12 yr old lanky legged son wants a bmx for chrimbo, budget up to £170, what do I look for/recommendations please? Street rather than race use.

Votchy

Votchy
I'm no expert but I bought my son one last year (11) and there was quite a large difference in price.
We bought one from Decathlon and it has been great, would be well under your budget however it may not be to the spec you require.
Worth a look though.

Come on guys, need some help here

Thanks surfer

Try Winstanleys BMX, they have some proper BMX bikes for that kind of money.

A word of warning, I was picking my 7 year old up from school and one of the mums was complaining about the brake on her son's new BMX, I had a look, the brake was badly adjusted. I sorted it but was shocked that this bike had plastic levers, pressed steel V brake arms, loose headset and rear hub. It was less tha 2 weeks old and she'd paid £130 for it, she asked if she should take it back and get a refund as it already had been back to the shop. For that kind of money she could have a branded bike such as a Redline from Winstanleys or one of the other online suppliers.

The thing was just a piece of junk.

Big M

am aware of such issues, his current BMX is one from Halfords and the brakes on it are desperate, luckily he weighs next to nothing so they stop him, when I rode it I went straight in to the garage door 😥

http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/product/17496/DiamondBack_SkinDog_Bike_2009

this?

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Or this, you can't beat Redline quality.

There are shedloads at that price with near-identical specs. Just avoid one-piece cranks, full hi-ten frames (heavy) and hi-ten forks (much easier to kill than their cro-mo counterparts). Mid size BBs and a tiddly chainring seem to be fashionable at the moment. Sizing depends on how tall he is, rather than length of leg, most people 5'10 and over seem to ride something with a 20" or 21" TT.

Without wanting to sound too negative, if you plan to use Winstanleys go to the shop to ensure they have want you want in stock as they have a reputation for not stocking stuff listed on their website, taking your money, and then you wait ages for your goods.

Radbmxshop.co.uk is also worth checking out though I'm not sure they'll have anything in the £170 price range, but worth a try.

Thanks for the help so far, as for sizing he is 5' 2", what size should I be looking for?

Thanks for the words of caution re one of the bike shops

5'2" I would suggest a TT length between 19.5" to 20.25".

I'd definately check them out in person as I believe at £170 price point there will be some compromises made on spec / quality – if you can up your budget then it would be worth it, although I appreciate that he probably has a lot of growing to do (but a better bike will resell easier than a crock of shite).

Anyway, why does he want one? Rolling around town on? Doing some park / street riding? Because his mates have them or for racing?

Hey Votchy.

My 11 year old nephew was after a BMX for Xmas as well (now changed his mind to a single speed jump bike) and we did a bit of research and ended up with this one: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Mongoose_Logo_2010/5360045366/

I went to 2 Wheels (who have a reasonable stock of BMX) and they said they'd do it for £155. I like the Orange colour best but they did have the other version in stock to look at.

When are you back on the bike ready for your next crash……… 😉

Budget may be flexible as he has his birthday and chrimbo in the same month, he has asked for money from everyone for both so he can buy one himself, budget based on rough guess of how much he will get from relatives. he wants one because they are cool and for riding round town with a bit of park/street riding.

I ride bmx nearly every day. The quality of bmxs has gone up miles compared to maybe 5 years back . At £170 you can get some awesome bikes. I work in a bike shop on a sat now and again and sell loads of bmx's to kids.

On that budget I'd recommend

Mongoose Subject – £179
Felt Vault- £179

Steve,

hopefully picking bike up from Mick this weekend, then will venture out along towpath next week to see how the lung/intercostals bear up to higher breath rate, not going to risk FOD next weekend as that will be too much, probably another 2 weeks before proper off road ride as long as I don't fall in the cut 😯