Good child (small adult) bicycle

In article ,
"Cathy Kearns" wrote:

If you are buying bikes and sending your
kids on errands or to school, well, look at it from a car analogy.

Actually, that's a great analogy.

In this house, DH and I drive the newer cars, the kids get clunkers. We
make sure they're safe enough (and pay attention enough to know when
they need work) -- but I DON'T buy them the newer cars with all the
newest safety features. We buy old, beat up used cars -- I don't think
we've paid more than $1000 for any of the cars that are primarily for
the kids' use.

Of course, even when you look at what DH and I drive, none of the cars
we have on the road right now have less than 100,000 miles -- one of
them started new with us and is 6 years old, one started with "only"
60,000 miles on it when we got it, and the other two were, well, old and
well used. We are what my mother's mechanic calls "end users" of cars
-- by the time we're done with them, they're done. It works for us.
Every now and again we have to rescue a kid -- thank the goddess for
cell phones -- but, frankly, that can happen in even brand new cars.

So it's entirely consistant that I would not spend a lot of $$ on a
bike, either. (Though I DID spend serious money on getting bike helmets
that were good.)

--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

"Banty" wrote in message
...
In article . com, Buck
says...

Ericka Kammerer wrote:

I think the point I've been trying to make is that it's
not about the *item*. It's about the use to which you would put
the item, and how valuable that is to you, personally, in your
specific situation. It's not about how much money, per se.
It's about the value you get from what you've bought. Some
folks get a lot of value out of a bike, even if it puts a dent
in their bank account. Others don't get much value out of it
regardless of how much it costs. I think it's important in
life to figure out how to align your expenditures with your
values and priorities. It may be hard to believe for those
who are passionate about cycling, but there exist those odd
folks who just don't get much value out of a bike of any
sort, yet might still want one for occasional use ;-) Of
course, there are folks out there who don't like chocolate.
If *that* can happen, pretty much anything is fair game ;-)

And the point that we have been trying to make is that there is a bare
minimum of quality that drastically affects how an "item," be it
bicycle or otherwise, will be used. My uncle fell under the "occasional
use" philosophy. But when the kids went out to "occasionally use" their
bikes, they discovered the cables and chains to be rusted into an
unusable condition. It took less than two months. Those kids got less
than four rides out of the bicycles. At $150 per bicycle, that works
out to $75 per ride (two kids).

I understand the point you're making. But some of this has to do with
what you
are doing.

For example, no way even a cheeeep bike would be rusted out in a coupla
months
if it were stored properly. (It always kinda cheesed and amazed me how
some
folks think the cheaper something is, the less care it warrants, it's
actually
the opposite IMO.)
Is $150 bike really a cheap one? Dh bought his bike new for £90, which is
roughly similar isn't it? He's used it to ride to and from work daily-a
journey consiting of mostly ups and downs (!) taking about 20 minutes. That
was nearly 6 years ago. It's kept in our garage, which is not next to our
house and is cold and damp, and his idea of keeping it in order is to
occasionally oil the chain, and maybe pump up the tyres if they get too bad.
And that's the most either of us ever has paid for a bike.
Debbie

"dragonlady" wrote in message
...

(Though I DID spend serious money on getting bike helmets
that were good.)

Oh NO! She used the H word!

(for those on misc.kids: bringing up h*lm*ts is like bringing up, I don't
know, circumcision or something)


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Jeanne wrote:

That's good to know. DH also didn't think the aluminum frame would be a
problem, but he wanted to check out other bikes - mainly Trek and GT.
On the M20, the men's frame wasn't much different from the women's
frame. I think the women's frame cross bar was about 3 inches below the
seat post while the men's frame cross bar was at the seat post.

And for the cost... let me commend you on being an excellent mother. It
is easy to spend a lot on a good bike but it is also easy to spend on
video games and having an inactive kid!


I thought about this after reading some of the posts. I would *never*
spend $300 on a XBOX or gameboy and games (I have absolutely no idea how
much these things cost so excuse the ignorance on pricing here) - I feel
it an incredible waste of money. But I think $300 is a perfectly
reasonable amount on a bicycle - actually it would be incredibly *low*
on an adult bicycle for me or DH. As a grad student, I spent $900 on a
new Bianchi bicycle in 1996 (not to worry, it was totally my money - no
student loans). Same amount of money but absolutely different reaction
depending on the item.

I dunnno. We spend according to how much enjoyment the family would
obtain from the item. We tend to buy things new and take care of them,
and look for value for the money. Cycling is important to us, so good
bikes are important. I can see how others might be perfectly happy
with KMart bikes. Personally I think they are wasting their money, but
it's not *my* money, so no loss. DH is a huge fan of computers
(he's a hardware engineer), computer parts, computer games and DVDs so
we spend quite a bit of our entertainment budget on these things.
Consequently, DS has a bigger collection of kids' DVDs at age 2.5 than
most families do. But we live in an area where it rains half the year,
so inside entertainment is a must. That might horrify some parents,
but for us, it's a necessity. We tend to spend a lot on travel and
recreation (hiking, water sports) because those things are important to
us. Some people see that as a waste of money. I like video games and
would love to have the time to play them, so $500 for the latest XBox
or whatever wouldn't be a big deal to me. But I have no time for it
now, so we don't have one. Everyone has their own priorities in
entertainment.

-L.

In article et, Claire
Petersky says...

"dragonlady" wrote in message
...

(Though I DID spend serious money on getting bike helmets
that were good.)

Oh NO! She used the H word!

(for those on misc.kids: bringing up h*lm*ts is like bringing up, I don't
know, circumcision or something)



Oh, I thought you meant the Hitler word

At least we can continue this thread..

Banty


--

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5222154.stm

"Cathy Kearns" wrote in message
I understand where Buck and Jeanne are coming from. You were lucky with
your box store bikes. They very well could have turned out like your
buying
from a stranger experience. Just because the bike is shiny when you bring
it home doesn't mean it's properly built.

All the bikes I have bought from TRU worked out just fine for us too. There
have been no repairs, no rust (you do have to take care of it) and many of
the bikes have been passed down to siblings and then sold to other people.
Seems like they did just as well if I would have spent $200 plus on them.
The girls have not been uncomfortable, the pedals worked fine, the seats are
comfortable, etc.....

--
Sue (mom to three girls)

Sue wrote:
"Cathy Kearns" wrote in message

I understand where Buck and Jeanne are coming from. You were lucky with
your box store bikes. They very well could have turned out like your

buying

from a stranger experience. Just because the bike is shiny when you bring
it home doesn't mean it's properly built.


All the bikes I have bought from TRU worked out just fine for us too. There
have been no repairs, no rust (you do have to take care of it) and many of
the bikes have been passed down to siblings and then sold to other people.
Seems like they did just as well if I would have spent $200 plus on them.
The girls have not been uncomfortable, the pedals worked fine, the seats are
comfortable, etc.....


I am not questioning your experience. I know other people buy their
bicycles from TRU and/or Target and the bikes may or may not last. But
I'd rather not buy from these stores; I would feel better buying from a
local bicycle store. I have to confess that my favorite store
configuration would be a combination book/bicycle/coffee place - think
REI with a coffee bar/cafe. I feel more comfortable in a bicycle store
than in TRU.

We have the resources. If your girls don't feel uncomfortable - that's
great. DD's first bike *was* from a toy store (she was 3 or 4 years
old). DD noticed a difference when she went from the little bicycle to
her latest 20" bicycle which we got from a bicycle shop. So for us,
going back to a TRU/Target-type bike is not an option. Remember, she's
outgrown the children-sized bicycles so now we're looking at adult-sized
bicycles.

Cathy Kearns wrote:

If you are buying bikes and sending your
kids on errands or to school, well, look at it from a car analogy. I'm a
worrier. When my daughter got her license the car she is assigned to drive
is newer than mine, (okay, she drives the brand new car) is not as fast, has
more airbags not only than my car, but than any year old car out there (I
think in an accident it puffs up like an egg crate), it has all the safety
devices imaginable. It is also a very, very reliable brand that we know
reliable garages that we can trust to maintain it. So despite the hours of
training and practicing etc in driving, we want her to have a car that is
safe and will get her where she is going. We just are worriers like that,
and are willing to put the money into ensuring she's driving something we
think is safe enough for her. We think the same way about the younger one's
bike. She bikes to school. This year that school is a mile and a half
away. She has a bike that can make that without dropping a chain while
shifting and with brakes that stop fast and reliably and goo and tuffys in
the tires to help stop flats, and lights in case she gets stuck out late. If
she was just riding up and down the street we might not bother, but she is
riding out of our sight, so we want her to be as safe as possible.

Certainly, if my kids were to use a bike to go to
school or run errands, it would be a priority to get them
a good bike. However, for lots of us, that simply isn't
going to happen. Heck, I bought a good bike for a kid
who will likely never ride it once to school or on an
errand before he outgrows it. I bought him a good bike
because he wants to ride it often enough that it seemed
justifiable to me. I just think there are plenty of
kids, some of mine included, who don't even rise to
*that* level of use--which may be unimaginable to some,
but actually does happen for others ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

Buck wrote:

And the point that we have been trying to make is that there is a bare
minimum of quality that drastically affects how an "item," be it
bicycle or otherwise, will be used. My uncle fell under the "occasional
use" philosophy. But when the kids went out to "occasionally use" their
bikes, they discovered the cables and chains to be rusted into an
unusable condition. It took less than two months. Those kids got less
than four rides out of the bicycles. At $150 per bicycle, that works
out to $75 per ride (two kids).

I think you're being unduly pessimistic. Those
of us who have purchased the odd box store bike don't
seem to have had as much trouble as you describe. No,
they're not as good as a higher quality bike, and they
don't last as long. However, the times we've gotten
them when we knew they weren't going to get much use,
they haven't posed any problems for the year or two
they were used. No complaints, no injuries, nothing
falling apart, etc. So, I just have to be a little
skeptical. Yes, I'm quite aware they're not as good,
durable, or easy to ride as a better bike, but it's
hard for me to buy into your horror stories when they
run contrary to our experience. Shrug As they
say, YMMV.

Best wishes
Ericka

they need work) -- but I DON'T buy them the newer cars with all the
newest safety features. We buy old, beat up used cars -- I don't think
we've paid more than $1000 for any of the cars that are primarily for
the kids' use.

I'm paying more for my new bike than I paid for any of the last 5 cars
I bought. LOL!

Sojourner