What do your kids ride?

Mica

Mica

Likes Dirt
Thinking of adopting myself to a german family.

Can't wait till my daughter is old enough to do things like this for "her".

For those with enough free time here is the full thread where these photos came from, well worth trawling through for some incredible custom kids bikes, great inspiration (the attention to detail is amazing!!!!)Pimped Kids bikes
 

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steve24

Likes Bikes and Dirt
My 5 yr old had been on some crap hard rubbish thing with trainer wheels. The thing weighed about 11kg!
I then bought her this and she was off 1st go. It took a while to master turning etc but here she is riding to her 1st day of school- 3.5ks.

I bought my 2 yr old a Firstbike with lowering kit a few days ago, he still needs some time.....Think i better show him that vid on pg 2!

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Cypher

Cypher

Likes Dirt
My baby is four months from being born and already has its first bike (it is too early to tell what sex it is, but does that matter?)

I won a Giant Pre Push bike in a competition. Awesome :)

Question is: how early could you possibly get an infant on a strider bike? Could they straddle it at 2? Earlier?

It will suck if I have to wait for 3 or 4 years before the bike gets ridden (yes, I realise that baby has the last say on these things, but my partner and I will be working hard at making bike riding the fun thing to do)
 
bluesmurf

bluesmurf

Likes Bikes
Cypher said:
My baby is four months from being born and already has its first bike (it is too early to tell what sex it is, but does that matter?)

I won a Giant Pre Push bike in a competition. Awesome :)

Question is: how early could you possibly get an infant on a strider bike? Could they straddle it at 2? Earlier?

It will suck if I have to wait for 3 or 4 years before the bike gets ridden (yes, I realise that baby has the last say on these things, but my partner and I will be working hard at making bike riding the fun thing to do)
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We bought our second daughter a balance bike and to start with a mate bent me up some tube for a large handle and we bolted it to the rear of the bike (the bike is a plywood one). Picteure walking along with your hand at waist height holding the handle.

This started about 2 years old and by about two and a half the handle was off. She was about 3 years and a couple of months old when I took her down the local park on a 12 inch bike without trainer wheels and it took all of about 10 minutes before she was happily riding up and down the cricket pitch all by herself.
 
bootsandall

bootsandall

Likes Dirt
Starting age

My little girl was on that chopped bike i posted earlier a couple of months ago so she would have been say 2 3/4 yrs old. But was on a tricycle at 2 with a handle at the back, then got a better tricycle of ebay and was off solo by 2 1/3. Dare say would have been soon if she could have reached the peddles/ground. Just having her see myself and my partner ride has got her loving the idea of riding. Helps that our nearest park is only a block away, so it was start short then extend the rides further say things like "How about we go a NEW way to our park?" You just got to make it fun which isn't hard because it is fun.
 
B

bikeyoulongtime

Likes Dirt
Cypher said:
My baby is four months from being born and already has its first bike (it is too early to tell what sex it is, but does that matter?)

I won a Giant Pre Push bike in a competition. Awesome :)

Question is: how early could you possibly get an infant on a strider bike? Could they straddle it at 2? Earlier?

It will suck if I have to wait for 3 or 4 years before the bike gets ridden (yes, I realise that baby has the last say on these things, but my partner and I will be working hard at making bike riding the fun thing to do)
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Thats a cool prize!

Our first little dude was completely obsessed by bikes at about 16 months.. so when he was 18 months he got a balance bike for christmas, turned upside down and modified so the seat sat super low. For a few weeks he just pushed it around, then started to 'ride' with at least one foot on the ground. Now, nearly 6 months later he's cruising around both feet up.. amazing! Didn't need any encouragement, just did it..
 
colesy01

colesy01

Likes Bikes
My three eldest are mad for cycling and all own kids version mountain bikes, the eldest,10, rides a ghost missy 24" imported from CRC, 8yr old and 6yr old ride giant 20" MX150's but the 8yr old is in need of an upgrade. The eldest boy, now 6, was so keen for me to take him out on the local tracks when he was 3 but the training wheels tended to get caught on trees etc. We had an old kids bike with plastic wheels etc which we removed the drivetrain and dropped the seat so he could ride it as a strider type bike to get his balance. After a week of non-stop laps of the house on that kids bike and non-stop nagging to remove the training wheels, I finally gave in and removed the training wheels. He was off into the distance in no time. Other boys not really that interested.
 
flamin'trek

flamin'trek

Likes Bikes and Dirt
My 6yo has a Giant MTX150 and we will be getting more MTB-ing. What tyre pressures should I run for him? It's just got the std tyres on at the moment and they are fairly beefy. On rd it's a no brainer, but off rd?
Are there some reasonably priced tyres that would be good to change to to help drop a little weight.
 
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Whitie

Likes Dirt
flamin'trek said:
My 6yo has a Giant MTX150 and we will be getting more MTB-ing. What tyre pressures should I run for him? It's just got the std tyres on at the moment and they are fairly beefy. On rd it's a no brainer, but off rd?
Are there some reasonably priced tyres that would be good to change to to help drop a little weight.
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If it's a 24 inch bike - tyres are a bit limited in Australia - I think Maxxis are the most common available. We have trouble for our youngest who mainly Down Hills (he's now ten and still small) and knows what he wants in the way of tyres!!! Even trying to find options for his XC bike are limited. You might need to surf the net a bit.
 
Bjorn

Bjorn

Likes Dirt
Tyre Pressures

I run tyre pressures down at 25 psi for my kids when they ride off road.
They are 8yo and 28kg on 20" wheels and 5yo and 23kg on 16" wheels respectively. We are going out and riding a lot of rocky intermediate stuff and there have been no punctures at all.
As Whitie said, MTB tyres in sub 26" sizes are pretty limited; even for 16" & 20". I figure as long as there is grip, it's more important than weight.
 
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SummitFever

Eats Squid
Whitie said:
If it's a 24 inch bike - tyres are a bit limited in Australia ...
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They sure are, and not just in Australia. Schwalbe are just about the only guys making good tyres for 24" rims. The Moe Joes are great and they have just come out with Rocket Rons in 24" as well. Moe Joes work really well setup tubeless and weigh around 420g. I run them tubeless at around 22-25psi for my daughter. Grip and ride comfort is superb in the rough stuff.
 
flamin'trek

flamin'trek

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Thanks for the replies, will drop the pressure a bit for the next trip. I've been using the old 'more is better' for tyre pressure for as long as I can remember, only just getting used to dropping them now.

The MTX 150 is a 20" bike, will stick with the curent tyres for now.
 
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steve24

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Cypher said:
My baby is four months from being born and already has its first bike (it is too early to tell what sex it is, but does that matter?)

I won a Giant Pre Push bike in a competition. Awesome :)

Question is: how early could you possibly get an infant on a strider bike? Could they straddle it at 2? Earlier?

It will suck if I have to wait for 3 or 4 years before the bike gets ridden (yes, I realise that baby has the last say on these things, but my partner and I will be working hard at making bike riding the fun thing to do)
Click to expand...
My boy (3 at Christmas) is just starting to take an interest in his balance bike. He could walk at 11 mths but was happier to be carried and loves riding in up front in the weerider.
My daughter could walk at 9mths and hated to be carried and was not always happy in the weerider......

So Answer is in 18mths or so you can tell us! Leg length will also be a factor.

My son on the balance bike is- ride 20M, get off to look at something, ride 2m point out something else etc 100m can take 20mins.....

Loads of patience always required but when it " clicks" it is a huge reward.

All the best for for next month.
 
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Mad Hatter

Likes Dirt
Yet another "which bike" question ..... sorta.

Hi all.
Looking at upgrading my son`s bike to a 24" for his 7th Birthday or Christmas.
He`s very keen to ride everything that my wife and I do including all the hills, both up and down and thinks there is nothing wrong with riding 20k`s through the bush on single track.
Currently he rides a GT Stomper 20", so I`m looking at something a bit more up market and 'performance' oriented.
2 bikes that have caught our attention are the Scott Scale JR24 (the RC JR 24 would be a nice bit of bling but not available I`m told) and the Avanti Agressor 24.
Both bikes have good spec levels, the main difference being hydro disks on the Avanti compared to rim pull on the Scott.
Are disk brakes really necessary on kids bikes?
Does anyone have any of these for their young ones?
Cheers
MH
 
Bjorn

Bjorn

Likes Dirt
Mad Hatter said:
Are disk brakes really necessary on kids bikes?
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They are not necessary, but they are a benefit. Kids have little hands and they are have far lower finger strength. This makes pulling the brakes on difficult if they are of average quality. I recently put a pair of Avid Single Digit levers onto my 8 year old daughter's bike so she could use the brakes with only a single finger. If you want your son to develop good braking habits and if he wants to ride the same tracks as mum and dad; hydros will be of great benefit to him.
Interestingly, up until a few months ago I would have taken the opposite view to what what I've written above. Through observation of my kids as they tackle more difficult terrain, I've changed my views on how their bikes should be specced.
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
Sorry if I have missed a post covering this, but has anyone played with adapting a bmx frame with a short travel fork and brazing on a derailleur hanger..... I realize that there might be complications with the derailleur ground-clearance with the 20" wheel. I also get that a bmx hub is different and slotting in an MTB wheel/would need addressing, but it's a project I've had in mind for a couple of years.

Any thoughts?

BTW, My 5yo loves to jump, and has is first race coming up next month. :clap2:
 
Bjorn

Bjorn

Likes Dirt
moorey said:
Sorry if I have missed a post covering this, but has anyone played with adapting a bmx frame with a short travel fork and brazing on a derailleur hanger..... I realize that there might be complications with the derailleur ground-clearance with the 20" wheel. I also get that a bmx hub is different and slotting in an MTB wheel/would need addressing, but it's a project I've had in mind for a couple of years.

Any thoughts?

BTW, My 5yo loves to jump, and has is first race coming up next month. :clap2:
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I've bought a couple of second hand Indi Grunt 20" bikes for my kids for about $100 each. They do everything you are trying to achieve with a BMX, except the satisfaction of creation. They are alloy frames with 135mm rear axle spacing, 1 1/8" forks with SR Suntour suspension fork fitted and a 7 speed rear cluster.
Merida & Giant make something similar as I'm sure do a couple of other manufacturers. So unless you are really into the idea of doing it yourself, a second hand one might be a good option. You could bling it up pretty seriously, although good 20" forks seem to be a problem. Of course they're only kids so they'll be stoked with any suspension, rather than querying why there is no compression damping.

Congratulations on your offspring's first race.
 
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SummitFever

Eats Squid
moorey said:
Sorry if I have missed a post covering this, but has anyone played with adapting a bmx frame with a short travel fork and brazing on a derailleur hanger..... I realize that there might be complications with the derailleur ground-clearance with the 20" wheel. I also get that a bmx hub is different and slotting in an MTB wheel/would need addressing, but it's a project I've had in mind for a couple of years.

Any thoughts?

BTW, My 5yo loves to jump, and has is first race coming up next month. :clap2:
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I built a MTB for my 6 year old by modifying a Redline mini BMX. I added gears and made a set of 20" forks from some Manitou forks. It weighs about 8kg with 45mm of front suspension. A light bike makes a huge difference to a kid that weighs less than 30kg. The 20" mtb's that you can buy are seriously heavy - probably upwards of 12kg. If you use a DMR chain tug with integrated derailleur hanger there is no need to modify the BMX frame.

My now 7 year old daughter has really enjoyed riding this bike and has put almost 1000km of offroad single track on it. The gears made a huge difference because the terrain where we ride is never flat.

My eldest daughter rode this bike without front suspension for almost 3 years. When my younger daughter started riding it she was much faster through the rough stuff and was having trouble with the small wheels through the rock gardens. Adding the front suspension made it much easier for her.

Over the years I tried many configs on this bike from a fully rigid super-lightweight single speed setup to a triple chainring front with 5 speed rear cluster and front suspension. The way it is now is the best config I've been able to achieve.

 
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