Diamondback RM 12 -- are all kid bikes this heavy?

[cloud cult]

So my 3 year old has graduated from a Strider balance bike to this one with 12-inch wheels. He's tooling around on it fine and doing so without training wheels. The thing is, this bike must be made from lead. I'd be shocked if it weighed less than 28 pounds. He seems fine just pedaling on sidewalks and greenways, but it's too heavy to lift over curbs. Lately I have been strapping the bike to the back of the Chariot, so when I pick him up from day care he can pedal home but hop in the Chariot when he gets tired. When the bike it strapped to the Chariot, it feels like I'm lugging around bowling balls.

Our neighbor has a 12-inch Wal Mart bike which is similarly heavy, and an older kid across the street has a Specialized with 16-inch tires which probably weighs 32 pounds.

Are all kid bikes that heavy? Is it going to affect his ability to do more than ride on straight, flat surfaces? Is there one magical part on it I can replace that will save a lot of weight?

[JayPowHound]

I have been doing a bunch of research into exactly this subject lately..

Here are a couple of good resources:

http://www.twowheelingtots.com/speci...ock-12-review/

http://www.twowheelingtots.com/what-...ds-pedal-bike/



Bottom line is, weight matters and most kids bikes weigh way too much..

If you decide to go in another direction, here's one that is sub-13 lbs: http://www.islabikes.com/us/bike_pages/cnoc14.html

and one that is sub-16 lbs: http://www.us.woombikes.com/products/2

I want to buy my daughter's first pedal bike from the LBS, but the GT and Haro models they carry are 20 and 22 lbs. Still haven't decided if I will go with one of them or order the Isla online..


Good luck with your search!

[zombinate]

My general conclusion has been that any kids bike that comes at kids prices is heavy. Kid size bikes that come at adult prices can be light. Unless you have a kid that rides better than you do, it is tough to justify a bike that costs as much as yours.

[Dantheman]

Are all kid bikes that heavy?

Except for a handful of small specialized manufacturers, yes. Boat anchors all around.

Is it going to affect his ability to do more than ride on straight, flat surfaces?

Absolutely, and the shitty geo will limit that even.

Is there one magical part on it I can replace that will save a lot of weight?

No. The frame, fork, cranks and bars are all steel. Cut your losses and move on. Even if you were so inclined, finding parts is an absolute bitch and quickly exceeds the retail cost of the bike.


Welcome to the wonderful (f-ing horrible) world of kid's bikes. There are a few companies out there now with quality products. Yes, they cost more, but the premium you pay compared to something like your Diamondback isn't really that bad and they can typically resale for at least 50% of what you paid new. They really make sense if have multiple kids that they will get passed on to. These are your best options:

Isla Bikes. Very light. Unfortunately all their sub-20" US models ship with a coaster brake.
http://islabikes.com/us/index.html

Cleary Bikes. Only company with a 12" pedaller. Choice of rear coaster or freewheel. They have the best LBS distribution. Still pretty limited but you may get lucky.
http://clearybikes.com/

Spawn Cycles. Most expensive, but very nice and the listed prices are in Canadian pesos so you'll actually pay about 20% less.
http://spawncycles.com/ca/

Commencal.
http://www.commencalusa.com/PBSCCata...BCATID=2378990


ETA: Specialized's Hotrock 12 is decent too and a LBS that sells Specialized may have one. But, the 12" Cleary is a way better bike for only $50 more.

[Damian Sanders]

Ehhhhhhh......I don't really see the issue with heavy-ish kids bikes for several reasons. What kind of bike handing skills does a four year old have that they are riding up and down hills....no way. 4 to 6 year olds will be riding in a driveway or a flat, low traffic street. In the 6-10 year range, kids straight up abuse bikes. Ghost riding, rain/rust, jumping etc. They need beef and lack of gears. Older than that, you can consider a real performance BMX or MTB once the kid can respect it.

[criscam]

Ehhhhhhh......I don't really see the issue with heavy-ish kids bikes for several reasons. What kind of bike handing skills does a four year old have that they are riding up and down hills....no way. 4 to 6 year olds will be riding in a driveway or a flat, low traffic street. In the 6-10 year range, kids straight up abuse bikes. Ghost riding, rain/rust, jumping etc. They need beef and lack of gears. Older than that, you can consider a real performance BMX or MTB once the kid can respect it.

clearly you don't live in an area w/ dirt bike parks or kid friendly flow trails.

[El Chupacabra]

Kids abuse bikes. They all do, up until maybe age 11-12, if you're lucky. That's why these bikes are built like tanks.

Waaaay back when the mini-Chups were that size, I bought a "real" mountain bike for one of them from Performance. It had Shimano shifters + triple crank, V-brakes, rigid fork, alloy rims, and wasn't ridiculously heavy. This is roughly the equivalent today:
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes...75_-1___400338

I built it up carefully. Repacked hubs & headset, trued the wheels, spent a ton of time building it -- like I would for my own bike. And then watched it get crashed, left outside, dumped on the ground, skidded, jumped off anything/everything... then handed down to his brother, who did the same to it.

That bike took a ton of abuse.

[zion zig zag]

Kids abuse bikes. They all do, up until maybe age 11-12, if you're lucky.

Ha. I've got an old 575 that I've been limping along for my teenagers for a few years now. I have to fix something on it just about every time it comes back.

[Dantheman]

Ehhhhhhh......I don't really see the issue with heavy-ish kids bikes

Depending on the bike and kid, these bikes weigh 60-80% of the kid's weight. That's not "heavy-ish", it's a damn boat anchor. Go ride a 100-pound bike and let us know how much fun you have. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the geometry on the toy bikes is horrible and makes them even harder to handle.

What kind of bike handing skills does a four year old have that they are riding up and down hills....no way. 4 to 6 year olds will be riding in a driveway or a flat, low traffic street.

Here's my son on his 12" bike last summer at 4.5 y.o in the middle of a 4-mile, 1,200 ft trail descent


Here he is 3 days ago at 5.5


And he's not the best 5 y.o. we see out there by a long shot. There's another kid only a couple months older who makes the landing on the first three tables. There are 6 y.o.'s we see at the indoor bike park who are full-on manualing, doing transfers, etc. Get kids on striders early, then put them on decent pedal bikes and get them out riding a lot and most will kill it. If the OP's son is already pedaling at 3 he's well on his way.

In the 6-10 year range, kids straight up abuse bikes. Ghost riding, rain/rust, jumping etc.

The bikes made by the companies I linked to above will hold up just fine, and kids can be pretty easily taught to not leave their bike out in the rain.

They need beef and lack of gears.

Gears are definitely unnecessary on sub-20" bikes, but saying kids need 25+ lb steel tanks is just silly.

Older than that, you can consider a real performance BMX or MTB once the kid can respect it.

This is kind of like saying you shouldn't bother taking kids skiing on lifts until they are older than 10. Also, at risk of sounding like a broken record, the premium you pay for a quality bike is not that great. The OP's bike costs $150 new, weighs 28 lbs and will have a resale value of <$50. The equivalent Cleary and Commencal bikes cost $250 new, weigh 16 lbs, and will resale for >$100.

[Dantheman]

That's why these bikes are built like tanks.

They're built like tanks because it's cheap. Aluminum frames and parts hold up fine, and proper geometry doesn't affect durability one bit.

And then watched it get crashed, left outside, dumped on the ground, skidded, jumped off anything/everything...

Except for the left outside part, sounds like my bike.

I have to fix something on it just about every time it comes back.

Again, sounds like my bike

[ACH]

Probably not ready for a bike this size yet.

Transtion Ripcord...

[babybear]

helped my coworker put together a diamondback for her 7 yr old too and it was literally heavier than my bike

[Damian Sanders]

Here is walmart's high end 16" wheel offering:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/16-Mirraco...-Bike/41222226

For $129 you get a good looking bike that a kid could actually learn bike handling skills with. Weighs about 20 lb. Certainly better than the 16" bike I learned to bunnyhop and jump on.

The market for high end kids bikes is vanishingly small. The bike industry is pushing it right now because they have learned that they can sell multiple bikes (29er's, fat bikes, road bikes) to high income people, so why not sell $300-$2000 kids to them also. The vast majority of kids are going to be on cheap walmart bikes, and there is nothing you can do about it. A decent sized minority will be lucky enough to get a good $150-$300 bmx bike from a real bike shop. Kudos to Mirra for offering something through the walmart channel that is actually a real bike at a price affordable to a good number of people.

[cloud cult]

Interesting stuff. The Diamond Back was a generous gift from a good friend, so I hesitate to complain, but I guess I thought since it was from a semi-decent maker it would be a bike, not a toy.

Where to draw the line on this is tough. On one hand, I and probably everyone else grew up riding 35 pound bikes. On the other hand, I and probably most other people my age did not start doing that at 3, and even at 6 it was only at the park or in a driveway. Biking is important in our family -- it's how we do all our commuting, so there's some credence to getting this right.

[Offwidth]

Not all. We had 14" BMW balance, Kokua Like-to-bike 16", Giant Xtc 20" with some upgrades like wheelset, Scott 24" full suspension with air shock. All reasonably light. And the whole bunch, amortized for two kids, costs less than one of my bikes. Totally worth it.

[cloud cult]

Just to update, I got him a used Specialized Hotrock with 16-inch wheels from our LBS. He went right out and rode 2.5 miles of neighborhood alleys. The upscale bikes like the Woom and the Commencal looked nice, but I did not want to spend that amount on them new, and there was no trace of them ever showing up used. There was a used 16-inch Cannondale Trail that looked sweet, but we were an afternoon too late to buy it. The Specialized is not the 13-pounder that someone like Spawn makes, but it's not an anchor either and has good geometry.

[Canada1]

Don't spend too much. When your neighbor runs it over you won't have to egg their house like I feel obligated to do.

[Dantheman]

Solid choice. The Hotrocks are totally decent and one of the few you can find used somewhat reliably.

[Sirshredalot]

Don't spend too much. When your neighbor runs it over you won't have to egg their house like I feel obligated to do.

I said I was sorry!

[Offwidth]

Solid choice. The Hotrocks are totally decent and one of the few you can find used somewhat reliably.

Most of those bikes can be lightened by a couple pounds by replacing just a few parts. Using some old but nice handlebars, shortened, using stem and seat post from your parts bin.
Stock handlebars on my daughters 20" had been 430g. Old carbon I had - under a 100. Removing kickstand, a pound. Etc.