Bike as present

sebastianj

I am looking to buy a bike for a 10 year old, it has to be light (not too heavy), comfortable and not so expensive. I am sure there are some very experienced people here, can someone please tell me what should I look for? I don't necessarily want to know the shops as I have access to all those.
technical help most appreciated.
sebastian

mrcow

10 year old would be about 24" if I remember correctly from buying my son's bike?

MX5huggy

If your serious about buying a proper bike then it has to be an

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/

They are proper bikes, but maybe not what is desirable, for the typical 10 year old, no rubbish suspension or 21 gears etc.

They are expensive but you would get all the extra back if you resell on eBay. Or save by buying SH on eBay then you may get 3 years use for no cost at all when you sell on.

They make General bikes, mountain bikes and road (racing) bikes.

lovesabargain123

If your thinking as a long term bike then I'd say pay a bit extra.a couple of Xmas's ago my youngest (11 at the time) got a bmx from his grandparents that was £90 half price from tesco, eldest son (13) saved his paper money and got a bmx from halfords which was the latest bike at the time. 2 years later and the tesco one is long gone, sold for a tenner but the halfords one is still very cool and both bys use it x

Kaz2904

We bought my DD her bike when she was 8 as she then hit adult bike sizes. We got her a Claude Butler bike which cost £200. It's lovely and the bike actually fits me so I will be able to use it should she ever grow out of it! DS has also now grown out of his older bike. He will be 9 just before Christmas and we took him down to get his bike for Christmas a couple of weeks ago. He's ended up with a Saracen which cost £250. Again a very nice bike. We go to an independent bike shop. They have the cheap brands like Falcon but if you're looking at getting a small adult size bike then I would recommend going for a good brand.
When we went to get DS his bike, we spoke to the chap about a Claude Butler and he said that the good manufacturers are struggling with their supply of this age group bikes due to the interest after the Olympics.

Definitely recommend an independent, ours fixed my bike when I appeared there one day with no cash, and myself and both kids on our bikes. They didn't sell me my bike but they still repaired it when the pedal fell off because they know we go there every time we need a new bike and they know that DH and I are both desperate to get ourselves nice bikes and will go there. OT but it would have been this year if DD hadn't broken her arm and been out of action for the whole summer!