Bicycle - when to buy one?

wazza

Looking for a bike for my 9 year old son for the summer. When is the ideal time to buy one? Now or wait till summer for offers? He has his old one which he can still use.

Where is the best place to buy from. I am in Nottingham.

TiTheRev

What type bike do you want? What is your budget? What will he use it for?

If you want a cheap, no nonsense BMX/MTB enought to last a couple of years then try Halfrauds. Ideally with any bike you need to get him to sit on it 1st in order to get the correct sizing, as the guides are different for each model/child.

Evans Cycles quite often do good deals on bikes, especially around now, as they are working on the 2011 range and may still have some 2010 models going for a very reasonable fee. They are specialists, so you will get a much more proffessional answer and advice, but you will pay a small premium for that service. If you don't have an Evans nearby, then A.N.Other independant bike specialist would be a good bet. Just be sure and go in with the budget/spec in mind, otherwise you may end up spending a few extra on 'bits'

chrisw

Try ebay and see if there are any going local to you. I got a fantastic one with dual suspension, 18 gears, etc which looks like new for my 10 year old son for £20. And at that price I'm less concerned if it gets stolen or treated the way 10 year olds tend to treat bikes.

Lugh_Chronain

You could email a bike shop if you need advice on what to get, they are usually quite helpful.

Not sure if they are any good but I see Argos have some deals in now and again. For example Kid Active 16 Inch Boy's Bike for £24.99 reduced from £69.99. This might be too small though.

Sports Direct also have a Muddyfox Riot BMX 20 Inch bike for £65 and says it's suitable for 8 years and above. Again, I can't comment on the quality of this bike, you'd have to find out for yourself.

You could also try freecycle, you'd be amazed what you might find.

wazza

Lugh_Chronain wrote: »

You could email a bike shop if you need advice on what to get, they are usually quite helpful.

Not sure if they are any good but I see Argos have some deals in now and again. For example Kid Active 16 Inch Boy's Bike for £24.99 reduced from £69.99. This might be too small though.

Sports Direct also have a Muddyfox Riot BMX 20 Inch bike for £65 and says it's suitable for 8 years and above. Again, I can't comment on the quality of this bike, you'd have to find out for yourself.

You could also try freecycle, you'd be amazed what you might find.

I thing i may have to go for 24" size for his age group. He is the youngest so always had hand me down from his elder brother. Thought i would treat him to a new bike. Will give freecycle a look

TiTheRev

It scares me that a company can produce, assemble, package and deliver a bike 'safely' for less than £25??? Surely somewhere along the line there are corners being cut, or sweat factories being abused?!

shandypants5

I got my kids a "cheap" bike each.

They look fantastic but the cheap gearchangers are too stiff and hard for kids to use (hard for adults to turn too)

The brakes are troublesome and hard to set up right and on the whole the kids dont enjoy riding them as its hard work.

I think if I had spent more then they would have had more fun on them and used them a lot more.

TiTheRev

It's like most things...you will get what you pay for.

If they will grow out of it in a few months, and it's likely to be a fad, there's no point spending a couple of hundred pound, but equally if they really enjoy it & want to be out on their bikes all the time then you might as well do it properly & then you will get some money back on the investment (health & bike resale value!) for the upgrade.