Passages

So, the older kid, who’s 10, has grown out of her Electra single speed beach cruiser with the 20” wheels.  The seat doesn’t go high enough.  The next step was a 24” kids bike.  But I hate that size.  That’s the size where they are nearly big enough for a proper bike in a 26” wheel, assuming the frame can be small enough.  The 24” size, in my opinion is just a money gimmick.  You get a still-crappy, heavy, hi-ten steel lunker in a marginally larger wheel.  The idea that your kid will have 3-ish bikes (16”, 20”, 24”) before they get to a proper bike is pure marketing and hype.  

So, I researched.  And researched.  It’s hard to find a good small frame bike.  But I did find one.  My LBS had a Linus Mixte 3 in the small size, and the 26” wheels.  Real brakes.  Gears.  And enough range in the frame-saddle-bars that she can ride it now (admittedly at a little stretch) and can continue to ride it all the way to college (assuming it’s not stolen).  Yes, that’s a lot of money for a “kid’s bike”, but in my mind, it’s a bike that grabs them when bikes are really important, and then stays with them for a long time.  It’s not a phase bike.  It’s a real bike.

The little one is riding a 16” now, but I’m pretty sure that she’ll be on the Electra this summer.  She’ll get a few good years out of it, and then she too will be ready for a real bike.