just got home from dads place, and am finding it hard to wipe the smile from my face. at 54 or so years of age, he has the bike bug pretty hardcore, and is considering buying a very serious TT rig, and he’s not afraid to argue with his wife about it. Fighting with wives and partners is nothing new when it comes to aquiring necessary new kit, but on fathers day, i’m wondering if dads and mums on this forum are obsessed with getting their kids nice bike gear too?
for instance, has anyone said “no youre not getting a Huffy unless they have a steel version with decent lugwork” to a 9 year old itching for some wheels? Or has anyone ever even TRIED to justify the litespeed trike to their partners: “we can use it for kid no. 2 and 3 and 4 cos its titanium! it WONT FATIGUE!!!”.
As a relative youngster yet to get any kids on the board, i find myself rehearsing these arguments in my head already, and have already starting buttering up the k factor for the above mentioned litespeed. i also earmark bikes as “ones i’ll always hang onto… give to my son/daughter”… am i alone?
Bought the 2 1/2 year old a GIANT brand trike ($130) and the 6 year old a 16" cruiser ($400). Justification to the wife? I lied about the price, because I’m a scared, sad, little man.
My boy is now 5, he got the plastic trike for his 1st birthday, 12in with training wheels for his 2nd and about a month befor the 5th birthday I got him a 20inch mongoose MTB ($300).
Has alloy frame,1 1/8aheadset, 135mm spaced stays etc so infinitely upgradeable with my spares. Cruising the adds now for a light 20 inch cro-mo fork to replace the suntour shocks it comes with and looking at cutting off to 145/150mm and tapping threads in some some alloy cranks to lighten it up more. Has 7spd shimano twist shift and v’s it’s basically a minny MTB wilth all the right angles etc. Was cheaper than a good quality new BMX (light weight race type not freestyle kind).
I have tried to talk him into going SS with no luck, have an old XTR rear hub and 8spd to swithch too instead when I get time to do the build.
My wife actually wants me to get him a BMX too so looking for a good 2nd hand.
2Yo daughter is now on the 12 inch and getting the hang of pedalling, she’s keener than he was at that age.
I find it easier to justify to my wife a new bike for the kids than a new chain for one of my bikes.
Me? I use “a bloke at work wants me to put it on ebay for him…”. Once it’s in the shed it’s off the radar for good. If that fails I hide shit in my office and bring it home in bits under the guise of “bargain bin/swapped/scrounged”… or “a bloke a work wants me to put it on ebay for him”. When all the parts come home and put together it’s “…AND it’s all cheap spare parts…cost bugger all!!”
I have heard that breeding involves getting one of those girl friend things, which results in less riding time and money for the all important N+1 rule.
