Do kids still ride bikes?
Discussion
Mine doesn't. He has a mountain bike which has been used a handful of times in the last few years. He was always into scooters and although he doesn't scoot (not sure of the technical term) in the streets these days, he volunteers at a local indoor skate park. He's mad on stunts and has developed a scary skill for doing full overhead loops on ramps. (Again, I'm sure there'e a cooler term for this.) He's always tail spinning and whipping around the garden for practice. His scooter and all the parts cost more than my bike.
Kermit power said:
I suspect much of that is down to the fact that these days, kids bikes actually can be used for recreational purposes!!
I had a Raleigh Chopper as a kid, and my mates had either the same or a Grifter. We used them a lot, but three gears and the weight of a small terraced house (a quick google suggests around 16kg for the Grifter and a staggering 18.5kg for the Chopper!!), they weren't really much use for anything other than a quick ride round to a mate's house!
My daughter's Islabike, on the other hand, weighs in at under 10kg with 8 gears on a wide range cassette with proper working brakes (something the Chopper certainly never bothered with!), so she's perfectly confident riding down 10 foot bomb holes and up the ever side. We might've tried that once on a Chopper, but probably not twice!!
Sure, at £400, it's expensive for a kid's bike, but I don't think it's any more expensive than the Chopper and Grifter were in their time.
I was from the Grifter/Chopper era and you're right, despite being massively desirable they were pretty rubbish as actual bikes! I had a Raleigh Chopper as a kid, and my mates had either the same or a Grifter. We used them a lot, but three gears and the weight of a small terraced house (a quick google suggests around 16kg for the Grifter and a staggering 18.5kg for the Chopper!!), they weren't really much use for anything other than a quick ride round to a mate's house!
My daughter's Islabike, on the other hand, weighs in at under 10kg with 8 gears on a wide range cassette with proper working brakes (something the Chopper certainly never bothered with!), so she's perfectly confident riding down 10 foot bomb holes and up the ever side. We might've tried that once on a Chopper, but probably not twice!!
Sure, at £400, it's expensive for a kid's bike, but I don't think it's any more expensive than the Chopper and Grifter were in their time.
But that said, there were far more 'racers' about at that time, often with ten gears (you had to have two shift levers on the down bar or you were nobody!
)Yep they certainly do - but what always strikes as odd is that most kids seem to have blasted mountain bikes - fine for messing around on , but for actually getting somewhere? - don't seem to be that many touring / race bikes about ridden by kids..
Always tons of bikes at the tip - but that probably just reflects that they're the horrible supermarket specials - so poorly built with awful components that they're just not worth the effort to fix - even if the owners knew how.....
Age 12 I bought a Dawes Galaxy......34 years later (an a bit like "trigger's broom") it still in perfect condition, original spec and gets ridden a few times a week - have zero expectation of my son's halfords horror / carrera effort lasting more than a year or two......
Always tons of bikes at the tip - but that probably just reflects that they're the horrible supermarket specials - so poorly built with awful components that they're just not worth the effort to fix - even if the owners knew how.....
Age 12 I bought a Dawes Galaxy......34 years later (an a bit like "trigger's broom") it still in perfect condition, original spec and gets ridden a few times a week - have zero expectation of my son's halfords horror / carrera effort lasting more than a year or two......
We live in a rural area. The kids (7 & 9)have both got bikes and we've made sure they're able to ride them. Would I let them on the road at the moment? Nope. They're a bit young yet asnyway, but people here don't drive for cyclists, don't give enough room, and don't entertain the thought that there may be something unseen around the next bend. Local A-roads are narrow and are often driven at motorway speeds. "Quieter" lanes suffer from the same problems.
Unfortunately the local authority aren't that fussed about traffic-free cycling provision and a family cycling day is a 45 minute drive to one of a couple of venues.
Unfortunately the local authority aren't that fussed about traffic-free cycling provision and a family cycling day is a 45 minute drive to one of a couple of venues.
Tim-D said:
Yep they certainly do - but what always strikes as odd is that most kids seem to have blasted mountain bikes - fine for messing around on , but for actually getting somewhere? - don't seem to be that many touring / race bikes about ridden by kids..
How far are you expecting these kids to actually go when they're going somewhere? For myself, I have a road bike, a CX bike, a full susser MTB and a Hardtail MTB.
The road bike and CX bike mainly get used on the commute to work (30 mile round trip) in the dry and wet respectively. If I'm going out to ride trails for fun, then I'll take the full susser.
However, if I'm just doing where the bike is just a short distance mode of transport - anything with the kids, going to the pub or anything other than a ride of 10+ miles specifically for the sake of riding, then I'll take the Hardtail. It's fun, comfortable, easy to ride, and I can happily trundle over bumpy stuff as well as smooth tarmac.
I'm not about to buy my kids multiple bikes for differing requirements though, so it's going to be MTBs or hybrids with beefed up tyres so that they can get the best of most worlds...
The main reasons I didn't have an MTB as a kid was that firstly they didn't really exist, and secondly, if they had existed back in the late Seventies, I suspect they would've been heavier than the average motorbike, and probably more expensive too!!!
My kids are both young still (1 and 4) and both have a bike of some sort. I try to get them out on it as much as possible when there isn't some other activity to do. They both love riding them.
Fair to say that I rarely see other kids on bikes these days. They all seem to have scooters. Our local park has a skate park area and it's over run with kids on scooters. Rarely see skateboards and do get the odd few BMXs. Even the larger inner city skate park near my work is mostly kids on scooters, although there are more skaters and bmxers.
I think the scooter is the new "cool" thing to ride around on these days. My eldest has one but she prefers riding her bike really.
Fair to say that I rarely see other kids on bikes these days. They all seem to have scooters. Our local park has a skate park area and it's over run with kids on scooters. Rarely see skateboards and do get the odd few BMXs. Even the larger inner city skate park near my work is mostly kids on scooters, although there are more skaters and bmxers.
I think the scooter is the new "cool" thing to ride around on these days. My eldest has one but she prefers riding her bike really.
Tim-D said:
Yep they certainly do - but what always strikes as odd is that most kids seem to have blasted mountain bikes - fine for messing around on , but for actually getting somewhere? - don't seem to be that many touring / race bikes about ridden by kids..
Always tons of bikes at the tip - but that probably just reflects that they're the horrible supermarket specials - so poorly built with awful components that they're just not worth the effort to fix - even if the owners knew how.....
Age 12 I bought a Dawes Galaxy......34 years later (an a bit like "trigger's broom") it still in perfect condition, original spec and gets ridden a few times a week - have zero expectation of my son's halfords horror / carrera effort lasting more than a year or two......
As a kid we always had mountain bikes with fat tyres on. Used to travel all over the place, on a Saturday I'd regularly cover up to 30 miles or more riding between my mates house, messing about in the woods, riding to far-away model shops to buy bits for our RC cars etc. That was around 1998-2003 before we all got cars. Great form of transport imo, obviously not as efficient as a touring bike, but touring bikes aren't much cop messing about on a bombhole or being ridden down the slide at your local swingpark Always tons of bikes at the tip - but that probably just reflects that they're the horrible supermarket specials - so poorly built with awful components that they're just not worth the effort to fix - even if the owners knew how.....
Age 12 I bought a Dawes Galaxy......34 years later (an a bit like "trigger's broom") it still in perfect condition, original spec and gets ridden a few times a week - have zero expectation of my son's halfords horror / carrera effort lasting more than a year or two......
What I find interesting is that all the guys that I used to hang around with "on bikes" now all ride road bikes pretty seriously. One does really well in local TT races, another has ridden LEJOG and similar rides. We all still have decent MTB's, but have grown into road biking as we have got older.
Edited by lufbramatt on Monday 23 March 12:39
Tim-D said:
most kids seem to have blasted mountain bikes - fine for messing around on , but for actually getting somewhere? - don't seem to be that many touring / race bikes about ridden by kids..
I think this comes down to versatility. A mountain bike on the road is a hell of a lot easier than a road bike ridden offroad, so you (or the parents) pick the one bike that does the most. Also, most supermarket specials tend to be mountain bikes, and unfortunately most bikes sold also tend to be supermarket specials...
O/T but True......mtb's very hardy and universal in use - but I'd maintain not exactly ideally suited to riding any distance, fine for a gentle potter about but needing to go anywhere over a couple of miles pretty slow by comparison and require far more effort - my jnr has one and loves it but just can't keep up at all - that said he never gets a puncture with thick knobbly kevlar lined tyres whereas I get at least one a month......
AlasdairMc said:
I think this comes down to versatility. A mountain bike on the road is a hell of a lot easier than a road bike ridden offroad, so you (or the parents) pick the one bike that does the most.
I got a racer after my BMX (Raleigh Super Burner) was stolen - but still wen't off road like I used to on my BMX.Made for some 'interesting' rides
Ari said:
I was from the Grifter/Chopper era and you're right, despite being massively desirable they were pretty rubbish as actual bikes!
But that said, there were far more 'racers' about at that time, often with ten gears (you had to have two shift levers on the down bar or you were nobody! )
Same here, the thing is, I survived some horrific crashes on them, ( like we all did LOL ) but my kids scare me to death on their's, even though it's all part of growing up.But that said, there were far more 'racers' about at that time, often with ten gears (you had to have two shift levers on the down bar or you were nobody!
)In answer to you OP, not that much, they prefer scooters, I practical lived on my Grifter ( made out of scaffolding poles ) compared to them.
StuntmanMike said:
Same here, the thing is, I survived some horrific crashes on them, ( like we all did LOL ) but my kids scare me to death on their's, even though it's all part of growing up.
In answer to you OP, not that much, they prefer scooters, I practical lived on my Grifter ( made out of scaffolding poles ) compared to them.
The MK1 choppers were the worst. The seat went right back over the rear wheel so there was no weight at all over the front tyre so it would skate straight on! And the gear shift was all set to impale you when you crashed!In answer to you OP, not that much, they prefer scooters, I practical lived on my Grifter ( made out of scaffolding poles ) compared to them.
The MK2 they bent the back forks forward to shorten the saddle and push the rider further forward. Also made it harder to give 'backies'. Oh, and a tee bar shifter so you were slightly less likely to impale yourself. Cissies bike!
MK1
MK2
Ari said:
And just for completeness, the Grifter - coolest bike IN THE WORLD in 1977!
Twist grip Sturmey Archer three speed hub gears, just like a motorbike! Sort of...
Haha, just like mine complete the massive Ever ready front light. Must be a later model Grifter as my early version had a shorter rear mudguard.Twist grip Sturmey Archer three speed hub gears, just like a motorbike! Sort of...
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