Kids' road bikes

posted by Kevin G @ 9:21am, Wednesday 7 October 2009.

I am looking for a bike for my 11 year old. He is going to be riding in this year's 35 mile El Tour de Tucson as part of his Cycling Merit Badge requirements. I would like to get him a road bike (go figure), but it is very difficult to find kids road bikes that are affordable.

I have seen 'youth' size road bikes (ages 9-12) for $750 and up. That is a little steep. Especially when you consider that you can get a decent quality MTB in the same size for $250, and that it would only last them a few years. I tried bidding on a few XS used bikes on ebay, but they went out of our price range. I think I am going to end up getting a Trek MT220 (MTB) and putting 1" slicks on it and possibly drop bars.

If he really takes to riding, someday I would consider getting him a Felt Z24 (again, go figure). This country needs a company like Islabikes, that focuses on high quality lightweight kids bikes. Anyone want to go in on it with me?