Hi to all
I'm really hoping someone out there can help me in my search for a good quality bike (Ridgeback MX, Specialized Hotrock, Islabike Beinn etc) for a single parent struggling to match a tight budget with the above aspiration..!
My daughter is 10 - about 135cm tall, quite slim and light for her age. In her early years, she had a succession of cheap, secondhand, pretty heavy, no gear bikes that have all served a purpose, but for her 9th birthday I managed to find a secondhand MX20 that I could afford.
After her previous bikes, she's really loved having a lighter bike with gears that she can really enjoy. However, she's (inconveniently and expensively!
) put on a growth spurt and now (I think) needs a much bigger bike. Frankly she looks a bit ridiculous riding around on what now looks like a very small bike even with the seat post at its highest!
If I'm honest, perhaps she's probably not quite tall enough right now for a 26" (although I understand that an Islabike 26" is smaller than most other makes?), but I think she'll be able to ride one with confidence while she 'grows into it' so to speak.
I'm having real difficulty finding a suitable bike (lightweight, geared, good components etc) for her. I've tried eBay, Gumtree, local bike shops and local ads - all to no avail so far. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas or perhaps even have a bike themselves their child(ren) no longer need that would fit the bill...?
All suggestions/ideas/bike offers very gratefully received.
Many many thanks to all who respond...
PS. I'm based in SW London but am also often in West Yorkshire
I'm really hoping someone out there can help me in my search for a good quality bike (Ridgeback MX, Specialized Hotrock, Islabike Beinn etc) for a single parent struggling to match a tight budget with the above aspiration..!
My daughter is 10 - about 135cm tall, quite slim and light for her age. In her early years, she had a succession of cheap, secondhand, pretty heavy, no gear bikes that have all served a purpose, but for her 9th birthday I managed to find a secondhand MX20 that I could afford.
After her previous bikes, she's really loved having a lighter bike with gears that she can really enjoy. However, she's (inconveniently and expensively!
) put on a growth spurt and now (I think) needs a much bigger bike. Frankly she looks a bit ridiculous riding around on what now looks like a very small bike even with the seat post at its highest!If I'm honest, perhaps she's probably not quite tall enough right now for a 26" (although I understand that an Islabike 26" is smaller than most other makes?), but I think she'll be able to ride one with confidence while she 'grows into it' so to speak.
I'm having real difficulty finding a suitable bike (lightweight, geared, good components etc) for her. I've tried eBay, Gumtree, local bike shops and local ads - all to no avail so far. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas or perhaps even have a bike themselves their child(ren) no longer need that would fit the bill...?
All suggestions/ideas/bike offers very gratefully received.
Many many thanks to all who respond...
PS. I'm based in SW London but am also often in West Yorkshire
