What do your kids ride?

Knuckles

Knuckles

Lives under a bridge
Sorry, put them on the 20" Chucker, for when the daughter is ready to graduate from her purple unicorn bike.....pluhease, let that be soon.
 
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schred

Likes Bikes and Dirt
What's the approach to altering crank lengths? Pro job? Drill press? Makita and a wobbly pedal? Cut off the excess? Or leave a bit for next size up?
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
schred said:
What's the approach to altering crank lengths? Pro job? Drill press? Makita and a wobbly pedal? Cut off the excess? Or leave a bit for next size up?
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Drill press for sure. The correct threading direction is the tricky bit. I'd cut off excess. Wouldn't use again later with additional hole.
 
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Binaural

Binaural

Eats Squid
So, I have a three year old who I am trying to interest in riding. I found a kid's bike equipped with training wheels at a council clean-up a few days ago and thought it was a low-risk means of seeing if he was into it. A mate of mine suggested taking off the training wheels and removing the cranks to turn it into a balance bike to help him get started. Has anyone done this, or should I just keep the bike as is?
 
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SlowManiac

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I definitely recommend not using training wheels. it may be a bit frustrating in the short term but longer term much better.

Even better would be to try and find a cheap but decent quality 2nd hand balance bike (e.g. Strider or something similar).
 
geoz

geoz

Likes Bikes
SlowManiac said:
I definitely recommend not using training wheels. it may be a bit frustrating in the short term but longer term much better.

Even better would be to try and find a cheap but decent quality 2nd hand balance bike (e.g. Strider or something similar).
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I completely agree with that. Trainer wheels teach all the wrong things. In particular they don't teach proper balancing and steering
 
silentbutdeadly

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
Binaural said:
So, I have a three year old who I am trying to interest in riding. I found a kid's bike equipped with training wheels at a council clean-up a few days ago and thought it was a low-risk means of seeing if he was into it. A mate of mine suggested taking off the training wheels and removing the cranks to turn it into a balance bike to help him get started. Has anyone done this, or should I just keep the bike as is?
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Remove training wheels and bin them. Remove cranks and keep them for later. Balance bike is a go. Worked for us...
 
flamin'trek

flamin'trek

Likes Bikes and Dirt
silentbutdeadly said:
Remove training wheels and bin them. Remove cranks and keep them for later. Balance bike is a go. Worked for us...
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Plus one. Balance bike worked really well, it took no time for them to learn to pedal after the balance bike.

One thing about training wheels though is the it really gives them a good opportunity to learn how to back pedal brake with feet on the pedals. My littlest is struggling with braking having not really done it before on a bike, but his cousin has had practice skidding on the training wheel bike so has worked it out quickly.
 
Snapcatcher

Snapcatcher

Likes Bikes
Thought I'd let you blokes know about these cheap air forks I put on my sons Norco Storm to replace the heavy Suntour forks it came with. I got them through Ebay for $160 delivered. 120mm solo air. They are branded as KRSEC and I have to say they are pretty decent for the price. Quality seems good and the travel feels pretty plush. My son is wrapped with them. So if you're doing a budget build these could be worth a look, and they do them in 26" and 27.5 and a few different colours.
 

Attachments

Mr Crudley

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
Snapcatcher said:
So if you're doing a budget build these could be worth a look, and they do them in 26" and 27.5 and a few different colours.
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They sure don't look bad at all, and look, a straight steerer too. I wonder how much they have borrowed from Fox, RS and Co, like would the fork seals or other fork consumables be able to be used.

I would doubt at that pricepoint that they would be anything but a bit of recycled tech which isn't always a bad thing. Things eventually get more generic over time.
 
ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
A quick edit of the kids at the 2017 Melrose Fat Tyre Festival, they must have done the wooden jumps at the pump track 400-500 times, from 8am till 10:30pm until the lights got turned off, for 4 days straight .

[video=youtube;ezJEm0l1zUM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezJEm0l1zUM&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
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ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Cheers Mic, yes it was a big turn out, seemed more people at the campsite but not as many on the street. There was a GESA stage on too so there was a good turn out from them too. A great weekend as usual, looking forward to next year.
 
ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Heres the vid form the 2017 Melrose 18hr.

My boys took 2nd. It ended up all juniors at under 16's, so the winning team were big boys. They all had a great event, 32 Juniors in total.

I was Marshall for the first couple of hours to make sure they took the short course, so got to shoot some footage.

[video=youtube_share;PD3uxCx5-AY]https://youtu.be/PD3uxCx5-AY[/video]
 
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Sandakan

Likes Bikes
This is a great forum that I have been reading for years and now I'd like to make a little contribution.

Bought my 9yr old a Giant xtc JR 24 Disc at the start of the year. Lots of people telling me go a bigger bike as it will last longer. I'm glad I went with the one that fit him best because he's able to control and physically handle / throw the thing around better.
His riding has come along way and that bike has fueled an addiction. Rides to school now and has built a little xc track in our front garden.
It has enabled us to ride Candlebark, Yarra trails, Lysterfield, Wombat and You Yangs as a family together. Heading to Forrest for the weekend.
Having the right bike for his size and ability meant that at first he was able to keep up with his mum and me and now he is beginning to surpass us. He leaves me behind on the climbs and did his first black run a few weeks ago at the You Yangs. Climbing up then going down.
The only mod I've made is to upgrade the pedals to Nukeproof Neutrons which he saved up for. (Should have seen the pedal rash!)
He's already pushing the limits but should be right for another year.

So from this parent point of view the right size now was one of the best decisions and family time investments that we made. His mates struggle on their larger bikes.
Hope that helps some of you who are looking for a bike for your kid. The Giant was the perfect one for us.

PS. We need new tyres soon. Finding it hard to find 24" decent tread and weight for a reasonable price. Any got any ideas? Found these on CRC. Anyone know if they are any good?
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/au/en/schwalbe-black-jack-mtb-tyre-puncture-protect/rp-prod80072
 
foxpuppet

foxpuppet

Eats Squid
Knuckles said:
My young bloke was on his 20" Chucker until 9, he's long, but a bantam weight. I doubt his sister will last the year on a 20.

Sent from my HTC_M9u using Tapatalk
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What age/size did they get onto the 20" and what size bike before that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
C

creaky

XMAS Plumper
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