Kids MTB advice

mintster

Son is asking for a new bike for xmas and after trawling 3.4 million brands and websites (maybe a little exaggerated) I have narrowed it down to 2....

http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/m14b0s10p5605/RIDGEBACK_MX24_Boys_Kids_Mountain_Bike_-_24_inch_Wheel_2011

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_729065_langId_-1_categoryId_165602#dtab

The Ridgeback I can get for £206.99 delivered and the Carrera for £170. It seems you are getting alot of bike with the Carrera but with the little knowledge I have Ridgeback is the more trusted brand.

Can anyone give me any advice as to which one would ultimately be the better purchase.

Strider590

How old is your Son? could he use an adult sized bike?

http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/bikes/mountain-bikes#!Wheel%20Size=26%22%20Wheel!price_from=150;sort=popularity;price_to=215

Or for kids:

http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/bikes/kids-bikes#!!price_from=100;price_to=300;on_sale=;sort=popularity;

Proper mountain bikes, from people who know what they're doing.... Who actually get the brakes, forks and handlebars in the right location.

+ if he know's his bikes, he'd chew your arm off for a brand like Specialized

mintster

He will be 8 when he gets the bike and is 51" tall.

I have Read alot about kids bikes / brands over the last few days. From what I can gather the Specialized Hotrock is good but not the intro level version - only the FS version (mainly due to weight it seems). Really the Ridgeback is a little over budget as £200 is the limit (I would go higher but the other half reckons £200 is more than enough).

Strider590

mintster wrote: »

He will be 8 when he gets the bike and is 51" tall.

I have Read alot about kids bikes / brands over the last few days. From what I can gather the Specialized Hotrock is good but not the intro level version - only the FS version (mainly due to weight it seems). Really the Ridgeback is a little over budget as £200 is the limit (I would go higher but the other half reckons £200 is more than enough).

Ah ok, well at 8 I would warn you that it'll probably get left outside a mates house and then nicked. So buy what you can afford to lose..... Give it another 5 years and then spend more on the next one

JQ.

It's a bit more expensive, but if you want the Rolls Royce of bikes try Isla Bikes. They are specifically designed and manufactured for kids and are very very highly recommended on the cycling forums I frequent. My 3yr old has been on a Rothan since he was 2 and absolutely loves it.

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn24.html

mintster

I would like to go for the Islabike but there is no way I could convince the boss to spend the extra money.

JQ.

I'm in exactly the same position. We're getting the next bike up for our 3yr old at Christmas and just can't justify spending £175 on a 3yr old, so he's getting a Ridgeback instead.

The one good argument to have with your Chief Financial Officer is that the Islabikes have a fantastic residual value, you can sell them on Ebay for not mush less than new value after you've owned it for a couple of years - it's quite staggering the prices they go for on Ebay. Unfortunately we've also got a 2yr old and a newbourn niece, so all our bikes will be getting handed down through the family.

Out of the 2 you've mentioned above I'd go with the Ridageback as I can't stand twist grip gear changes, which the Carrera has.

mintster

Ridgeback has the same shifters! It seems that almost all kids bikes come with Revoshift - takes me back to my Grifter days!

soupytwister

Have a look at Gumtree.

I got a almost new Ridgeback MX20 for £30, RRP £210, and it was in fantastic nick.

My son was even more impressed that he could buy a bike with his birthday money!! It got him over the "2nd hand" factor, and he actually got into the fact that 2nd hand was better from a fiscal viewpoint. Worth a try.......

If you're spending that amount of money, the worry over it being scratched for the first time, or stolen, lessens.

Bit like a new car really, and the first dent/scratch..........

forgotmyname

Its OK him wanting an expensive bike but as already mentioned there will be those that also want one
but are not willing to pay for it.

Insurance is OK but the excess and increased premiums after probably wont cover the expense.

custardy

mintster wrote: »

Son is asking for a new bike for xmas and after trawling 3.4 million brands and websites (maybe a little exaggerated) I have narrowed it down to 2....

http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/m14b0s10p5605/RIDGEBACK_MX24_Boys_Kids_Mountain_Bike_-_24_inch_Wheel_2011

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_729065_langId_-1_categoryId_165602#dtab

The Ridgeback I can get for £206.99 delivered and the Carrera for £170. It seems you are getting alot of bike with the Carrera but with the little knowledge I have Ridgeback is the more trusted brand.

Can anyone give me any advice as to which one would ultimately be the better purchase.

obviously at that price range you wont get massive differences.
The Carrera has disc brakes over the Ridgebacks
probably not much difference i performance but disc brakes aren't affected by wheels being out of true.

also with Carrera you would have a dealer network. okay its Halfords but it does give you a point of contact and a possibility of quick resolutions to problems.

does your boy know he is getting it? might be worth going and letting him have a sit on the Carrera to try