Happy Children

J

justin_nj

New Member
Both my kids outgrew their old bikes and at first we were about to drop about $200+ each on some bikes at our local bike shop.

My wife was concerned that they'ed use the bikes for a season, maybe two and ready for upgrades, esp my son who is was going from a 12" to 16" bike and still using training wheels.

So we started to look for some less expensive bikes to hold them over a year or two until they get something they will use for a number of years.

Ended up scoring my daughter a 20" mongoose freestyle in white/pink. Bike is almost brand new - 2 - 3 months of use - found on craigslist for $25. Hopefully by the end of this year she will be able to ride a 24" and she will get a specialized HotRocks.

Craigs List had a few 16" bikes for about $35 but they were mostly the $49 walmart specials. Not sure why people think selling a used kids bike for almost the cost of a new one is going to get it sold. Ended up getting him a tony hawk freestyle bike that was on-sale for about $80 - training wheels included 🙂 He likes it and hopefully will spend a year or two building up his abilities, loose the training wheels and I expect he's going to end up getting into BMX so who knows what he'll want in 2 or so years. At least for now he's got a bike he can learn on and it didn't break the bank!

Now if the weather would just warm up so they can ride em.
 
used bikes are the way to go - great deals on craigs for the vigilant - i agree especially w kids bikes - looking for a 24 right now for my dtr as she has outgrown the 20
 
I have 16 & 13 yr old boys. In the history of their growing up I have bought only 1 bmx bike for the older one and he handed it down to the younger one. Yet I always manage to have a garage full of bikes, some beaters and some good bikes that need work. The good ones I bring to the Cranford bike shop for Tom to fix.

My kids manage to come up with bikes from friends getting rid of old ones or salvage junk bikes. I've offered to buy them a new bike at the Cranford bike shop but they don't care about new bikes, + they abuse their bikes by leaving them out in the rain.

The keepers. Shmev rides the Peugeot and J rides the Giant.
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Truthfully, when the time comes for kids in my life, I doubt I will buy a bicycle until upgrading a 20".

Around me, there is a week at the end of April where residents are allowed to throw out any bulk or odd items they want for regular garbage pickup. The sheer amount of solid, functional bikes - be it a tricycle, 12" wheel or 700c roadie - is absurd. My comrades and I follow the garbage routes at night and grab what we can find; even a bike with waffled rims can be cannibalized for parts to build a solid bike for your young ones. I picked a nearly flawless early 1960s Schwinn Pixie which will at some point probably serve as a start for a future kid.

When they are at the age to ride trikes, 12", 16" or even learn 20" bikes, there is no reason to spend money on anything crazy, I'm sorry. They are not being ridden hard enough that a Magna or Kent isn't going to serve its purpose, and if they get dropped or beat up you aren't out much more than a can of spray paint to make it unique.

Personally, I would say that once your child is comfortable on a 20" bike, it is time to upgrade to what they like, be it BMX or musclebike or Jr. Mountain Bike. Buying new bikes before this point is frankly throwing money away...
 
Spylab said:
Truthfully, when the time comes for kids in my life, I doubt I will buy a bicycle until upgrading a 20".

Around me, there is a week at the end of April where residents are allowed to throw out any bulk or odd items they want for regular garbage pickup. The sheer amount of solid, functional bikes - be it a tricycle, 12" wheel or 700c roadie - is absurd. My comrades and I follow the garbage routes at night and grab what we can find; even a bike with waffled rims can be cannibalized for parts to build a solid bike for your young ones. I picked a nearly flawless early 1960s Schwinn Pixie which will at some point probably serve as a start for a future kid.

When they are at the age to ride trikes, 12", 16" or even learn 20" bikes, there is no reason to spend money on anything crazy, I'm sorry. They are not being ridden hard enough that a Magna or Kent isn't going to serve its purpose, and if they get dropped or beat up you aren't out much more than a can of spray paint to make it unique.

Personally, I would say that once your child is comfortable on a 20" bike, it is time to upgrade to what they like, be it BMX or musclebike or Jr. Mountain Bike. Buying new bikes before this point is frankly throwing money away...
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I am so glad my wife convinced me of this. So far my out of pocket expense was $25 for my daughter's used bike. My son's bike was purchased with a gift card!!!
 
Building them up is another option!

When my son was ready for his first proper 26" mtb at the age of about 11, we built it up together. We bought a Barracuda frame (14") on ebay for $40, and picked through my old parts bin and found we had everything else we needed, including a Judy fork, full drivetrain, etc from my old bikes (for which the frames had long since cracked or been sold). He's mechanically inclined (like his dad😉), so he got a kick out of using a headset press, torque wrench, chain tool, etc. When it was done, he proudly told all his friends that he built his own bike.

Then, when my daughter was ready for one a few years ago, same deal...a friend had an old Schwinn Moab 13" and a lightly used rigid fork. Other than a stem and grips, I had everything else we needed. So my son and I sanded the frame down (it was black and orange), picked a nice powder puff blue and painted the frame, located some decals on eBay, and put the thing together. My daughter was thrilled when we gave it to her for her b-day.
 
After the late-April Trash Bike Week, I usually have somewhere around 80-100 bicycles in my backyard, organized by wheel size.

Over this past summer, I noticed that the 7-year-old girl who lives a couple houses down was struggling with her old 16" bike... it was WAY too small for her. I mentioned to her mother that the girl would have a much better time learning to ride without training wheels on a better fitting bike. I told the girl I might have a more comfy bike for her, and she asked if I had any "pink ones with black wheels and white streamers".

I didn't. But I did have about 25 20" bikes and a cabinet of spray paint. I worked into the night, painting a random frame Princess Pink, straight set of wheels black and coordinating all the bits to match. Left it in their driveway for a morning discovery.

I invested maybe 3 hours and $0 in a bike that started life as a bottom-dwelling Huffy. But you couldn't have spent $1000 bucks on a bicycle that would have made that kid any happier.
 
Spylab said:
After the late-April Trash Bike Week, I usually have somewhere around 80-100 bicycles in my backyard, organized by wheel size.

Over this past summer, I noticed that the 7-year-old girl who lives a couple houses down was struggling with her old 16" bike... it was WAY too small for her. I mentioned to her mother that the girl would have a much better time learning to ride without training wheels on a better fitting bike. I told the girl I might have a more comfy bike for her, and she asked if I had any "pink ones with black wheels and white streamers".

I didn't. But I did have about 25 20" bikes and a cabinet of spray paint. I worked into the night, painting a random frame Princess Pink, straight set of wheels black and coordinating all the bits to match. Left it in their driveway for a morning discovery.

I invested maybe 3 hours and $0 in a bike that started life as a bottom-dwelling Huffy. But you couldn't have spent $1000 bucks on a bicycle that would have made that kid any happier.
Click to expand...

That is soooo sweet!
 
Spylab said:
After the late-April Trash Bike Week, I usually have somewhere around 80-100 bicycles in my backyard, organized by wheel size.

Over this past summer, I noticed that the 7-year-old girl who lives a couple houses down was struggling with her old 16" bike... it was WAY too small for her. I mentioned to her mother that the girl would have a much better time learning to ride without training wheels on a better fitting bike. I told the girl I might have a more comfy bike for her, and she asked if I had any "pink ones with black wheels and white streamers".

I didn't. But I did have about 25 20" bikes and a cabinet of spray paint. I worked into the night, painting a random frame Princess Pink, straight set of wheels black and coordinating all the bits to match. Left it in their driveway for a morning discovery.

I invested maybe 3 hours and $0 in a bike that started life as a bottom-dwelling Huffy. But you couldn't have spent $1000 bucks on a bicycle that would have made that kid any happier.
Click to expand...


Great post!! Thanks for making my grey morning a bit better.
 
Spylab said:
But I did have about 25 20" bikes and a cabinet of spray paint. I worked into the night, painting a random frame Princess Pink, straight set of wheels black and coordinating all the bits to match. Left it in their driveway for a morning discovery.

I invested maybe 3 hours and $0 in a bike that started life as a bottom-dwelling Huffy. But you couldn't have spent $1000 bucks on a bicycle that would have made that kid any happier.
Click to expand...

Bravo!
You sir, are a prince. We should all take the example and give a little back because no matter our effort, it pales in comparison to the joy it can give. Imagine if they then pay it forward and so on... Our world would be a hell of a lot better if we all did that. Change the focus from 'what can I get?' to 'what can I give' and we'll all be better for it. In fact, there's a little thing I've been thinking of for a while and you've given me the incentive to just do it. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Spylab said:
...she asked if I had any "pink ones with black wheels and white streamers".
Click to expand...

Would you happen to have any with 29" wheels and "Intense" or "Turner" printed on the down tube? Any color will do, and streamers are a plus.😀

Nice job man, your generosity and care for others will take you far in life.
 
Spylab said:
Around me, there is a week at the end of April where residents are allowed to throw out any bulk or odd items they want for regular garbage pickup. The sheer amount of solid, functional bikes - be it a tricycle, 12" wheel or 700c roadie - is absurd. ...

After the late-April Trash Bike Week, I usually have somewhere around 80-100 bicycles in my backyard, organized by wheel size.
Click to expand...

I also notice all the perfectly good stuff that gets thrown out all the time. I have a very high end computer chair that I bought for cheap from some acquaintance who used to work at a moving company which constantly chucked out fine chairs and other items from offices. After googling I found it was a Knoll Chair that retailed at over $600. (Btw: I have an extra one of those chairs I will consider trading for a 26" mtb fork better than a Dart 3). Probably our government should mandate a disposal fee for every item sold like they do in Europe or figure some other way to put all these perfectly good items to use via tax rebates. But that is never gonna happen because of the disembodied American mentality.

I take it by the 80-100 number you are not talking about just Sucasana but all of Roxbury. However, I cannot find any such free bulk pickup mentioned here for the end of April: http://www.roxburynj.us/index.aspx?NID=34
 
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