[DubDom]

That time of the year is upon us. Twin seven year old boys. They like the bike track, but we live in crookes so they would not get up the hills if I just got them a BMX!
Might go for one of these:http://www.raleigh.co.uk/b_details.aspx?id=491&pt=11&brand=8 if I can get them cheap enough.
Anyone else going through this one at the moment have any ideas?
I don't mind going up to 150 quid just to convince them that they don't want a DS! Although I would rather be getting a couple of 60quid bmxs from tescos! Any good places for nice second hand kids bikes anyone knows about?

[Sloper]

We've just been looking for a trike for Hugo (2 and a bit) and it seemed as if Decathalon would be the place to go, plenty of shiny stuff and high tech bits for boys to get involved with without paying massive amounts for branding.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/20-quot-fs-49674423/

[lagerstarfish]

My 9 year old has had both her bikes from decathlon - started with one of their own brand 14" bikes with stabilisers and then moved on to one of the girls 20" bikes. No problems with them, but I'm not sure they'd stand up to much more than road and trail riding. Having said that, I was riding the 20" yesterday morning to entertain the kids and it felt pretty solid under my 91kg.

That Raleigh DJ20 is supposed to be for age 8 and up, but kids seem to cope fine with bikes that are a bit too big for them. Sounds like it's meant to take a bit of stick too.

[Joepicalli]

Ed (15 now) has only just got rid of his little Raleigh which he got when he was 7.
Unfortunately I can't remember exactly which one it was: however no sexy brakes and (vvv important) no gears simplicity is all for kids and cheaper for you, unless of course they are biking prodogies.
Thing is this little bike had two lives 7-9 then he got a proper, very bottom-end mountain bike (he's tall so could just do 26" wheels on an ex-small frame). The little Raleigh was consigned to the garage for for 4 years when it was dragged out pimped by him and became his ragabout street bike until he got a dedicated street bike this year. So it had two lives, and because in its second incarnation it was "disposable" he got into changing parts on it etc. so he got the basics of bike mechanics without totaling his good bike. Oh and finally he sold it to a mate for 25 quid (I think we paid £46). So I would suggest you go cheap and robust, you're probably buying the extras based on your, not a kid's view of a bike.