recommendation for road bike for 10 year old

mikeouk
mikeouk Posts: 148
edited August 2012 in Family & kids cycling forum
ive recently got back into road cycling and im thinking of buying a bike for my 10 year old son so he can come out with me. His inside leg is approx 60cm. Whats on the market at a reasonable price? dont want to spend a fortune in case he doesnt take to it.

Comments

  • bartimaeus
    bartimaeus Posts: 1,812
    Islabikes Luath... check their sizing chart though. My nephew had one for about 3 years - till he grew out of it... lovely bike. They are expensive, but they hold their value if you look after them... I think my sister-in-law just sold the Luath for over 75% of what they paid for it.
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  • mikeouk
    mikeouk Posts: 148
    Bartimaeus wrote:
    Islabikes Luath... check their sizing chart though. My nephew had one for about 3 years - till he grew out of it... lovely bike. They are expensive, but they hold their value if you look after them... I think my sister-in-law just sold the Luath for over 75% of what they paid for it.

    cheers for that, found one sh on ebay thats fairly local to me, ill keep my eye on that one :)
  • Mike Healey
    Mike Healey Posts: 1,023
    http://www.islabikes.com/bike_pages/pdf ... rt_web.pdf for sizing
    Organising the Bradford Kids Saturday Bike Club at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre since 1998
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  • Todd Sweeney
    Todd Sweeney Posts: 117
    Also take a look at the Dawes Espoir. It's a lot cheaper than the Luath and it has good quality components (Shimano STIs etc.) I was going to buy the Luath for my (tall) 8 year old, but in the end went for the Dawes really due to cost (it can be had for around £280). I first read about the Dawes in the CTC magazine where it was tested against the Luath and received a very positive review.

    I think the Luath is going to be a better bike, and probably a touch lighter, but the Dawes is very good as well, in my opinion, and my son loves it. One thing is that it doesn't have the cross-type top bar secondary brake levers. However, this is very easily remedied if you want them; I fitted some myself and it cost me about £20.
  • othello
    othello Posts: 578
    Take a look at the Moda Minor, which is a fantastic lightweight road bike. You'll be looking at the 650c tyre one, which might/might not be too small. My son has the 24" wheel version and it is fantastic.
    Blogging about junior road bikes http://junior-road-bikes.tumblr.com
  • Willow 15
    Willow 15 Posts: 19
    I've just noticed this post. If you have not got a bike yet I can thoroughly recommend the Dawes. Both my kids have them and the bikes have taken a lot of punishment but are still going strong. The two best things are its really a cyclocross bike so the tyres are good on tracks as well as road. The other plus point is it takes 24" and 26" wheels. This gives the bike great longevity.
  • mikeouk
    mikeouk Posts: 148
    well i took onboard all the recommendations, thank you.

    i came to the conclusion that he wasnt interested enough in a road bike to buy him one. So instead ive got him a cube team 240 mountain bike. This of course meant i had to buy a half decent mountain bike myself, so we could go on rides together. Ended up spending £480 and for that i got a second hand 2010 marin palisdaes trail for my self and his second hand cube, bit of a bargain i think.
    Took both bikes out on sunday, and he enjoyed every minute. We did mostly off road and there was one rather challenging up hill section with loose slate and fairly steep, he made it to the top. result, one very proud father and a very happy boy.
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  • mikeouk
    mikeouk Posts: 148
    well after quite a few rides out on the cube and realising my boy is enjoying cycling, i decided to take another look at road bikes for him.
    had a look at the viking and also coyote ronin, but wasnt sold. islabike is the obvious choice but i really like the look of the moda minor, its a proper scaled down road bike, at £480 its pricey though. Then i found a moda dealer who has 2011 bikes at £330, no brainer, ive ordered one. Im as excited as my boy is to see it.
  • cycle monster
    cycle monster Posts: 448
    All good to hear. Be sure to buy him some decent gloves with the savings you made.
  • othello
    othello Posts: 578
    mikeouk wrote:
    well after quite a few rides out on the cube and realising my boy is enjoying cycling, i decided to take another look at road bikes for him.
    had a look at the viking and also coyote ronin, but wasnt sold. islabike is the obvious choice but i really like the look of the moda minor, its a proper scaled down road bike, at £480 its pricey though. Then i found a moda dealer who has 2011 bikes at £330, no brainer, ive ordered one. Im as excited as my boy is to see it.

    How have you found the Moda? IMHO the 2011 model is much better than the 2012. They have dropped the component spec quite a bit which is a shame. My son loves his, and I'm now looking for one for my daughter!
    Blogging about junior road bikes http://junior-road-bikes.tumblr.com
  • mikeouk
    mikeouk Posts: 148
    he absolutely loves it, done a couple of rides, last one was an 18 miler, and he did well, very impressed with the quality, ive not compared it to an islabike, but cant really see how it could be any better. Only problem now is he wants the full lycra kit.

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