I have a different perspective. First, when I was growing up, I prized my BMX bike and banana seat Schwinn cruiser, even though they were not designed to travel distance like an adult Rivendell. Those bikes gave me freedom, and I was not capable of understanding that a "better" bike was out there, nor would have that served me well. The options we have as first world consumers can be liberating, but they can also be a burden that occupies too much of our time. A BMX bike is a simple machine, one ring and cog, fewer parts to fix. It is unfortunate that many kids bikes are infernally heavy proportional to their weight, but they are still amazing tools that allow kids to propel themselves in ways no kids prior to the last century had at their disposal.
I bought my 14 year old daughter an e-bike so she can ride to and from school everyday on her hilly commute. The e-bike is impressive, but she often has battery anxiety, and if it dies she wants to be picked up rather than pedal that heavy machine. If she was riding an older 26" hardtail from the late 90s or early aughts, she might sweat a bit more on the uphills but she would likely just walk up the hardest section and never consider calling me. It feels ridiculous that I would spend a bunch of money to make a problem easier and then create new problems. My point is, our kids can adjust to "inferior" or heavier bikes just like they have for decades, and fall in love with biking if they enjoy the adventure. I don't think you have anything to regret, you have simply been burdened with the idea that you are somehow responsible to give them some especially great bike because you did that for yourself; that feeling is powerful and hard to resist, but it is not a fact, just a feeling. At least that is my perspective, from my own experience. By the way, I have bought my kids the lighter of available bikes, but always used Treks and Specializeds that had quality parts and cost $100-$150 used. Then we focused on the important things: a doughnut bell, a kickstand, and cool grips. Dave in Carlsbad On Saturday, March 4, 2023 at 6:40:18 AM UTC-8 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > Ok, first up. > > This is the inaugural ride of my Betty Foy. I was living in Southern > California at the time and had arrived home with my new bike after picking > it up at RBW HQ in late 2012. I decided to make us all ride our bikes to > church that Sunday morning. Please note how tiny my littler boy is. I saw > this photo and remembered how many times I insisted he was not pedaling > hard enough when we were riding up the hills. For Pete’s sake, the kid was > 3 years old and weighed like 30 pounds. I was certain he was not doing his > part. > [image: image0.png] > > You’ll notice my older son, who was almost always smiling and never > complaining, has this Haro bike. It was the best we could get because he > was too small for most everything else. It was a BMX bike, and probably not > well-suited to what we were doing. However, I’ll draw your attention to the > next photo… > > [image: image1.png] > > Which is this one. Look at this atrocity. We are visiting my parents, and > they have sweetly bought him this new bike from the best sporting goods > store in town. Pacific was supposedly made by the Schwinn people, the only > reputable bike company we knew of by name. If it said Schwinn, it must be > quality. This said Pacific, which meant Schwinn, so it was clearly quality. > We had no idea at the time how monstrously heavy this bike was. Look at my > tiny boy, suffering with every pedal stroke. The bike was way too big for > him (“He’ll make it work, it’s what I did as a kid,” said the helpful > salesman) and it outweighed him, easily. Is it even put together correctly? > Is the fork right? I don’t know, but my sunny child is clearly not enjoying > himself here. I’m sure I told him he was being ungrateful after his > grandparents bought him a brand new bike. And also, pedal harder. 😩 > > Finally, these last two. I got my act together and ordered that Islabike > you see in the far right, so at least my poor kids were better off. But > what about our dog?! Here he is, stuffed unceremoniously into a Backabike > bag. I knew it was a bad idea but I consoled myself by believing it was the > dog’s fault. He was desperate to come along and was making quite a fuss. > His riding basket was full of backpacks, so this was the only way. > > [image: image2.jpeg] > Also, here is he again, all 15 pounds of him, with a heavy wooden > skateboard laying across his back. I’m sure he felt every bump. I am also > sure that I was feeling smug for figuring out how to carry all this stuff > on my bike. > [image: image3.png] > > I’m sure there are more of these regrettable photos, and when I find them, > I’ll put them here. In the meantime, go ahead and post your guilty bike > life memories/photos here. I could use the company. > > Leah > > On Mar 4, 2023, at 9:23 AM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasa...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > I was looking through an old photo album of my bikes. My boys were tiny, > my dog was young, and my Betty Foy was sparkly and new. But you look at > things through different eyes over the years, and today, I came across a > couple of regrettable old photos that made me want to cry and then laugh, > simultaneously. It was 2013. I was obviously the most excited person in my > family about biking. I had just gotten that Betty Foy and thus I could do > just about anything. I invented all sorts of adventures for us - fun things > but we had to get there by bike. I dragged my two tiny boys along, > regardless of their sub-standard bikes. Even the dog was not spared. Surely > this must be List-appropriate? There will be lots of photos of a Betty Foy, > and that very bike was the source of all the “adventures” I inflicted on my > tiny family members. > > > (I’m going to post the photos, with commentary in the following entry. > This, because I have never figured out how to get photos posted in the body > of this message - I only can do it from email after the first post arrives > there. If anyone has a hot tip about that, I’m all ears.) > > Who else has tortured their family with their own love of bicycles? Who > else has told themselves, “Well, it’s good for them.” Who else was a slow > learner but eventually got their act together and bought better equipment > for a better experience for the tortured family members? > Leah > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/-mwPmOvcu5Q/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8b89aeaa-9687-4367-90bc-7e7a891ee2dbn%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8b89aeaa-9687-4367-90bc-7e7a891ee2dbn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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