Any brand recommendations for a bike for an athletic 6 almost 7 year old boy. He's outgrown the smaller one.

Question

Quality, safety and price (in that order) are priorities.

Answer 1

You are talking bicycles and not motorcycles, right? At 7 years old, you aren't looking at a long term bike for the kid, within a couple of years he will have grown considerably and be ready for the next bump in size. Just about any bike you buy will last 2 or 3 years without any problem. If you are determined that you want a high quality bike, go to either REI or to a local bike shop. Trek and Giant make good kids bikes. The safety issue goes hand in hand with the quality concern. The biggest issue would be if the mechanics failed on the bike while he was riding it. The other safety features are all required by law and are the same whether you're buying a K-Mart bike or a custom bike from Louis the velocipede builder.

Answer 2

IMHO, there isn't a motorcycle on the market that can beat a Yamaha in terms of quality. Yamaha simply gets things right before the product is released -- which is the way it should be.

Whatever bike you decide to go with, it needs to fit his stature. If he's got long legs (inseam), he can use a bike that has a higher seat (which will usually have taller tires and a bigger engine).

Look for something about 90cc -- 50cc is going to be too small for an athletic boy that age, and 125cc is going to be just a bit too big unless he's an extremely good rider. I doubt you'll find a 125 that will fit under a 7yo.

In that class, Yamaha offers the 2-stroke YZ85 (MSRP $3149 -- ouch!), which is a Motocross bike having a 34-inch seat height -- and the 4-stroke TT-R90E (MSRP $1749), which is an off-road bike offering the convenience of electric start and a semi-automatic transmission!

In case you're not a Yamaha fan, most all new bikes are of suitably good quality: I don't know of any that are truly bad. However -- and this is VERY IMPORTANT -- inspect the cables and make absolutely sure that the brakes are hooked-up properly. I crashed a brand-new Honda TRX125 (4-wheeler) because the front brakes didn't work -- and suffered a 45-mph endo :(

When I took the bike apart (enough to thoroughly inspect the front brake system), I discovered the cable from the hand brake hadn't been connected to the cables from the front brakes. All 3 cables terminated inside a little box, but they hadn't been put in the connector-thing. It was a very simple fix, but I was a lot more resilient back then.

Whatever bike you get, it is only partly assembled by the manufacturer: because shipping costs are so high, the parts are put in a box and final assembly occurs at the dealer level. So in the case of my crash, the dealer was technically at fault, but I didn't make a case of it: I just fixed it and went back to riding.

Kazuma seems to make pretty good stuff; I don't have firsthand experience with it under operational conditions, but I've inspected their 4-wheelers up close and they seem very well-built. I've been told that their major mechanical components are interchangeable with Honda, but I don't know if that's true.

http://www.kazuma.us/Products.htm shows the Viper110

You might also want to check out:

http://www.bestatvstore.com/
http://www.westcoast-products.com/
http://www.bartonsscooters.com/scooters/item654.html

or even emotorbike.com

Answer 3

I suggest getting him a junior or expert sized bmx race bike. The reason is because the bikes are made for kids their age and they fit them much better. When the bike fits the rider properly then he will be able to ride the bike more safely and will enjoy it more. As for quality most juniors and expert sized bikes that are put out are by companys that have great backgrounds and make good bikes. They usualy tend to run a little more than your average bike but the quality of the parts are worth the extra money. Plus you can always take it to a bmx race and sell it after he has outgrown it again. You could also see if he is interested in racing and possibly enter him into some races. The kids usualy love it and it is a great family oriented sport. Go to your local bike shop and talk to a representative they can fit him and hook you guys up right.

Answer 4

That is a GOOD question. Is he into road cycling? If so, checkout trekbikes.com. They have a "kids" road bike somewhere in there. There are some other bike makers that have "kids" road bikes, but I can't remember who they are. Try your search engine and see if that is any help. If he likes mountain bikes better, than your choices are HUGE. At the very least, buy the bike from a bike shop. Bike shops carry a lot of great quality brands and can do A LOT in terms of fit, after-purchase repairs, you name it. Prices may not be the "best", but a bike shop is the best place to make this very important purchase. Good luck. Hope that was helpful.

Answer 5

Get him a reasonable one that he will be able to perform well with, but I'd keep in mind that he'll need a bigger one next year.
That's how my old man did it.
When they're that small, I think they'll all be pretty tough and continue to work well, and safety; I think, is in the other equipment like helmet and pads.
I personally like Trek and Specialized and they have a huge selection.

Answer 6

if your looking at a mountain bike, try walmart or target if you want someting cheap. they have descent dual suspension youth bikes for under $200. slap some decals on and it'll look great.
Success story: i bought my bike (Schwinn S40 DSX) at Target for $200 in August of 2005. now its been upgraded to a $2000 race machine. some chain store bikes have alot of potential. Good luck!

Answer 7

Trek has a huge line of bikes for kids.

Answer 8

go to wal-mart and buy a moderatley priced bike that is a tad to big for him,hell get used to it and have time to grow into it without wasting tons of money getting something bling bling and he probably wont break it either

Answer 9

Trek makes a sora shifting one for his age and is racing approved.