£200 bike for a 7yr old boy?

broona

Looking to get my little boy his first proper bike with gears, not bothered about suspension or anything like that, just want something easy to use, reliable and relatively lightweight.

He's just over 120cm tall, so I'm not sure whether to get him a 20" or a 24" wheeled bike, I'm going to get him to sit on a couple of each to see what he's comfortable with, but a little advice from the knowledgeable people on here wouldn't go amiss either!

Any recommendations please? Cheers.

lostboysaint

Speak to the nice folks at Islabikes. Great bikes, fantastic secondhand market for them (good for resale) and a range that'll mean you can stick with them right the way through the ages.

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/

oxoman

Islabikes & Frogbikes are good there are loads of good and bad and really bad bikes to choose from for kids, have a look at past threads on the forum to give you a better idea of what you want. My opinion for what it's worth is don't get suspension and get a bike with trigger shifters if you can, a lot of younger kids struggle to twist the standard twist grips as not enough wrist strength. Size wise every make is different my 9yr old has recently gone up to a 24" bike, but he,s not as tall as some of his mates. Kids seem to shoot up in size from about 7 upwards. Have fun choosing.

broona

After going and trying some bikes out, he's far too small for a 24" bike, so I've decided on a Frog 55 Team Sky, the only question now is black or white, lol!

Looks nice either way, thinking black looks better - http://teamsky.frogbikes.com/lightweigh ... rog55.aspx

fudgey

My lad will be 7 next week and i took him to the LBS to try some bikes, similar height to your boy and again the 24" was way too big so he tried a Cube kids200 (20" in white) and it was fine for him.
was up for £250 but i managed to get it for £215 in the end.

after lengthy talks with the chaps in there i decided not to go for the front suspension specialized as it was half as heavy again as the cube, and also at his weight would do absolutely nothing. its a gimmick on kids bike and a waste of weight. just let a little air out the tyres if its really bumpy.

i had also considered the frog bikes, as a friend got his son one and and my lad had a go on it, but there are no dealers that i could find around our way for him to go and try one.


here is the one i got my lad from hargroves, looks the same as the frog, probably made in the same place with the same components, just a different colour lol

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/cube-k ... -bike.html

mattrixdesign2

My lad is getting this

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/k ... ke-2014-24

...was well impressed with price/spec/weight (paid about £140 with some stacked codes).

fudgey

Well, i cant believe my lad is going to be 7 tomorrow.

I also cant believe that i spent the best part of 3 hours wrapping his present for him last night!
Can you tell what it is yet?

oxoman

That's one lucky kid and a parent with an ocd problem when it comes to wrapping presents. I wonder how long it will take him to strip the paper off the chain.

fudgey

Ha cheers, yes i think i have an ocd issuebut i had had enough by the time i got to the bars and seat lol.

And yes, he is a lucky little monkey. But he is worth it!

oxoman

Just seen the ideal bike my youngest, Lapierre Froggy 24" but no chance unless i win the lottery.