Well, I got that all wrong.
Eldest son now has zero interest in bikes - squeezed out by guitar, A levels and some girl.
Next son up has a visceral hatred of all things cyclical.
So I thought I'd better try and nurture the third son's nascent interest. His current bike is an OKish hand-me-down which is a bit too small. So I planned and thought, and bought parts on here and a part on ebay and found some more bits in the garage, and came up with this beauty:
Single speed - so almost zero maintenance. No grumbles about dodgy gears. And it will make him strong like an ox. Got lucky with a magic gear as well!
KMC rust buster chain, so it won't matter when it gets left out in the rain.
Rigid forks - no more sloshing out oily muddy water from wobbly lowers. Tempered with a nice fat tubeless front tyre. The carbon weave on those Exotic forks is a very symphony of bling.
Maxlight Kinesis frame - lovely light thing. The whole bike weighs 10kg.
So what's the problem? What's not to like?
Monday morning rolls around. I just can't let him take it to school. I just know it's going to get trashed at best and stolen - never to be seen again - at worst. I can just about cope with my children going there. But this creature of aluminium, carbon, plastic and steel. No. I just can't do it.
Where did it all go wrong?
