New bike for 6 year old, choosing between Trek and Reid

[thisispants]

So my son is too big for his 16" Trek Precaliber and I'm thinking of getting him a new 20" bike for his birthday in March.

I've been pretty happy with the Trek bike he currently has, although the 20" Trek bikes are a lot of money, about $340 for a bike with gears. Specifically, this one.....

https://www.trekbikes.com/au/en_AU/bike ... s/p/21888/

While I can afford the Trek bike (just), I'd probably prefer to get him something that doesn't cost quite as much, particularly because he'll probably only use it for about 3 years max.

The other option's I've been looking at are the Reid kid's bikes.....specifically:

The Reid Viper: https://www.reidcycles.com.au/reid-viper-20.html

and the Reid Ranger: https://www.reidcycles.com.au/reid-rang ... -bike.html

Does the Trek bike offer much more than the Reid bikes?

My second question is, if I decide to go with a Reid bike (most likely due to price).....should I go with the mountain bike design (ranger), or the more road type design (Viper). He currently only rides on bike paths around Canberra, but who knows what he'll want to ride on in the future. I personally much prefer the look of the Ranger, but does riding a mountain bike around bike paths make any sense? I'm a little concerned the bigger wheels on the mountain bike will make him have to work harder around the suburbs.

Sorry for rambling, my bike knowledge is almost non existent, so thanks for any help or advice,

Cheers,

Don

[MattyK]

I reckon the Reid offers more than the Trek to be honest. 1 more gear*. Lighter. No suspension (which is usually poor quality at this price point and adds no benefit).

I can't speak for your decision on MTB vs trail style, though the slicker tyres would grip and roll better on paved trails, and you could very easily fit fatter/knobby tyres to the Reid later.

(*Both have the same gear range, ie a 14-28 cassette = 200% range, but the Reid uses a larger chainring, so the gearing will be better suited to flatter terrain than getting up steep hills. However this can be addressed with a change of cassette - Shimano do 14-34 cassettes in both 6 and 7 speed, and Sunrace do an 11-34 cassette that should fit the Reid)

Otherwise, insert BNA default answer: Buy a used ByK E450.

[bychosis]

Consider second hand. Given you have a little time, you should be able to find a trek for sale for half the price of new (or less) and in ‘as new’ condition because kids grow so fast.

[Mububban]

So my son is too big for his 16" Trek Precaliber and I'm thinking of getting him a new 20" bike for his birthday in March.

I've been pretty happy with the Trek bike he currently has, although the 20" Trek bikes are a lot of money, about $340 for a bike with gears. Specifically, this one.....

https://www.trekbikes.com/au/en_AU/bike ... s/p/21888/

While I can afford the Trek bike (just), I'd probably prefer to get him something that doesn't cost quite as much, particularly because he'll probably only use it for about 3 years max.

The other option's I've been looking at are the Reid kid's bikes.....specifically:

The Reid Viper: https://www.reidcycles.com.au/reid-viper-20.html

and the Reid Ranger: https://www.reidcycles.com.au/reid-rang ... -bike.html

Does the Trek bike offer much more than the Reid bikes?

My second question is, if I decide to go with a Reid bike (most likely due to price).....should I go with the mountain bike design (ranger), or the more road type design (Viper). He currently only rides on bike paths around Canberra, but who knows what he'll want to ride on in the future. I personally much prefer the look of the Ranger, but does riding a mountain bike around bike paths make any sense? I'm a little concerned the bigger wheels on the mountain bike will make him have to work harder around the suburbs.

Sorry for rambling, my bike knowledge is almost non existent, so thanks for any help or advice,

Cheers,

Don

I bought the 24" Reid Viper for my daughter and she loved it. It fit exactly what I was looking for - rigid fork "flat bar roadie" style bike, single gear shifter for her first experience with a derailleur, and wide but smooth tyres for comfy riding on bike paths. Nice light shift action on the gears for her tiny wrists, but I did get the LBS to install the bigger cassette as the front chainring isn't the easiest.

Can't go wrong with it especially for under $300 brand new. Or look second hand, but you're more likely to find bikes with useless heavy front "suspension" rather than rigid fork bikes for kids second hand.

[P!N20]

Might jump in here.

I'm looking for a new bike for my 7yo daughter. She's been riding a 20" singlespeed BMX/MTB hybrid without any problems, but is getting a bit big for it.

Ideally I would like something with a 3 speed IGH with coaster brake and rigid fork. (Why do kids bikes always have front suspension?)

I really like this one: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/selby/k ... 1208065580 but Mrs P!N2 would prefer something new. Except, I can't really find anything that quite grabs me as much as that Giant.

There's this Merida: https://www.99bikes.com.au/bike18-merid ... white-blue

Actually this is pretty cool: https://www.99bikes.com.au/merida-matts ... -pink-2019

Or this (what's Radius?) https://www.99bikes.com.au/radius-cryst ... black-2019

Anything else I should be looking at? Budget wise, closer to $400 than $500.

[ironhanglider]

My son is about to cast off his 24" Track/SS/Road bike(!) this year since he has now grown into a 650c road bike (used to be his mum's) and I've been looking for a suitable 650c track bike for him as well. (The conversion is principally changing the bars and turning the wheel around) He started riding it when he was seven.





Cheers,

Cameron

[P!N20]

In the drops, on the rivet, teeth clenched. Big ring for sure.

[ironhanglider]

He only knows one way to ride!

Someone else took a great photo of him at Echuca that also shows the bike with both chainrings and the freewheel.

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21A ... 82&o=OneUp


Cheers,

Cameron

[P!N20]

Someone else took a great photo of him at Echuca that also shows the bike with both chainrings and the freewheel.

So how does the rear wheel dish work there? And is it on skewers or solid axle?

[ironhanglider]

I moved the hub over by shifting spacers from one side to the other, and dished the wheel to bring the rim back to centre. It didn't need to go over much because the cluster is a Suntour "Perfect" cluster with the "Ultra 6" - 5mm spacing which was designed for 120mm OLD wheels (120mm OLD was the standard when good bikes were 5 speed). 5mm spacing was then later used by Shimano for both 7 speed (126mm OLD) and 8 speed (130mm OLD) groupsets, so this bike has a 6 speed cluster being driven by 8 speed shifters and I think a 7 speed RD. I also used a 3/32" fixed cog so that the same chain can be used with two joining links to create a removable section.

Pushing the hub over meant that the fixed cog was moved further to the outside. However the original chainline worked best with the chainring on the inner position. Moving the chainring to the outside restored a straight chainline and allowed me to fit a second chainring, even if he doesn't use the 33T ring much.

The rear wheel is nutted, it was a track bike first.

Cheers,

Cameron

[MattyK]

Might jump in here.

I'm looking for a new bike for my 7yo daughter. She's been riding a 20" singlespeed BMX/MTB hybrid without any problems, but is getting a bit big for it.

Ideally I would like something with a 3 speed IGH with coaster brake and rigid fork. (Why do kids bikes always have front suspension?)

I really like this one: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/selby/k ... 1208065580 but Mrs P!N2 would prefer something new. Except, I can't really find anything that quite grabs me as much as that Giant.

There's this Merida: https://www.99bikes.com.au/bike18-merid ... white-blue

Actually this is pretty cool: https://www.99bikes.com.au/merida-matts ... -pink-2019

Or this (what's Radius?) https://www.99bikes.com.au/radius-cryst ... black-2019

Anything else I should be looking at? Budget wise, closer to $400 than $500.

See my thread here: http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewt ... 79&t=99419 I was looking for more than 3 speeds though, because they run out of range pretty quickly. And my kids never used coaster brakes anyway.
So far happy with the Scott Contessa, though my daughter doesn't get on it enough... She's probably below average size for a 10 year old, I reckon a 7yo could probably fit as the saddle can go quite low, and the bars are low too.

Radius is I think a sub brand of Apollo, they seem to have jumped between the two brand names a bit. If you're set on a hub gear, the Apollo Neo 24 is worth considering.
https://neobicycles.com.au/bikes/
https://neobicycles.com.au/bikes/

[P!N20]

Radius is I think a sub brand of Apollo, they seem to have jumped between the two brand names a bit. If you're set on a hub gear, the Apollo Neo 24 is worth considering.
https://neobicycles.com.au/bikes/
https://neobicycles.com.au/bikes/

Thanks MattyK.

I don't mind the look of the Neo, but the two things that are probably going to kill it are the colour (not enough pink - I'm not sure if that's from her or her Mum) and the price (about $100 more than the Merida - at least at the one place I looked.)

I'm not sure why I'm so set on the 3 speed hub, I guess I just feel my daughter will probably just sit in one gear for a while and having a derailleur not doing anything just becomes a maintenance issue. There's also the coaster brake - that's what she's used to, but hopefully she can start to use the hand brake without it being the only way to stop. (The caliper on her current bike is useless.)

So in summary, I guess I'm seeing this bike as a transition between single speed BMX and multi-geared 'road' bike.

This is the current leader: https://www.99bikes.com.au/merida-matts ... -pink-2019

[Mububban]

I'm not sure why I'm so set on the 3 speed hub, I guess I just feel my daughter will probably just sit in one gear for a while and having a derailleur not doing anything just becomes a maintenance issue. There's also the coaster brake - that's what she's used to, but hopefully she can start to use the hand brake without it being the only way to stop. (The caliper on her current bike is useless.)

So in summary, I guess I'm seeing this bike as a transition between single speed BMX and multi-geared 'road' bike.

This is the current leader: https://www.99bikes.com.au/merida-matts ... -pink-2019

My kids had a ByK e450 with 3 speed internal hub and it was a brilliant first bike to learn gearing, still had the coaster brake while they learned hand braking too. Kids also drop their bikes so no external derailleur meant no damage and no sand getting in the gearing etc when they dump it gear side down somewhere!!!

Having ridden it myself to test, the 3 gears covered a good range of gearing for kid legs. They spent most of the time in 2, with 1 for hills and 3 for higher speeds (which hardly ever got used). I could also hear the difference and could tell what gear they were in so could give them advice as terrain changed.

We then needed another 24 inch bike so got a Reid Viper 7 speed, good bike, nice light shifting action with the grip shifter BUT the front chain ring was a 42 tooth so hills were a challenge. Giant and others spec a 30-something front ring which is much better with 1x7 for little kid legs.