hope i’ve got 1 on my hands. my 4 1/2 yr old is cycling mad and will comfortably come out with his old man on a weekend and do 25 miles.
i’m keen at some point soon to introduce a minature road bike to him but not sure of smallest sizes they make? he is approx 120cm tall ( tall for his age )
any advice/previous experience welcome
ta

do you really mean 4 and a half or 14 and a half years old?

if he’s only 4 and a half is he really safe on the road? or are you off roading?

its great he’s so keen either way, but don’t push him too hard

it’s oh so easy to put you son off

if you can, try borrowing a bike – he will grow so fast you will be hard pressed to keep buying new bikes each year or two

Good effort there!

Standard STW answer is to look at islabike. Looks like he’s not far off their smallest road bike at 120cm.

no he is 4 1/2. he’s just about to get his 3rd bike, though he doesn’t know it yet. just bout a raleigh 20″ wheel off ebay for him, but just thinking ahead to a road bike.
he comes on the road with me, where we need to, he is confident and i just reassure him as we go. we are lucky enough to live in york, so plenty of good cycling areas for him, i was keen to introduce him to quiet roads, as cycling awareness at school does not start until he is 8.
he’s been on a balance bike from 2 up until he went straight to his bike at 3 1/2ish and has just gone from there.

My youngest is 6 and can manage up to 10 miles round the wind farm tracks on his Beinn 20. Eats a heap of haribo’s doing it mind ! I reckon the small islabikes or the kids decathlon one in a tiny size would work. Must admit I wouldn’t trust him, or his 10 yr old bro on the road for a bit tho..

Asterix, how many 4ft 14 year olds do you know who are tall for their age? 😆

well that’s true but I didn’t know which number might be wrong. My 14 and a half year old son (who is nearly 6′ and will also ride 25 miles – actually a little more) and I just had a conversation wondering if your son was 4 and a half but had ridden 2.5 miles 😆

we were lucky enough to borrow a small bianchi tri bike when he was 12

but anyway well done to you – it sounds as though he is very advanced

Slightly off topic, but my dad took me and my sister on our first long multi-day (well 2 1/2 days) between Oxford and Portsmouth when I was 7 and she was 5. First night camped near Newbury, and the second in the New Forest. Jess rode her Raleigh Budgie, and I rode my mum’s Raleigh shopper 🙂
Must have done her some good as she’s now an Olympic triathlete!

i’d seen the islabike racer. he had a kokua likeabike as a balance bike and that was tremendous, a pal had an islabike for his boy and they too are good.
i’ve just come home to find him wearing a new helmet he won in a xmas raffle – a shark head helmet, kindly donated by cycle heaven in york ( they are a fab shop for local causes ).

as for the racer, i’ll keep my eyes posted on ebay, but thanks for swift responses, really appreciate it

not sure of smallest sizes they make?

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8y0xpkdaNY[/video]

What I would do is get a child back tandem. The advantage of this is that he can keep up with you and you won’t spend ages waiting, you don’t have to worry about his (relative) lack of road sense and if he gets tired, you can tow him along. You can also chat!
We used a Thorn Voyager when my kids were younger and they loved it. We used it on road and off and the previous owners toured on it.
Also cars are much nicer to tandems!

I got my just 7 year old son an Islabike Luath 24 road bike this Christmas, which has been a revelation for him. He’s great on a mountain bike, but this bike is really great. Not sure for 4 and a half tho!

well bigdaddy, he’s size of a 7yr old almost, but not there mentally yet!!
having said that, once he gets on the road, his awareness is great, comes from not living on a suburban estate rd i suppose.

i think if i put him on a tandem, he’d tell me where to go! he likes his independance.

i will have a further look at the isla bikes.

he wasn’t happy when i told him i was just going out for an hours ride after i’d put him to bed – ah well, parenthood.