Pure Savage Posted August 21, 2019 Posted August 21, 2019 Going "over board" .... O SO tempting ... and so incredibly easy .... I bought the best 20'' bike we could get our hands on .... And it certainly was better than the cheapies, or so I want to believe ....- frame - just as heave as the rest ...- brakes - same as the rest ...- gears - same crappy shifters, at least easy enough the swop out- gears - exact same as the rest.- rims - finally, this was lighter and stronger than the rest- front shock - this one actually did have 30 mm travel, and it did actually help (took photos to check what happens at bumps..) So almost double the price for marginally better. That I can still live with. Momsen-10.jpg 12 months and 3 weeks .... time for the next bike .... IF you are going to be handing the bikes down to the next one it makes sense, but damn the cost of ownership becomes expensive when you get 13 to 14 months from a bike ... I so nearly bought the 24'' Momsen ... for R12k ..... frame is supposed to be lighter, checked a friends and HE was dissapointed in that it was not really lighter ..... all the other components the same as you find on 24'' bikes ..... Bought a Titan for R 3 750, spent another R1k upgrading the gears and shifters, and 13 months later the bike is still giving us GOOD service. YES, heavy as a rock, but they all are ..... In fact this 24'' is a few kg heavier than his 26'' SPUR SW-34.jpg Now buying a 26'' is becoming a real pain ..... Friend went out and bought the Spezialised 26'' for his kid, the kid is doing decent in the SPUR series and dad wants to do by the kid. The very spezial bike has:- standard gears- standard cable disc brakes- coil spring front fork !! Frankly I dont know how Spez could put their name on such an entry level thing ..... We were just plain LUCKY. Got an 8 year old 26'' that was gathering dust .... gave it a new lease on life and now have a LIGHT full specked bike !! Mongoose revamp-235.jpgThe problem is though even though the Momsen "super light" is lighter than there normal range and other bikes, they are still heavy. Kittel 20" Isla bike with a few small upgrades sits aroudn 6.5kg. Momsen SL 8.5kg Avalanche 11.5kg The Momsen 24" SL is 11kg the Isla bike 24" is 9kg. Avalanche 13kg At that age, 2kg is almost 10% of body weight. ChrisF 1
ChrisF Posted August 21, 2019 Posted August 21, 2019 Dont worry about him just yet and enjoy your cycling!Before you know it all riding is planned around him and you will become a manager that hardly gets time to ride yourself! SO TRUE !! Saturdays are about his riding .... Sunday mornings I get to do my own longer rides .... This weekend :- Friday - get the bike and kit ready, load the car- Saturday 5:30 .... head to Worcester, SPUR event at Montana .... And I wont have it any other way !! but I can see how it can impact on a serious rider's schedule....
coppi Posted August 21, 2019 Posted August 21, 2019 That’s the problem nowadays, kids just can’t be kids anymore and have fun........far too many helicopters parents !
porqui Posted August 21, 2019 Posted August 21, 2019 Congrats !! Just enjoy your boy. Maybe he becomes a surfer dude. lenzman 1
Kranswurm Posted August 21, 2019 Posted August 21, 2019 Going "over board" .... O SO tempting ... and so incredibly easy .... I bought the best 20'' bike we could get our hands on .... And it certainly was better than the cheapies, or so I want to believe ....- frame - just as heave as the rest ...- brakes - same as the rest ...- gears - same crappy shifters, at least easy enough the swop out- gears - exact same as the rest.- rims - finally, this was lighter and stronger than the rest- front shock - this one actually did have 30 mm travel, and it did actually help (took photos to check what happens at bumps..) So almost double the price for marginally better. That I can still live with. Momsen-10.jpg 12 months and 3 weeks .... time for the next bike .... IF you are going to be handing the bikes down to the next one it makes sense, but damn the cost of ownership becomes expensive when you get 13 to 14 months from a bike ... I so nearly bought the 24'' Momsen ... for R12k ..... frame is supposed to be lighter, checked a friends and HE was dissapointed in that it was not really lighter ..... all the other components the same as you find on 24'' bikes ..... Bought a Titan for R 3 750, spent another R1k upgrading the gears and shifters, and 13 months later the bike is still giving us GOOD service. YES, heavy as a rock, but they all are ..... In fact this 24'' is a few kg heavier than his 26'' SPUR SW-34.jpg Now buying a 26'' is becoming a real pain ..... Friend went out and bought the Spezialised 26'' for his kid, the kid is doing decent in the SPUR series and dad wants to do by the kid. The very spezial bike has:- standard gears- standard cable disc brakes- coil spring front fork !! Frankly I dont know how Spez could put their name on such an entry level thing ..... We were just plain LUCKY. Got an 8 year old 26'' that was gathering dust .... gave it a new lease on life and now have a LIGHT full specked bike !! Mongoose revamp-235.jpgThe kids two weeks old
Pieter1 Posted August 21, 2019 Posted August 21, 2019 whatever you do...don't go to this site... https://earlyrider.com oops sorrya few examples EDIT: think about it...you could always sell the parts on here to the enduro bro's as he grows out of them...or even upgrade your own bike.... Good grief. The brakes on that last one...
Twaatie Posted August 21, 2019 Posted August 21, 2019 How about a custom balance bike https://www.instagram.com/p/B0qiPD2FxK1/?igshid=tqw52skhbh59 https://www.instagram.com/p/B03jSTCl-CA/?igshid=zkzsylhwt5p2
GrahamS2 Posted August 22, 2019 Posted August 22, 2019 Good grief. The brakes on that last one...On the list of bad ideas, disc brakes on a kids bike is at the top. Such a good way to lose fingers.
MarcBurger Posted August 22, 2019 Posted August 22, 2019 The kids two weeks old Nonsense! my kid is negative 2 weeks old and I'm already planning away. Gonna start off with a bike top tube seat. potentially retrofit some faux handlebars to it. Then on to a balance bike style rocking horse. Next up is a black garage bike, if one with rubber wheels exists. Gives me time to complete my wooden balance bike probably set the wooden balance bike on fire and get a proper one. probably a Muna or strider type. And of course things will all go as planned Here's my version 1 wooden bike. supposed to look like the (now old) Santacruz V10 Pieter1, Pure Savage, ChrisF and 2 others 5
lenzman Posted August 22, 2019 Author Posted August 22, 2019 Nonsense! my kid is negative 2 weeks old and I'm already planning away. Gonna start off with a bike top tube seat. potentially retrofit some faux handlebars to it. Then on to a balance bike style rocking horse. Next up is a black garage bike, if one with rubber wheels exists. Gives me time to complete my wooden balance bike probably set the wooden balance bike on fire and get a proper one. probably a Muna or strider type. And of course things will all go as planned Here's my version 1 wooden bike. supposed to look like the (now old) Santacruz V10 Slick!
lenzman Posted August 22, 2019 Author Posted August 22, 2019 Congrats !! Just enjoy your boy. Maybe he becomes a surfer dude. A 90K go kart is also a possibility! Small investment if we can move to Monaco one day
Pieter1 Posted August 22, 2019 Posted August 22, 2019 On the list of bad ideas, disc brakes on a kids bike is at the top. Such a good way to lose fingers.And maybe an ankle... Swany05 1
Swany05 Posted August 22, 2019 Posted August 22, 2019 I started mine on one of those noisy ass plastic three wheeled vroom vroom things When she was a year old i got her a Muna balance bike, removed the brake (Not sure how toddlers are supposed to grab at it anyway) and my entire family looked at me like i had just emerged from a piece of cheese. She ripped around on that thing for quite some time, i changed tyres, put on some ESI grips when her old ones wore out. Eventually her seat post got to its limit. Shopped around for a few months and decided that id get her a pretty pink Barbie/Frozen bmx type deal. i stripped it down, greased everything put it all back together and adjusted the brakes as best i could. On her birthday morning she got on and proceeded to burn up and down the driveway all day. We ride around the block every week and often even to the shops/coffee shop for milkshake. She is super proud of it and i take the time to teach her about bike care etc. Now it never sleeps outside, it gets a wash and lube every now and then. Long story short, the balance bike was the basis of her riding, it taught her the fundamentals and allowed her to transition straight to a pedal bike without having to deal with the fear of blikseming over. Good luck MarcBurger, TIB, ChrisF and 1 other 4
MarcBurger Posted August 22, 2019 Posted August 22, 2019 (edited) I started mine on one of those noisy ass plastic three wheeled vroom vroom things When she was a year old i got her a Muna balance bike, removed the brake (Not sure how toddlers are supposed to grab at it anyway) and my entire family looked at me like i had just emerged from a piece of cheese. She ripped around on that thing for quite some time, i changed tyres, put on some ESI grips when her old ones wore out. Eventually her seat post got to its limit. Shopped around for a few months and decided that id get her a pretty pink Barbie/Frozen bmx type deal. i stripped it down, greased everything put it all back together and adjusted the brakes as best i could. On her birthday morning she got on and proceeded to burn up and down the driveway all day. We ride around the block every week and often even to the shops/coffee shop for milkshake. She is super proud of it and i take the time to teach her about bike care etc. Now it never sleeps outside, it gets a wash and lube every now and then. Long story short, the balance bike was the basis of her riding, it taught her the fundamentals and allowed her to transition straight to a pedal bike without having to deal with the fear of blikseming over. Good luck Sounds like the right way to do it. I wonder if you can modify a gripshift to operate a back brake. Those brakes on kids bikes are so crap and inoperable. I'd do exactly the same and rather get rid of it than have them trying to do the 4-finger, open-hand thing they do. Edited August 22, 2019 by MarcBurger Swany05 1
Swany05 Posted August 22, 2019 Posted August 22, 2019 Exactly just adds more to think about for them. In the years she rode the Muna around home, friends, camping or where ever i didnt feel like there was much danger doing it without the brake. I can imagine if you have a steep driveway or stairs in the house that it could be an issue though. YOu could probably find a brake lever that has a nice short reach for the drum brake Sounds like the right way to do it. I wonder if you can modify a gripshift to operate a back brake. Those brakes on kids bikes are so crap and inoperable. I'd do exactly the same and rather get rid of it than have them trying to do the 4-finger, open-hand thing they do.
ChrisF Posted August 22, 2019 Posted August 22, 2019 A 90K go kart is also a possibility! Small investment if we can move to Monaco one day who needs a go-kart ..... when you can build you own monster truck .... he has only 4 years old when we built this. Be SURE the dream started MUCH earlier .... The little prince may only be 2 weeks old, but DREAM BIG !!! gummibear, Pieter1 and Swany05 3
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