Do kids still ride bikes?

[Ari]

At the weekend we were driving through an estate when we were passed by a teenager on a bike going the other way. Not a lycra clad cycling enthusiast, not a BMXer doing stunts, just a normal looking normally dressed kid riding a drop handlebar bike looking like he was going from one place to another.

And it struck me - you never see that any more. I honestly cannot remember the last time I saw a kid on a bike who just looked like he was simply going somewhere.

When I was a kid (when I were a laaad, during the war, etc) we all used bikes to get around. Everyone went to school on them instead of in the back of mummies 4x4.

Do schools even have bike racks any more?

[iambeowulf]

Do you live in a proper posh place or rough as st hole?

I see kids on bikes all the time and I go out with my three kids often.

[FredClogs]

Yes kids ride bikes. Mine seem not to want to do much else. The junior school has a bike rack and it's used.

[Funkycoldribena]

Nope,my kids have no interest and nowhere near as many other kids on bikes nowadays.

[Rickyy]

Yes, my 6 year old Daughter is out playing on her bike now.

[Ari]

iambeowulf said:

Do you live in a proper posh place or rough as st hole?

I see kids on bikes all the time and I go out with my three kids often.

Do they go out on them on their own and use them to go to their mates or where-ever? Or just parent sanctioned cycle rides?

To answer your question, neither posh nor sthole - it is hilly though...

[Leafspring]

Yep kids ride up and down our street all the time... especially at night, whilst wearing dark clothes, with no lights on and usually on the wrong side of the road.

[Spare tyre]

No way near as much as they were in the 90s

Would always be rooming around in groups with my mates having a laugh

Other things I've noticed is kids now don't understand gears, or how to look after a bike. Always see em dropped on the gears

I guess bikes are so cheap now thanks to Tesco / China etc

Often see bikes up the tip with flat tyres and I reckon that's all that's wrong with em

I think I'm getting old

[DanielSan]

FredClogs said:

Yes kids ride bikes. Mine seem not to want to do much else. The junior school has a bike rack and it's used.

One thing that used to really annoy me about my old high school was the fact that they had nowhere to put bikes. Myself and a load of mates would've all happily biked to and from school everyday if they'd had somewhere to put them.
Used to spend most of our free time on bikes around the grounds anyway messing about on the stops and drops anyway biking there in the morning would've saved us time after school..

[m444ttb]

My house overlooks a park and next to that are both primary and secondary school. I'd say quite a few kids cycle to school but I see very few outside of that. More often than not it's younger children with their parents. Very few teenagers. I'd say I see as many on those scooter things.

[anonymous-user]

Spare tyre said:

Other things I've noticed is kids now don't understand gears, or how to look after a bike.

I guess bikes are so cheap now thanks to Tesco / China etc

Yep, things like bikes are cheap and pretty worthless these days.

I had the misfortune to go in a large Sports Direct a while ago to buy a squash racquet and I found myself looking at a full suspension 21 speed mountain bike with disc brakes... For £89.

I have no doubt it was made of pig iron and the cheapest components, but it looked an awful lot of bike for £89.

I grew up in the 1980's and 90's, and getting a new bike was a really big thing! I remember when I got a Muddy Fox mountain bike when I was about 14 and it literally felt like my dad was buying me a new car! It was hundreds of pounds back then.

Edited by NinjaPower on Tuesday 17th March 21:14

[R8VXF]

I see loads of kids cycling to the train station in the morning.

[Moonhawk]

DanielSan said:

One thing that used to really annoy me about my old high school was the fact that they had nowhere to put bikes. Myself and a load of mates would've all happily biked to and from school everyday if they'd had somewhere to put them.

Depends on the school I guess. My old school that I attended in the 1990s had bike sheds and loads of people biked into school.

The odd things is - despite all the stories about childhood obesity in recent years and the fact that the school I went to has now become a specialist sports academy - the last time I visited (about 2 years ago) they appears to have done away with the bike sheds

[northwest monkey]

Lots of secondary schools still have them (my old school does apparently) but I don't think you see many primary schools with them.

Lots of kids ride their bikes round here - I live near Lee Mill Quarry & lots of countryside though so I'm probably lucky like that.

I remember getting my first "proper" bike - a Diamond Back BMX back in about 1981/2 & it was like being given the freedom of the world. There were about 4 of us & we went everywhere we'd never been able to get to before. It was ace.

I hope my son has the same feeling. We've just got him a "proper" bike & he's loving it so far.

[Cheib]

My kids ride their bikes a lot aged 4 and 6...on them every weekend and the eldest rides his to school quite a bit. Weird thing is we're about to move out of London and I think they'll ride them less. No riding bikes to school (too far) and instead of them being on the bikes when's e walk the dog in the park we're going to have to drive to the forest. So why are we moving....

[northwest monkey]

Cheib said:

My kids ride their bikes a lot aged 4 and 6...on them every weekend and the eldest rides his to school quite a bit. Weird thing is we're about to move out of London and I think they'll ride them less. No riding bikes to school (too far) and instead of them being on the bikes when's e walk the dog in the park we're going to have to drive to the forest. So why are we moving....

Bike rack.

[sebhaque]

Kids around here tend to ride scooters instead of bikes - there are the odd few teens on cycles here and there, but popping into the Express at 3.55pm usually involves jumping over a dozen or so scooters, with maybe a single bicycle or two left outside.

[iambeowulf]

Ari said:

iambeowulf said:

Do you live in a proper posh place or rough as st hole?

I see kids on bikes all the time and I go out with my three kids often.

Do they go out on them on their own and use them to go to their mates or where-ever? Or just parent sanctioned cycle rides?

To answer your question, neither posh nor sthole - it is hilly though...

Well two are too young but the other one just buggers off on her bike and cruises around looking for "cute boys" to get all giggly and girly over with her mates. So yes they do but then I've akeays tried to get them to learn the rules of the road and not be scared of the traffic.

[Cheib]

northwest monkey said:

Cheib said:

My kids ride their bikes a lot aged 4 and 6...on them every weekend and the eldest rides his to school quite a bit. Weird thing is we're about to move out of London and I think they'll ride them less. No riding bikes to school (too far) and instead of them being on the bikes when's e walk the dog in the park we're going to have to drive to the forest. So why are we moving....

Bike rack.

Yeah I have a couple of Thule rooftop carriers so hopefully that will work well. Ideal would be for me to take my old mountain bike, ride with the kids and the dog trotts along behind us!

[anonymous-user]

Yes