Reply
Wed 31 Mar, 2004 06:11 pm
It's gettin' warmer, my daughter doesn't have a bike, saw one for a good price at Target and decided to get it. (I just finished a huge project that has been taking up a lot of time, she's been very patient -- well, patient for a 3.3-yr-old -- and I also wanted to give her a li'l reward.)
So usually things that are sold at Target are also on Amazon.com, and I planned to not open it, read reviews, and then return it if the reviews were bad. But it's not there, and I can't seem to find much of anything anywhere. (Boy's versions on EBay, 'bout it.)
One thing I did find was a page talking about bike values -- it said something like "store brands like Huffy, Murray and Magna are worthless." It was for adult bikes, though, and this bike is for 3-6 years -- she's not going to have it long, and there won't be too many demands of it.
I DO want it to be safe, though.
So, any feedback? If someone's kid HAS a Magna Starburst 16" girl's bike, well that would be perfect. But any other feedback ("If they sell them at Target, it should be fine" or whatever) is appreciated.
Sozlet wants to put her bike together, and I'm trying to figure out whether to keep it or not first!
I keep seeing Huffy, Murray, and Magna in the same sentence... (continuing my Google search.) That's fine with me, we all had Huffys when I was a kid.
I found out it's manufactured by Dynacraft, that gives more info when I look at Amazon. Reviews seem to be mixed. :-?
I actually know the Huffmans, who founded Huffy. They sold the company long ago and those bikes are made in Asia now.
Personally, my favorite bikes are made by Specialized, with Diamondback a close second. Not for a first bike, but when you replace that at about 8-years, consider one of these 21-speed 24-inch "mountain" bikes. They'll probably cost around $300 by the time sozlet is 8, but they will likely last her until she starts driving.
Have you checked out Consumer Reports, soz?
Be sure you don't get one too big for her. She should be able to touch the ground with her bent toes on both sides, or else she will fall over every time she stops. My son (10 yrs. old now, 4' 7", about average height) just got his third or fourth bike...a 20-inch...but it is still a little large even with the seat at the lowest position. He's still riding his 16-inch with the seat at the highest position, but at the rate he's growing right now, it won't be long.
His first bike was a Schwinn. (I grew up with Schwinns.) We have since learned not to spend so much. As long as they are sturdy, they'll be fine for a coupla years. My son rides several miles per outing along with my husband. He's had a 21-speed since he was 7-1/2 and can handle it well.
Yeah, for a kids bike I don't know that it matters much (unless it's a safety defect sort of thing). As an adult you buy a bike for years of use. Kids abuse their's and then outgrow them within a few years.
Consumer's Reports does list recalls on several Huffy and Dynacraft Men's Mountian bikes due to problems with the frames and front forks breaking in heavy use. Nothing on any kid's models though.
Cool, cjhsa!
Eva, that was really funny... I'd written a response a while back that included the fact that I had a big ol' Schwinn while all my friends had fast little Huffys (with TASSELS), but I didn't finish it (very demanding sozlet lately) and then got confused when I saw your post.
Fishin', yeah, that's about where I'm headed too -- OK, it's not so great, but it's not like she'll have it for long anyway.
I saw some recalls for their kids' bikes but nothing after 1995.
Most of the complaints I've seen are with assembly -- I don't mind assembling it even if it's complicated.
I put it together. Took a coupla hours, I have some scrapes and blisters. That's OK, it was the main complaint I saw and why I decided to go ahead; hard to put together, but once together, fine. I can handle hard to put together. Put it together.
Well.
Ms. "I want I need I MUST have a bike!!" hopped on, didn't know how to pedal. I showed her. Didn't get it -- she kept pedalling backwards, which stopped the bike. She thought that was funny, and kept doing it -- sitting there, moving the pedals two inches forward, two inches back. Then she got bored and hopped off.
That was the end of her interest.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I showed her how it worked, pushed on her feet, etc., but she was just not interested and I didn't want to force things or she would never ever touch it again. (She and I are alike that way, that's why I quit violin when I was a kid.)
I figure she'll get interested sometime between now and when she turns 6.
At least it was cheap.
I think you are going to be sooooo cute on that new starburst bike of yours, sozobikerbabe!
Well, sometimes it's the journey, sometimes the destination. Guess the sozlette is more into the journey.
You know what's really really great for journeying?
BIKES!!
:-?
(ehBeth, I read your message to her and she grinned and squirmed happily. I asked her if she would like to say anything back and she said, "Yeah!" <pause> "Hi." Anything else? "No." So, Hi. :-) )
i'm having a vision of a sozlet on a journey
(from girlbike.com)
In a feeewwwwwwwwww years, maybe.
At least the first thing she told E.G. when he came home was "Mama put my bike together!!" She seemed happy about it. So maybe she'll come around sooner than I thought. We'll see.
I figure the first few times she sees older neighborhood girl tooling around, she'll want to follow suit.
*snicker* Ooooohhh! Just wait until the Sozlet is a teen. She's gonna be a pistol! hehehehe
She's not here now, that was from earlier. But I'll pass on your hi. :-) (Note, this has nothing to do with bogarting...)
fishin', don't make me more worried than I already am...
(E.G.'s entire family, boys and girls, are notorious for having teen years from aitch ee double-hockeysticks -- E.G. was just baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad -- and she takes after him in a lot of ways. I'm noivous.)
I need a new bike.
Really.
I've been looking at the Canajun Tire flyers, trying to figure out if I can figure out how to use 21 or 22 (or something like that) gears.
Hey, that's her helmet!
Seriously, very similar if not it. She somehow snookered me into getting her a Disney princess deluxe air horn, too. (Because I refused to get her a Disney princess helmet and the airhorn doesn't actually have any Disney princesses on it -- it's just pink and purple with some ribbons.) She's a pink and purple vision on her bike. Just sitting there, mind you, not GOING anywhere, but a vision.
22 gears! Wow.
My daughter got her first "real" bike (she's four) this spring, and I also fell for the Magna deal at Target. While the assembly was not really a picnic, the real issue I am having with it is that I can't find a bike pump that fits it. Needless to say, the staff at Target is less than helpful. Have you dealt with this issue at all?
My daughter keeps mournfully looking at her bike and saying, "when will I be able to ride it"? Whimper whimper.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace