BMX for 7 year old boy

[thewhangie]

Hi folks, I have looked around last week and there seems to be a whole load of bikes at around the £100 pound mark. Have seen ones in Tesco,Halfords,Amazon and a few other local shops.

Does anyone have any recommendations?, or is it worth splashing a bit more cash. I'm ok with road bikes but don't have a clue about bmx.

Thanks.

[Mr Gear]

thewhangie said:

Hi folks, I have looked around last week and there seems to be a whole load of bikes at around the £100 pound mark. Have seen ones in Tesco,Halfords,Amazon and a few other local shops.

Does anyone have any recommendations?, or is it worth splashing a bit more cash. I'm ok with road bikes but don't have a clue about bmx.

Thanks.

I would guess that Tesco/Argos/Amazon bikes could be extremely low quality. Try Evans Cycles maybe... they don't really sell any crap, so you can buy with some confidence. BMXs start at £150, but I can't tell you what is suitable, as I'm not much of a BMXer.

Bear in mind these are adult-sized bikes, but even a 7-year-old should be able to cope.

http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/bmx/bmx-bike...

[raceboy]

Avoid at all costs anything from a supermarket or 'sports' shop, the bikes will weigh more than a small planet, it will be very badly made and break/unscrew its self before New Year's Eve.
At 7 unless your lads a giant he will not be big enough for a 20" BMX, he's probably just on the edge of a 16" but buying a 18" should give a couple of years riding, by changing bars you can probably stretch from 7-12 on an 18"

http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/category/4622/18_Inc...

The biggest factor to think about is weight, but any of the sub £200 bikes on be link would be a great start into BMX

[antspants]

I know all kids are of different sizes, but my son is 6 and a half and after trying him on a few I'm getting him an 18" bmx for Xmas. Perhaps best to try different sizes before buying.

I've concluded the £100 Tesco/Amazons are probably cheaper than the recognised BMX brands for a good reason. I'm budgeting between £170-£250, although the decision appears to be coming down to colour of wheels and bars

[paulmon]

Loads of 16" and 18" bikes around. My son has this

but its a 16" bike and you might not get long out of it so a 18" bike might be a better idea.

Lots here and all proper BMX bikes.

http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/category/4622/18_Inc...
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/52798/Cu...

[raceboy]

The 18" bike has been a really good move, and the number available has rocketed.
We had a few lads start riding my local park on them and after a few years they have all moved on to 20" and are all showing a lot of promise to be good little riders.
Unfortunately all the kids of that age are now taking the easy route of the scooter.

From the bikes on the Winstanleys page you'd be pushed to beat the Diamond Back bike especially for the price.

[antspants]

My son likes the Mongoose Program 18", it has blue bars and a blue chain

[raceboy]

Nothing wrong with the Mongoose, the 'V' brake is a slightly unusual choice for a park bike instead of a 'U' brake but I'm just being picky.
You're not getting any thing 'better' for the extra money (but a quick google finds it at a better price elsewhere) but I'd pay more if something was in a colour I really liked.

2 lads I ride with work in my local Halfords and its that time of year when Dad comes in to buy a bike, they had one recently that just asked 'which is your best BMX?' well both these lads know BMX inside out and point in he direction of a certain bike, only to be told by 'Expert Dad' well it's not is it? That one there is better.....it's red!.....

[mattviatura]

Why not build him a classic? There's enough time to restore something like a Raleigh Burner to a lovely standard and you can sell it on when he's done with it.

[antspants]

raceboy said:

Nothing wrong with the Mongoose, the 'V' brake is a slightly unusual choice for a park bike instead of a 'U' brake but I'm just being picky.
You're not getting any thing 'better' for the extra money (but a quick google finds it at a better price elsewhere) but I'd pay more if something was in a colour I really liked.

Yes I noticed the v brake rather than u brake, but having googled it I can't really find a difference that's going to cause a 6/7 year old any issues.

The colour of the bars and the decals is the most important thing to him, he just wants it to look cool. I'm just trying to steer him away from anything obviously naff.

Personally I would have gone for the Diamondback as well, price/spec looks good, he even had a sit on one at a recent bike show. However the 2013 Mongoose having blue bars swung it for him

[antspants]

mattviatura said:

Why not build him a classic? There's enough time to restore something like a Raleigh Burner to a lovely standard and you can sell it on when he's done with it.

Nice idea, but I wouldn't even know where to start, let alone have the time to do it.

[raceboy]

mattviatura said:

Why not build him a classic? There's enough time to restore something like a Raleigh Burner to a lovely standard and you can sell it on when he's done with it.

The problem lies in the good old fashioned 'rose tinted glasses' the very best 'old skool bike' is hopeless to ride on compared to the new bikes, the angles are terrible and they carry zero cred down the skatepark.
I regularly ride with a few 'old skool' riders and even most of them have started keeping their old skool bike for 'show n shine' and actually ride a new bike, or at the very least they have migrated to 'mid skool'.

[raceboy]

antspants said:

I'm just trying to steer him away from anything obviously naff.

Very wise move, you can throw £100 at a 'Bob the Builder' bike, it'll last about a year, he'll no longer like Bob, some bits will be broken that are more expensive to fix than you paid for the bike so it goes off to landfill, spend £200 on a proper BMX and as long as it's looked after, over on the BMX forums it'll still be worth £100 in 4 years time when it's time to step up to 20" so over the bigger picture it's actually cheaper (excellent example of man maths).

[Andy OH]

Speaking from experience, two sons and many BMX's culminating in my eldest (now 15 and also riding a Cannondale CAAD10 Ultegra road bike in a size 60) having a custom We The People Envy, with left side drive, Proper front & rear hubs and CNC machined alloy Eclat platform pedals, bike cost me the thick end of £1,200. My eldest is 6'2" and still rides his BMX. My youngest son (now 13) had a We The People Trust which he hardly rode in two years, cost me £500 and sold it via eBay earlier this year for £220, it was immaculate and the guy who bought it was very happy, as was his son.

When my eldest was 6 years old I bought him a 20" Mongoose BMX which he was fine with. If I were you, I would buy a 20" inch wheel BMX unless your son is vertically challenged as a 16" or 18" will be out grown very quickly. As others have said the supermarket BMX's are st. Do your homework and have a look on eBay, you never know someone might be selling a decent BMX for peanuts. It doesn't hurt to buy second hand as you will get an absolute bargain and a BMX that was when new probably around £300 - £400.

Edited by Andy OH on Wednesday 21st November 13:59

[mattviatura]

raceboy said:

The problem lies in the good old fashioned 'rose tinted glasses' the very best 'old skool bike' is hopeless to ride on compared to the new bikes, the angles are terrible and they carry zero cred down the skatepark.

Fair point if you were talking about a 12 year old. He's seven, is he likely to be bothered about skatepark credibility?

I suggested Burners because they are relatively small for 20" bikes. I have three of them.

[raceboy]

Never to young to start....we have kids racing at 5
I admit that a 7 year old probably isn't going to be flip whipping the box at his local park anytime soon but the geometry and design of a new bike will make riding alot easy than a 'classic'.
The lads from Burner World come down one of my local tracks every once in a while, and although some of it can be put down to the rider but old bikes just aren't cut out for the new tracks and parks, it's always a case of 'not if, but when' for one of the old boys takes a massive tumble.
Like one of the previous posters it is quite scary just how expensive a bike can be if custom built and bought new, my bike is an ex team bike so I picked it up for £500 at the end of a season but bought new it's approaching £1500



The carbon forks are £200 a pair, the rear hub is £150 and the cranks are £280 a set!

I'd still stick with the idea of a 18" wheel bike, most of the complete 20" park bikes are aimed at about the 12-16 year old rider, the slightly smaller bike will make tricks alot eaiser and the child will progress a lot faster than a bike he can't control fully, if you can get a bike shop to change the bars, and possible the crank arms on a complete then it might be ok but an off the self 18" would be spot on, I was riding a local indoor park a few weeks ago and there was a lad of about 13 on one and he was riding really well, putting a lot of us oldies to shame, but then racing is my thing really.

[antspants]

raceboy said:

I'd still stick with the idea of a 18" wheel bike, most of the complete 20" park bikes are aimed at about the 12-16 year old rider, the slightly smaller bike will make tricks alot eaiser and the child will progress a lot faster than a bike he can't control fully

Agreed. Although my lad is a bit smaller than some of his classmates, mainly due to him being one of the youngest in his class, there is no doubt that a 20" bike is far too big for him now. Tbh the 18" was obviously a little bit of a stretch to the bars, but that was a couple of months ago so probably fine by now. Anyway I can tilt the bars back slightly if necessary, and I know he will get a few years use out of it.

mattviatura said:

He's seven, is he likely to be bothered about skatepark credibility?

yes, they grow up fast these days!

Edited by antspants on Wednesday 21st November 14:50

[thewhangie]

Thanks very much everyone, lots of food for thought , I think splashing out a wee bit more is best. Ta.

[Perec]

Bit of a thread revival here.

We need to buy a first BMX bike for one of ours who is 8 and about 4' 2". He's into scootering and skateboarding at present. It will be a decent one but I am torn between a 16 and an 18 inch wheel.

We sat him on both yesterday and the shop (proper BMX outfit) said the 16 was the way to go immediately because it will be more controllable NOW, he'll learn more quickly and it won't put him off. I'm torn:

16 Inch:

The right size immediately.
He will still be able to use it in 2 years and probably do more on it than an 18 even then.
Experience on MTBs tells me that the smallest bike practical is usually the best.
The experts at the shop say 16", albeit that their advice related to a bike to use today.

18 Inch:

It'll be for Christmas so by the time he gets to use the bike, a month at the soonest and into next year properly, he'll be bigger.
It will last him longer.
It looks like a proper BMX whereas the 16 looks tiny. Remember that being cool is important!

Any thoughts from the BMX massive?

[raceboy]

Very difficult to gauge without seeing the lad on a bike.
In BMX racing an 8 year old would be on a 20" but the frames are a very different shape to a park/street bike.
If it was my money I'd be looking long and hard at the 18" as it'll have a longer life span and remember a park bike seat is only there to sit on when you're not riding, it's usually fitted as low as it will go regardless of rider size, you don't sit on it to pedal, and bars with a smaller rise can be fitted.
There are a lot more quality 18's than 16's and they are usually about the same price and probably a higher spec.