> Hi. I'm looking for a bike for my 5 year old (he'll be five in about
> a month). This will be his first two wheeler (he had a tike, but
> never really showed much interest in riding it). I've seen that I can
> get a 16" Huffy from ToysRUs for about 30 bucks. Then I see that some
> sporting goods stores and bike shops sell the Trek "Jet 16" for about
> 140 bucks. That's a big difference, so I wanted to get some opinions
> if such a difference is worthwhile or overkill.
There's a vast difference between a decent bike from a shop and what's come
to be known in the trade as a BSO (bike shaped object). Mostly it comes down
to just one thing. There's no incentive for the BSO to be sturdy and
repairable. The customer generally has only one contact with those who sell
it, vs the bike shop where there is (hopefully) a long-term relationship
based upon expectations that such a nice bike will, in fact, last... as well
as delivering a great cycling experience such that the customer will want to
come in and buy more bikes from them in the future. I doubt there are many
people who have purchased bikes at ToysRUs who are so happy with them that
they can't wait to come back and get bikes for the rest of their family and
themselves. Could be, but given that they don't have service centers or
stock any repair items beyond generic tubes & tires, if something goes
wrong, the customer is on their own.
It *is* shocking sometimes for a bike shop owner to see bikes being sold for
about what it costs just to ship something. The economics don't make sense,
but this drives us (or most of us anyway, "us" being those who own local
bike shops) to make sure we take our kids bikes *very* seriously. We
consider them "heirloom" bikes in that they'll survive multiple kids. If
someone doesn't have multiple kids, perhaps they know of someone in the
neighborhood who might not be able to afford a nice bike and would love the
use of one. Or a relative. It's not uncommon for me to see kids bikes that
we sold 10-15 years ago, still running strong, on their 3rd or 4th or 5th
kid.
For learning how to ride without training wheels, you might check out this
article on our website. It's helped quite a few-
http://www.chainreaction.com/trwheels.htm
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com