Bike snobbery

I usually abhor bike snobs who turn their nose up at regular joes out riding. But one area where I am as bad a bike snob as anyone is kid's bikes. It is down right deplorable the kind of crap they pawn off to parents at the department stores for kid's bikes. 50lbs of junk. More often than not utterly unsafe. The brakes can't stop worth a crap.

Kid down the street pulls the Fred Flinstone when he needs to stop. Real safe. Other kids have gone through three wal-mart specials. We did the right thing and went to the LBS for our kids. Hurt the pocket book a little but so worth it. First bike was a little GT dyno. Made it through one kid, and the second, still good as the first day. Heavy as all hell but solid.

I can't get over all that full suspension stuff they push down kid's throats. Extra 30lbs of springs that do nothing.

Bought another Trek for the oldest used from a friend's son. Even these LBS kid's bikes can still be quite lacking in brakes. The brakes took a lot of effort to use for me. Can't imagine a little kid's hands trying to stop. So I, being the good bike geek, and good father put a set of Avid single digit's on the front and some Cane Creek's on the rear. New cables, new housing.

Now we are talking.