Anybody have experience with kids MTN bikes? (1 Viewer)

[aaronrules]

I want to get my soon to be 9 year old a mountain bike for his birthday. He's a big kid. Been riding bikes for years now. We could never find a bike that he could feel comfortable using hand brakes and grip shifters all seem too hard for him too. Granted, all these bikes were from Wal-Mart, Toys-r-us, Dick's or whatnot. NOT from a real bike store. I have a 10 year Gary Fisher Marlin that is in decent shape. The wife has some kind of decent bike also. I want to get the boy a good bike that he can use both right now, and for at least a couple years. Anyone have any good suggestions? I've read up on Trek and Specialized, are they worth the extra money? Or should I just go with a decent one from Dick's or Academy? I was hoping ti get a 20" MTN bike, 24" is still too big for him.

 

[MANUCHAO]

I dont have any experience with kid bikes... but if they are anything like adult mt bikes, you should check out your LBS's and ask away... But I do believe a Trek/ Specialized brand would be best/safer than any of the waltmart brand.. like any other bike you get what you paid for...

Jamis and Giant brands also come to mind....
I would also get him a hardtail bike and perhaps later on upgrade to a FS for the next rig... !!!

At this age most kids will outgrow their bike in a year, I would also look for a name brand, but used bike... rather than spending the $$ on his first mt bike save for the FS bike...

Good luck !!!

BTW, I think gripshift suck hard.. I would go with a rapid fire or the like for shifters.....

 

[Dirtgypsy]

My son is 8 and has been riding a 20" specialized Hot Rock. It has grip shift and front shocks. He has been riding since 3 and the transition to mtn bikes has been a little slow. It took prolly 10-15 rides for him to start to work out the shifting. It gets easier as they go.

My recommendation is dont buy new but buy quality like Manu posted. I paid $100 for a bike in nice shape about two years old on Craigslist. I then changed the seat to a narrow profile bmx style with junk saver and some low profile Kenda Small Block 8s for less rolling resistance.

My only gripe and the same gripe I have had for years is that the bike is heavy! Still can't figure out why bike companies make these things so fricken heavy. Boggles my mind.

Lots of info and threads on mtbr in the kids family forum.

Clint

 

[aaronrules]

Went to the local shop and the guy talked me into a 24" bike for my boy. This shop is a nice shop. He thought the bike is a 2014 model because he never saw the color combination. It is expensive! But it's going to last for the next 5 years or so easily. So either buy one good bike, or one bike a year...It's a Trek MT240. Totally overkill...