Proper kid's road bike

[Netdewt]

How many of you dads/moms have wanted to get your kid on a proper road bike? My oldest is only 6 but I don't want to think about it too late and miss a window to get him interested before he's too cool hang out with me. He is really slow on his single speed Hotrock; they have such high gearing.

There are a few options out there, like this Culprit 20", which would fit my 6 year old now.



Or this Fuji Ace 24":


How awesome would it be to build one of these with Veloce? Or find an old tiny frame (47cm?) and build it up. Has anyone done this?

[AngryScientist]

i posted this deal on a zinn roadie about a month ago, very sweet.

[velotrack]

How old is your second? If you get a frame that fits now, you can always pass it down. I'm afraid an old small road frame might be too big and have too high of a stand over.

[Netdewt]

I have a 6 year old, 5 year old, and a brand new one. Plenty of kids to pass down to. The oldest is only about 40" tall right now. I'm not sure his stand over, I'd have to check. He looks pretty small on the 20" still.

[crownjewelwl]

you gotta ask yourself what makes it a "proper" road bike in that size...certainly no the geo...i guess the drop bars and gears?

if you're looking for gear range, a mtb is probably better

my kid is on a jake 24 and loves it (which is a cx bike). although kids want to do stupid things with bikes so a mtb would've probably been a better choice. he bangs it up. he wants to huck it off curbs and stuff like that.

the bike itself is nice but it is a brick. it is MUCH heavier than my road bike or mtb bike.

[Netdewt]

Part curious if this is done/ can be done. Part want to build another bike. Part want to make him faster.

He would still have a "cheap" bike to bang up. Something like this would be for rides and wouldn't really be "his".

[crownjewelwl]

Originally Posted by Netdewt

Part curious if this is done/ can be done. Part want to build another bike. Part want to make him faster.

He would still have a "cheap" bike to bang up. Something like this would be for rides and wouldn't really be "his".

it can def be done but won't make him any faster!!

he would no doubt get a kick out of it though...that is certainly worth it

i re-wrapped my kid's with fluo yellow tape...he was so pumped

[ultraman6970]

That culprit or whatever is like 1000 bucks and the cheappo one is like 800... that means that the frame is more expensive than any of my high ends? ···? :P

[MattTuck]

At this point, I wouldn't worry so much about what is proper. Just keep him/her on a bike that they're having fun with. That is more important now and what will lead to a life time of enjoying riding.

I'm not a child psychologist, so please take my comment with a grain of salt.

[thirdgenbird]

I want from a multi gear mtb to a bianchi road bike with a smaller (24in??) wheel. It was awesome. I consistently received my parents hand me down parts.

[commonguy001]

Soma makes a Kids frame called the Bart
They also have a mini build kit for it that comes with downsized bars and cranks that are size correct (or appear to be).
Not too bad on the money front and if you could use it across 3 kids it'd be well worth it IMO.
Good luck!

[Netdewt]

Originally Posted by crownjewelwl

i re-wrapped my kid's with fluo yellow tape...he was so pumped

Haha, I laughed.

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

That culprit or whatever is like 1000 bucks and the cheappo one is like 800... that means that the frame is more expensive than any of my high ends? ···? :P

Yeah it's way too expensive, but if I could put solid parts on a cheap frame, that would be awesome.

Originally Posted by MattTuck

At this point, I wouldn't worry so much about what is proper.

I know, it's not too big of a deal. But I guarantee that if he got to ride a bike that looked just like mine he would freak out.

Originally Posted by commonguy001

Soma makes a Kids frame called the Bart
They also have a mini build kit for it that comes with downsized bars and cranks that are size correct (or appear to be).
Not too bad on the money front and if you could use it across 3 kids it'd be well worth it IMO.
Good luck!

Yeah! I missed that! Very nice.

[Saint Vitus]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

At this point, I wouldn't worry so much about what is proper. Just keep him/her on a bike that they're having fun with. That is more important now and what will lead to a life time of enjoying riding.

I'm not a child psychologist, so please take my comment with a grain of salt.

Indeed.

My 13 year old likes classic cars and music, so I found an 80's Schwinn Prologue close to his size that piqued his interest in riding with his dad. It seems to have worked, we've been going on dev rides with a local cycling club every Saturday. Plus he likes riding and having something to take care of and mod (next up is swapping the DT for STI lol).

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by commonguy001

Soma makes a Kids frame called the Bart
They also have a mini build kit for it that comes with downsized bars and cranks that are size correct (or appear to be).
Not too bad on the money front and if you could use it across 3 kids it'd be well worth it IMO.
Good luck!

Then he can sell it to me.

Originally Posted by Saint Vitus

Indeed.

My 13 year old likes classic cars and music, so I found an 80's Schwinn Prologue close to his size that piqued his interest in riding with his dad. It seems to have worked, we've been going on dev rides with a local cycling club every Saturday. Plus he likes riding and having something to take care of and mod (next up is swapping the DT for STI lol).

I went from downtube to bar end to sti on my bianchi.

It was lugged and pink. It is probably one of the reasons I became a telekom fan.

[pdmtong]

My daughters first road bike was a 24" wheeled trek kdr1000 kids road.
she could do 30/2500. doubt she could go that far as easily on knobbies

BUT, that said, I would not have been inclined to get her a 20" road bike to start "earlier".

There are a lot of things involved when riding on the road with cars, and a mistake has much more dire consequences than when riding a fire road or single track (exclusive of going too fast of course)

the biggest a-ha was having to constantly tell her EXACTLY where I want her on the road, since she as no sense of placement because she doesn't drive.

she is 14 now, and after many miles its less of an issue but still, you cant be making assumptions about riding with cars blowing past at 35-50mph.