Teenagers / growing

larkim

2 years ago my 12 year old son was just the right size for a 15.5in frame Hardrock (5'3").

Today he is 5'9" and still growing. But the bike isn't.

Fully expecting to hand-down bikes to his siblings at some point (though none are big enough yet), I'm loathe to spend another £400+ on a new bike for him whilst he is already costing me an arm and a leg in clothing that he outgrows in a matter of months.

When pedalling uphill he already has the (supplied) seatpost in probably the most extended position, but he still feels comfortable on the bike.

Is it practical to consider (as a short-ish term solution, perhaps for 18 months or so) a longer seatpost and a perhaps a longer stem to increase reach? Or do I have to just accept that he has outgrown that frame size completely?

Matt

BigAl

It might be practical - after all 5'9" is 'small' adult size. I'm about the same height and my Duster is a 'S' (16" IIRC) - though there is no standardisation in frame sizing so they could well be very different

Have you considered getting a replacement frame?
eBay will have loads of Hardrocks and I wouldn't think you'd have to pay too much. Of course you could also consider other frames - but may have to factor in the cost of new seatpost / front mech, as potentially they won't fit

The Rookie

A good cheap frame would be a Carrera hardtail (all the same frame under the paint, Subway through to Fury) lighter than the lardrock and all the same main dimensions, I'm the same height as your son and ride a 16" but as he is almost certainly longer of arm and leg than me and still growing so I would think an 18" would be ideal. I reckon if you have the tools you could do the reframe in about 2 hours tops.

veronese68

My son managed to grow 6" in 6 months couple of years ago :shock: .
I got him a used frame off Ebay and built it up with parts off his old bike and what I had kicking around. If necessary I'll just get another larger frame and swap the bits again. Thankfully he's only grown a little since then and seems to have stopped now. I hope as he's taller than me now.

Cqc

BigAl wrote:

It might be practical - after all 5'9" is 'small' adult size. I'm about the same height and my Duster is a 'S' (16" IIRC) - though there is no standardisation in frame sizing so they could well be

5'o" is not a size S mate, it's well within the M range. Replace ment frame will be dead cheap though and then transfer components

larkim

The Rookie wrote:

I reckon if you have the tools you could do the reframe in about 2 hours tops.

I've never swapped a headset, never removed a BB, never swapped front or rear mechs, etc etc. A "reframe" would likely span at least 2 months of my time, particularly as I know from current bitter experience that we've not maintained his bike well, so there are likely to be a fair few well-seized components on there!

Though I do have a neighbour....

Food for thought though - frame vs stem/seatpost - worth considering.

Thanks!

Matt

The Rookie

The trouble is you'd need riser bars on top of the stem/seatpost as you need to raise the bars as well to match the raised saddle.

As for all those little jobs, sounds like a good time to learn!

BigAl

Cqc wrote:

BigAl wrote:

It might be practical - after all 5'9" is 'small' adult size. I'm about the same height and my Duster is a 'S' (16" IIRC) - though there is no standardisation in frame sizing so they could well be

5'o" is not a size S mate, it's well within the M range. Replace ment frame will be dead cheap though and then transfer components

Not always - as I said above - I'm 5'9" and my Duster is a 'Small' (though my Anthem is a 'Medium'). Depends on the frame.

rockmonkeysc

Get a cheap frame from ebay, another hardrock would make sure everything fits. Most come with head sets because it's not worth the effort of removing. A bike shop will probably fit the bottom bracket and index the gearing for a few quid.

Cqc

Removing a headset is piss easy and I'm not that technically gifted. Bb and gears are harder, but as has been said, your LBS can do them

Festerfeet

I know the feeling, my eldest boy has grown 3 in in 3 months and is nearly as tall as (his mum 5'8").

I would be tempted to go for a replacement frame, do what you can and get your LBS to do the rest. Something to bear in mind is not to get too big a frame expecting him to grow into it because if he is anything like mine he will take a while to grow into his new body, coordination is all over the place which can be quite funny but occasionally painful and he says he doesn't feel as strong. He is, but he has to build up his strength to lever his longer limbs!
If the frame is too big,'to allow for further growth', he will take a bit longer to get used to it.

I feel for you with the finances, I have four kids and it seems that excepting the eldest (now 22) one of them outgrows, wears out, loses something on a weekly basis. Maybe I should just stop feeding them!

larkim

Yup, I'm also a four child father, with all that entails! Fortunately (?) they are all boys, so where things can be reused we do get decent life in the long run!

What I would love most of all about this bike stuff would be for him to get stuck into bike maintenance, but he shows no interest in that whatsoever, despite being very keen on the actual cycling!! Perhaps it will come...

Matt

BigAl

larkim wrote:

What I would love most of all about this bike stuff would be for him to get stuck into bike maintenance, but he shows no interest in that whatsoever, despite being very keen on the actual cycling!! Perhaps it will come...

So get him a replacement frame, then leave it up to him to change stuff over! Should be enough of a carrot for most teenagers and you can help once he's made a start. Think of all that father/son bonding!

He gets a 'new' bike and learns how to service it too.

Other than the headset there isn't anything that can't be easily done at home. A bike shop should swap a headset for ~£20. A basic toolset to do the rest at home can be had quite cheaply too.

If you need help/advice there's plenty on this forum who will assist

The Park Tools website has lots of really good advice and instruction and I imagine there's plenty of YouTube vids too.

The Rookie

I've done everything at home I've needed to apart from chasing out a BB and facing as the tool is a few hundred, eveything else has been done with a Halfords socket set and a lidl bike toolkit (£25 ish)......I have taken apart over a dozen bikes and built (and rebuilt) about 10. He won't show interest in maintenance or building bikes if you don't!