 05:04 AM
#1
bashermax
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small bike for son wanting to get into road biking
My son started riding my wife's (late 80's) Scott Tinley Tri-Lite. It's more C&V but still a quality ride as much as she rides it. I'm either gonna have to get her a new one (She doesn't like the 1" tires on the Scott) or find one for him to grow with. My wife is 5' 115lb, and teaches spinning, but doesn't road ride that much. My son is about 4' 9" and 75 lb (In the 8th grade!.. we're small people) and recently is really hyped about road biking rather than BMX etc... He doesn't like the color combo on the Wife's bike but that is easily remedied if need be (Altho I hate repainting a vintage bike even with the usual scrapes etc as long as it still has original decals).
I've been looking on ebay and Craig's List but not seeing much of a bargain. Don't want to break the bank on either if they don't spend time on the machine, but don't want junk that's not good enough/chore to ride either. Any suggestions for the boy? Wife?
I've been looking on ebay and Craig's List but not seeing much of a bargain. Don't want to break the bank on either if they don't spend time on the machine, but don't want junk that's not good enough/chore to ride either. Any suggestions for the boy? Wife?
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07-18-11, 05:46 AM
#3
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How about a flatbar hybrid with skinny tires ? With kids, I worry about braking with drop bars .... small hands, tough to stop quickly on the hoods, twitchier handling. And they outgrow quickly anyway.
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07-18-11, 06:48 AM
#4
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i have three small bikes for my eight and ten yr olds; one is a Trek KDR-1000 which is really great, though expensive. Another is a GMC Denali which is not great, but good enough; it's a road bike, so they're happy. Last one is a 46cm classic steel frame that I just had powder-coated ($125) and built up with Shimano 8-speed and 650c wheels. It's certainly hard to find the smaller bikes, but you have to just troll CL and eBay for small frames. Seems that 48cm is fairly common, though that might be a little too big for him.
Another one to look for is the Fuji Ace, as they made that in a small size.
Another one to look for is the Fuji Ace, as they made that in a small size.
07-18-11, 07:00 AM
#5
The Rock Cycle
I saw a kid here riding a little road bike with 650c wheels and it was from bikesdirect. I think it was a Motobecane.
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07-18-11, 07:54 AM
#6
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We put interruptor brakes on my daughter's bike for this reason. Worked well.
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07-18-11, 07:56 AM
#7
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+1 then you can always install a proper drop bar once he feels mature enough.
07-18-11, 08:26 AM
#8
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finding a small bike is not easy & they go fast on CL. Here are a couple I built for my son who is a bit smaller than your son (or was at the time)....
definitely C&V Faggin 47cm retro-modern build:
and a Specialized Hardrock 24" wheel cyclocross build...
I found a rather modern (like '06 or '07) Giant TCR-W on CL that fits my wife (about 5'2") a few weeks ago and felt rather lucky to have done so. All I can say is if you are looking for a used "deal" you need to know what you want and be prepared to act quickly because there are always lots of other people looking for small road bikes.
definitely C&V Faggin 47cm retro-modern build:
and a Specialized Hardrock 24" wheel cyclocross build...
I found a rather modern (like '06 or '07) Giant TCR-W on CL that fits my wife (about 5'2") a few weeks ago and felt rather lucky to have done so. All I can say is if you are looking for a used "deal" you need to know what you want and be prepared to act quickly because there are always lots of other people looking for small road bikes.
07-18-11, 11:13 AM
#9
Senior Member
My son started riding my wife's (late 80's) Scott Tinley Tri-Lite. It's more C&V but still a quality ride as much as she rides it. I'm either gonna have to get her a new one (She doesn't like the 1" tires on the Scott) or find one for him to grow with. My wife is 5' 115lb, and teaches spinning, but doesn't road ride that much. My son is about 4' 9" and 75 lb (In the 8th grade!.. we're small people) and recently is really hyped about road biking rather than BMX etc... He doesn't like the color combo on the Wife's bike but that is easily remedied if need be (Altho I hate repainting a vintage bike even with the usual scrapes etc as long as it still has original decals).
I've been looking on ebay and Craig's List but not seeing much of a bargain. Don't want to break the bank on either if they don't spend time on the machine, but don't want junk that's not good enough/chore to ride either. Any suggestions for the boy? Wife?
I've been looking on ebay and Craig's List but not seeing much of a bargain. Don't want to break the bank on either if they don't spend time on the machine, but don't want junk that's not good enough/chore to ride either. Any suggestions for the boy? Wife?
As I mentioned there, cost including shipping was $350, but it's a really nice bike. Considering how much used kid-sized road bikes go for, I expect we'll get back our money when we sell it.
I should have asked the company for a referral bonus. ;-)
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07-18-11, 12:03 PM
#10
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basher:
Our son has outgrown a small road bike that might fit your needs.
It's a long way from GA, but, take a look at our Craigslist posting and, if interested, please reply thru their response link, and we'll talk some more:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/jsy/bik/2499798077.html
Our son has outgrown a small road bike that might fit your needs.
It's a long way from GA, but, take a look at our Craigslist posting and, if interested, please reply thru their response link, and we'll talk some more:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/jsy/bik/2499798077.html
