14" first bike
tenohfive
Posts: 152
I'm having a battle of wills with my better half and need some ammunition.
Better half recently bought a cheap and cheerful Hello Kitty bike with stabilisers for my daughter. It weighs a tonne -I think I've found it on the Halfords website and whilst they quote 8.2kg I'm not convinced (or have an older one) - I'd estimate 12kg if using my CAAD8 in one hand and the Hello Kitty in the other. Unsurprisingly daughter really struggles to get going with it, even though size wise it seems to be about the right fit (to my inexpert eye.)
My answer is a simple one: get a better, lighter bike.
Other halfs answer is to get a scooter, then invest in a better bike a couple of years down the line.
I don't want to wait that long.
As with everything, budget is a factor here. If I can get something in the £60-100 region that'll be light enough then I've half a chance of persuading my better half - she's looking at £50-60 scooters. Not fussy about shopping second hand - if the fit isn't right I can sell it on. But I just can't stretch to £250 for a new Cnoc either, and they all seem to be selling used for north of £100.
Any advice on where to look and what to look at?
Better half recently bought a cheap and cheerful Hello Kitty bike with stabilisers for my daughter. It weighs a tonne -I think I've found it on the Halfords website and whilst they quote 8.2kg I'm not convinced (or have an older one) - I'd estimate 12kg if using my CAAD8 in one hand and the Hello Kitty in the other. Unsurprisingly daughter really struggles to get going with it, even though size wise it seems to be about the right fit (to my inexpert eye.)
My answer is a simple one: get a better, lighter bike.
Other halfs answer is to get a scooter, then invest in a better bike a couple of years down the line.
I don't want to wait that long.
As with everything, budget is a factor here. If I can get something in the £60-100 region that'll be light enough then I've half a chance of persuading my better half - she's looking at £50-60 scooters. Not fussy about shopping second hand - if the fit isn't right I can sell it on. But I just can't stretch to £250 for a new Cnoc either, and they all seem to be selling used for north of £100.
Any advice on where to look and what to look at?
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Comments
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My 7yo daughter is on her 2nd Probike that we have picked up 2nd hand. The latest one, a geared maintain bike type thing we got for £40. She has got on with them very well. I have even bought my 11yo niece a new one knowing it will be handed down to my daughter in a couple of years.0
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you could do worse than looking for a 2nd hand Ridgeback, they're some of the better bikes at the less expensive end of the scale. One thing though - has she had a balance bike? If not then it's worth going with one of those first then making the transition to pedals later. Little kids can go surprisingly far and fast on them
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Scooters will (or certainly can) develop balance .... they are also in my experience easier to live with.
We had a horrid Halfords "Fireman" bike.... (really really horrid ... which is I think the boys version of a kitty) ...
Completely put him off cycling.... however he did get really good on his scooter(s) ....
One day he just decided (being at school now) he wanted to ride a proper bike.
I rather stupidly in retrospect (given he was doing all sorts of tricks on a scooter) told him if he learned to ride without stabilisers I'd get him a "proper" bike.... Quite honestly ... this was 2 minutes... didn't even get the chance to take my phone out of my pocket or go and get his mum....
I ended up buying a "new" bike... which wasn't the intention.... doing it all again I'd have gone for a half decent used bike up to 20... then a used 20...0
