I'm sure there's no clear answer, but I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.
My son is 11 years old and has done two (easy) cycles tours with us as a family. He is about 142cm-ish (just under 5 foot?) and has well and truly grown out of his 24" bike now. So I need to get a new bike for him.
He hates most sports, but enjoys leisure cycling - never goes fast but doesn't mind hills/luggage etc and will go all day, just pootling along. We have just started doing short rides - maybe 20-30Km on the weekend sometimes - and he has also loved our cycle touring. So I want to get him a decent bike that will make this enjoyable. Also, our family tours are limited by what his little sister can do (which means he has to slow down and gets a bit bored sometimes), but he is starting to enjoy it so much, I'm thinking that shorter tours with just me and him on more demanding routes might be an option.
The problem is, he is growing! So I want to get him a nice, small adult touring bike, but am conscious that he will grow out of it pretty soon. Presumably in a few years, his sister might also grow into it, so we could get some extra usage there. But it's medium-term for the kids, rather than a long-term investment. There are loads of things I refuse to spend money on, but investing in a good bike is something I'm happy to do - especially because I think this is an important part of his development into adulthood. (He would have no physical interests at all if not for cycling.) But no point throwing money away, either.
What would you get?
My son is 11 years old and has done two (easy) cycles tours with us as a family. He is about 142cm-ish (just under 5 foot?) and has well and truly grown out of his 24" bike now. So I need to get a new bike for him.
He hates most sports, but enjoys leisure cycling - never goes fast but doesn't mind hills/luggage etc and will go all day, just pootling along. We have just started doing short rides - maybe 20-30Km on the weekend sometimes - and he has also loved our cycle touring. So I want to get him a decent bike that will make this enjoyable. Also, our family tours are limited by what his little sister can do (which means he has to slow down and gets a bit bored sometimes), but he is starting to enjoy it so much, I'm thinking that shorter tours with just me and him on more demanding routes might be an option.
The problem is, he is growing! So I want to get him a nice, small adult touring bike, but am conscious that he will grow out of it pretty soon. Presumably in a few years, his sister might also grow into it, so we could get some extra usage there. But it's medium-term for the kids, rather than a long-term investment. There are loads of things I refuse to spend money on, but investing in a good bike is something I'm happy to do - especially because I think this is an important part of his development into adulthood. (He would have no physical interests at all if not for cycling.) But no point throwing money away, either.
What would you get?
