Christmas bikes

[bruce1530]

No, not for me...

Daughter #1 phones, says she's bought a bike for my grandson (age 3). Would I assemble it, or should she get the guy in the shop to do it - he only charges a tenner.

Bearing in mind that it was a toy shop, not a bike shop, I said best let me do it. Guy in toy shop was not happy. "Does your dad know how to balance brakes..."

This morning, I was on assembling duties. The box arrived. It was surprisingly heavy, which was a worry.

Opened it. Frame, with rear wheel attached. Saddle, handlebars, pedals and front wheel in box.
And lots of Spiderman stickers.

I thought it should take less than half an hour to assemble. I was wrong.

First issue, frame was too small to clamp in bike stand. And the thing was heavy.

Seat post and saddle on. Easy.

Handlebars on. Easy.

Pedals on. Easy.

Front wheel on. Doesn't feel right - too tight. Doesn't really spin well.
Turned the pedals. Stiff, and didn't "freewheel" for more than a second.

If the wee guy was to ride that, he'd need legs like Chris Hoy.

Thought it just might need some oil, but no.

Front wheel off. Bearings very tight, and far from smooth. Re-adjusted the bearings, added more grease. Running smooth.

Time for the back. But that means removing chain guard, and needs spanners that were not in the supplied toolkit. Same problem, bearings far too tight, and scarcely greased.

Back together. Brakes adjusted. Pumped up tyres. Debate over whether to fit stabilisers. Bike delivered to daughter's shed, for Santa to collect on his way tonight.

It's still a small heavy BSO. But at least the wheels turn.

Probably an hour's work in total. But I know my way around bikes, and had the right tools. If someone else had assembled this, it might have been an unrideable bike.

 

[All uphill]

Sounds familiar.

I'm our street's bike mechanic and I am constantly amazed that it's cheaper to make a tiny bike weighing 15kg than one weighing 8kg.

 

[DCLane]

That's often the case with cheap bikes; the poor child who receives it from well-intentioned parents hasn't a hope of riding it enjoyably.

 

[Slick]

Who cares how it rides, it looks as cool as. 👍

Hope the we guy has a blast on that.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Many years ago we bought a trike for my daughter


Made the rookie mistake of not assembling it before Christmas day

Took 2 of us - me and kid's Uncle - to put it together

instruction must have been written in Chinese
and translated into English by someone who was fluent in



probably Russian


so we tried the instruction in French - which were no better
then remembered that kids Grand was Austrian - hence first langiage German
German instructions were totally different to the English ones
which didn;t help




eventually assembled it using a total parts list exploded on the back pages - every nut and bold detailed - prior to partial assembly before delivery



daughter got to ride it just before bed time

 

[Gwylan]

Many years ago we bought a trike for my daughter


Made the rookie mistake of not assembling it before Christmas day

Took 2 of us - me and kid's Uncle - to put it together

instruction must have been written in Chinese
and translated into English by someone who was fluent in



probably Russian


so we tried the instruction in French - which were no better
then remembered that kids Grand was Austrian - hence first langiage German
German instructions were totally different to the English ones
which didn;t help




eventually assembled it using a total parts list exploded on the back pages - every nut and bold detailed - prior to partial assembly before delivery



daughter got to ride it just before bed time

Well drone. Esprecially in this time mode. Ensure weals written in a circular motion .

 

[Accy cyclist]

That's often the case with cheap bikes; the poor child who receives it from well-intentioned parents hasn't a hope of riding it enjoyably.

Wouldn't you say though that the harder they have to pedal builds leg strength more than a lightweight bike?🤔

 

[Sharky]

You've worried me. We bought a balance bike for our grandson. It's still in the box, not assembled yet. Thankfully, they are not coming round until Tuesday, so still have time to put it together

 

[biggs682]

so still have time to put it together

You will have time to give it a quick spin to test it as well then 😉

 

[Cycleops]

The solution to this cheap bike assembly thing is to buy it secondhand as I did recently. They are mostly indistinguishable from new and usually in good condition plus you'll have a few to select from so can find the one that works best. Plus they are a bargain.

 

[DCLane]

Wouldn't you say though that the harder they have to pedal builds leg strength more than a lightweight bike?🤔

No, because it needs to be fun to start with. Too hard and most young children give up easily.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I thought this’d be a thread for posters to show their bikes decorated with tinsel and fairy lights etc!

 

[BoldonLad]

No, not for me...

Daughter #1 phones, says she's bought a bike for my grandson (age 3). Would I assemble it, or should she get the guy in the shop to do it - he only charges a tenner.

Bearing in mind that it was a toy shop, not a bike shop, I said best let me do it. Guy in toy shop was not happy. "Does your dad know how to balance brakes..."

This morning, I was on assembling duties. The box arrived. It was surprisingly heavy, which was a worry.

Opened it. Frame, with rear wheel attached. Saddle, handlebars, pedals and front wheel in box.
And lots of Spiderman stickers.

I thought it should take less than half an hour to assemble. I was wrong.

First issue, frame was too small to clamp in bike stand. And the thing was heavy.

Seat post and saddle on. Easy.

Handlebars on. Easy.

Pedals on. Easy.

Front wheel on. Doesn't feel right - too tight. Doesn't really spin well.
Turned the pedals. Stiff, and didn't "freewheel" for more than a second.

If the wee guy was to ride that, he'd need legs like Chris Hoy.

Thought it just might need some oil, but no.

Front wheel off. Bearings very tight, and far from smooth. Re-adjusted the bearings, added more grease. Running smooth.

Time for the back. But that means removing chain guard, and needs spanners that were not in the supplied toolkit. Same problem, bearings far too tight, and scarcely greased.

Back together. Brakes adjusted. Pumped up tyres. Debate over whether to fit stabilisers. Bike delivered to daughter's shed, for Santa to collect on his way tonight.

It's still a small heavy BSO. But at least the wheels turn.

Probably an hour's work in total. But I know my way around bikes, and had the right tools. If someone else had assembled this, it might have been an unrideable bike.

View attachment 672203

A couple of years ago, my daughter-in-law bought bicycle for Christmas, for granddaughter (then age 4).

Daughter-in-law had it assembled by shop.

When we visited, on Christmas Day, I noticed that front wheel was 180 degrees wrong.

Easily fixed of course, loosen one bolt and rotate handlebars, but, it did make me ponder the reliability of the shop!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Wouldn't you say though that the harder they have to pedal builds leg strength more than a lightweight bike?🤔

Good point
also less momentum when they crash into something - like the Christmas Tree or someone's leg

so maybe making them spin is a rookie mistake??

 

[Gwylan]

In the 80's, when were learned what being hard up was, my project was to find a bike for our 4+ year old. Reduced to renovating an abandoned bike. My how we were skint.