I am a little late to respond to this one, but bgw, you are absolutely right.

…i’m betting that if they made a camera that took pictures of your inner being, that old dad’s fotos would look pretty much the same as his son’s…

…huh, dad ???…

Next time, I expect you to give him a proper carbon fiber frame with some decent road tires.

Wow, two West Virginians on the Internet, on the same blog! That happens as often as lightning striking twice!

I go to WVWC, and am trying to get advocacy for bike racks. I’ve joined positive spin, and read Bicycle Design nearly every day (to my dismay of infrequent posts, compared to some crazy non-life living bloggers)

Jack, my youngest won that 16″ spiderman bike in a random drawing at a local restaurant some time ago. He was very excited about winning it and he is happy with it, so I am not about to tell him it is a cheap bike. Yeah it may weigh more than my mountain bike, but if he is happy with it, it is good enough for me. He is pretty good on it, so I don’t worry that it is going to turn him off to cycling. When he is ready to move up to a 20″ wheeled bike, he has an old Torker BMX bike that we have been working on together. He is very excited about graduating to that bike, but it is still a little big for him.

I’m a big fan of your site. I have a six year old also who sleeps with the ribbons from those great kids races! I am surprised to see the choice of bike for your son. I know they grow up fast (I have tiny, small, and medium sized bikes hanging from the rafters that only lasted a season as he grew out of them faster than a pair of pants) and they aren’t cheap, but… a maven of style and utility as yourself having your progeny riding a monocoque aluminum box-store bike?! Personally, as I looked to find a unique, stylish, cool, performance bike for my son, I was bummed at the dearth of cool kids bikes. I think the big brands’ offerings are too smarmy(sp?) and cartoony. I think 30 pound (tiny) clunkers that are noisy and uncool take the fun and freedom out of greatest activity. I know they don’t know any different at this age, but I want the bug to take hold because it is such a great lifelong activity that is driven by passion. Nothing sparks that passion more than the sound of the wind blowing by your ears and the treads crunching soft dirt or fall leaves. The distractions of a creaky crank or a rusty drivetrain (bike left out in the rain get in the way of the fun.

Curious to hear your thoughts…

Thanks for the blog!
Jack

and it doesnt matter if you are big, little, young or old. that buzz you get from riding bikes never goes away!

my son just startted riding his 2-wheeler this summer and he had that same look on his face the first time he pedalled on his own.

beautiful!

Human amp, my oldest turns ten next week, so the teenage years are near. I can’t believe he is already that old. Time flies.

Nick, sounds like a great organization that you run. Keep up the great work.

dragonfly, glad you like the site.