A family member has rashly promised to buy my nephew a second bike for Xmas. He's 10 and has outgrown his first bike, a 20" wheel rigid fork MTB style Raleigh which after a slow start has lately seen daily service, virtually all on roads with the odd spin around a local park which has an off road trail section.
Trouble is, budget is a consideration, with £100 a fairly tight ballpark. Said family member is now looking about sports shops at various bike shaped objects made of cheese. As the sole regular cyclist in the family I've been asked for advice and recommendations. Advice I can give, but good LBS's are thin on the ground there (Aberdeen), with the few there are charging more than the budget figure for anything I'd gladly recommend. Even EBC's own label bikes are out of the ballpark, never mind the Islabikes range which we know he should be getting.
Trouble is, budget is a consideration, with £100 a fairly tight ballpark. Said family member is now looking about sports shops at various bike shaped objects made of cheese. As the sole regular cyclist in the family I've been asked for advice and recommendations.
I originally read your subject as "second hand" - is that an option?
Thanks for the suggestion, but EBC have a shop in Aberdeen now and their own range, although I'd be relatively happy recommending it, is too far above the ridiculous c£100 ceiling.
Tight Scottish gits, eh? Tsk . . .
Josey said:
"heed" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
Anybody have any experience with this retailer? Or any better suggestions? Either gratefully appreciated.
Day out on the train to Edinburgh out of the question?
Thanks also for that. I would say second hand, and given the chance of a decent secondhand specialized I'd definitely go for that as you did (my own son's on his first bike justnow, a decent full sus - if there is such a thing - bought secondhand from ebay) but I can't see either the folks going for it nor the nephew appreciating it. Consumerist nonsense.
A family member has rashly promised to buy my nephew a second bike for Xmas. He's 10 and has outgrown his first bike, a 20" wheel rigid fork MTB style Raleigh which after a slow start has lately seen daily service, virtually all on roads with the odd spin around a local park which has an off road trail section.
Anybody have any experience with this retailer? Or any better suggestions? Either gratefully appreciated.
Nothing wrong with it other than cost savings: Steel seat post and stem/bars, no aheadset, and non-branded forks. Aluminium frames do not _have_ to be lighter than steel. As others have said, a sensible place for your money.
For the same decision I bought second hand securing a Kona Hula for UKP127 on ebay. You are unlikely to find one of those. You might look for a Specialized hotrock 24 or a Trek 224 at a similar price. The Kona is superb but very expensive new.
If there are younger children then you can justify the greater expense using the hand-it-down argument. That has worked for me.
A family member has rashly promised to buy my nephew a second bike for Xmas. He's 10 and has outgrown his first bike, a 20" wheel rigid fork MTB style Raleigh which after a slow start has lately seen daily service, virtually all on roads with the odd spin around a local park which has an off road trail section.
Anybody have any experience with this retailer? Or any better suggestions? Either gratefully appreciated.
Nothing wrong with it other than cost savings: Steel seat post and stem/bars, no aheadset, and non-branded forks. Aluminium frames do not _have_ to be lighter than steel. As others have said, a sensible place for your money.
For the same decision I bought second hand securing a Kona Hula for UKP127 on ebay. You are unlikely to find one of those. You might look for a Specialized hotrock 24 or a Trek 224 at a similar price. The Kona is superb but very expensive new.
If there are younger children then you can justify the greater expense using the hand-it-down argument. That has worked for me.
We have a giant MTX250 which is excellent[1]. Is the nephew a small or large 10? If a large 10 then going for a small adult bike (eg. something like a giant rock or trex 3500 will be a good option.
However, if money is as tight it looks like the Dawes will be OK. There are economies but it is a good value bike and shouldn't have too much cheese. The bits that will die will be the bearings and tyres.
...d
[1] Apart from a ridiclously short seat post - soon to be replaced with a long one so we get more than a couple of years growth out of it.
Then suggest either a more realistic budget or the second hand route. Try ex hire. This year I got a steel framed Specialized Hardrock rigid fork ex hire MTB for my 16 year old son. Excellent condition. For a 100 quid. A basic bike from a good make will last years longer than a BSO. My daughter uses a Giant Boulder which both her brothers had before her. Iain
Cheers David, thanks for your response. He's a medium sized 10, but the budget is a tight £100 or thereabouts, they won't go to a Giant price, so I think the Dawes is looking like the front runner.
Take care,
Dave G
Quoted message said:
We have a giant MTX250 which is excellent[1]. Is the nephew a small or large 10? If a large 10 then going for a small adult bike (eg. something like a giant rock or trex 3500 will be a good option.
However, if money is as tight it looks like the Dawes will be OK. There are economies but it is a good value bike and shouldn't have too much cheese. The bits that will die will be the bearings and tyres.
..d
[1] Apart from a ridiclously short seat post - soon to be replaced with a long one so we get more than a couple of years growth out of it.
Trouble is, budget is a consideration, with £100 a fairly tight ballpark.
Since it sounds like your son needs a new bike anyway, rather than have them waste the money on a £100 bike, can you persuade them to put £100 towards a better bike?
-- Tony
"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory." - Leonardo da Vinci
Trouble is, budget is a consideration, with £100 a fairly tight ballpark.
Since it sounds like your son needs a new bike anyway, rather than have them waste the money on a £100 bike, can you persuade them to put £100 towards a better bike?
It's heed's nephew who needs a bike. While heed saying "I'll also chip in another £100 towards a better bike" would solve the problem in one sense, it does have a £100 disadvantage from heed's point of view...
It's heed's nephew who needs a bike. While heed saying "I'll also chip in another £100 towards a better bike" would solve the problem in one sense, it does have a £100 disadvantage from heed's point of view...
Correct. If I had a spare £100 I'd gladly chip in, but I don't, my own boy is v happy on his first bike, which still has both seatpost and handlebars at lowest points, and in the three years time I hope it'll take him to grow out of it, the replacement will be a sensible secondhander rather than a poor quality new bike shaped object.
A family member has rashly promised to buy my nephew a second bike for Xmas. He's 10 and has outgrown his first bike, a 20" wheel rigid fork MTB style Raleigh which after a slow start has lately seen daily service, virtually all on roads with the odd spin around a local park which has an off road trail section.
Trouble is, budget is a consideration, with £100 a fairly tight ballpark. Said family member is now looking about sports shops at various bike shaped objects made of cheese. As the sole regular cyclist in the family I've been asked for advice and recommendations. Advice I can give, but good LBS's are thin on the ground there (Aberdeen), with the few there are charging more than the budget figure for anything I'd gladly recommend. Even EBC's own label bikes are out of the ballpark, never mind the Islabikes range which we know he should be getting.
If you keep an eye on eBay there are some used bargains to be had too, although I imagine prices for kids' bikes will be higher around this time of year. There was an immaculate Giant 24" wheel rigid Cr-Mo something-or-other that I nearly bought for the SO a few weeks ago that went for about £70 - some kids' bikes are ridden on Boxing Day and then left in the garage until they're too small.
In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...
Quoted message said:
Anybody have any experience with this retailer? Or any better suggestions? Either gratefully appreciated.
Cheers,
DG
I have a 24" wheel road bike that is going is going for free if someone wants to collect it from S Wales. It could do with new wheels and it definatley needs new tyres but I'm loath to scrap it incase someone wants it. ( it took me ages to track one down)
In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...
Quoted message said:
Anybody have any experience with this retailer? Or any better suggestions? Either gratefully appreciated.
Cheers,
DG
I have a 24" wheel road bike that is going is going for free if someone wants to collect it from S Wales. It could do with new wheels and it definatley needs new tyres but I'm loath to scrap it incase someone wants it. ( it took me ages to track one down)
Sounds interesting.. Could you send pictures/details/dimensions..
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:05:04 -0000, Rob Morley <[email hidden]>
Quoted message said:
If you keep an eye on eBay there are some used bargains to be had too, although I imagine prices for kids' bikes will be higher around this time of year. There was an immaculate Giant 24" wheel rigid Cr-Mo something-or-other that I nearly bought for the SO a few weeks ago that went for about £70 - some kids' bikes are ridden on Boxing Day and then left in the garage until they're too small.
I've bought some excellent children's bikes on ebay. I never bid above £5.05 and find that I'm more successful during periods of dismal weather.
In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...
Quoted message said:
I have a 24" wheel road bike that is going is going for free if someone
Quoted message said:
wants to collect it from S Wales. It could do with new wheels and it definatley needs new tyres but I'm loath to scrap it incase someone wants it. ( it took me ages to track one down)
Sounds interesting.. Could you send pictures/details/dimensions..
I will dig it out of the garage and take a pic of it...
