Alex got one last year, now its Calvin's turn. Some choices: 
- REDLINE | ADULT BIKES | CONQUEST 24. This is a 24" wheeled Redline Cyclocross. It has a 17.4" standover.
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IBEX Vantage JayVee Details. Peter asked about this bike. It is a great size for kids. A great value too because it ships directly from the manufacturer. The folks at IBEX are great by the way. The components are high quality. Much higher than a Wal*Mart bike and it will last a long time.
And, as Alex says, "it is really, really fast." We were cruising along at 18 mph the other day which is amazing.
Between clearly kids bikes that cost about $100 from Wal*Mart and grownup bikes, there is a funny zone. Basically, until you get to 5"4", you can't really get on a mainstream 54cm high bike, so what can you do until your child is big enough to get on a 26" wheel bicycle.
Well, there are two choices an all around mountain bike that is right for most kids and a more specialized road bike for going faster but not all terrain:
Specialized HotRock. Specialized probably makes the largest line of bicycles in this range. At the top end is the $600 full suspension A1 FSR. This is a little overkill as most kids won't need rear suspension, but the reasonable one is the HOtrock A1 FS 24, which uses 24" wheels and is a hardtail and costs about $350. Decent compoennts too and it is aluminum.
IBEX Vantage JayVee. Road bikes are much more difficult and smaller market. There are probably 10x more mountain bikes sold since a road bike implies that you are going to be well...on the road. We got this Ibex for $640 on the Internet. It is a nice bike although quite expensive. The other hand, the components are great and it will last well into teenage years because it uses 650c rims, it actually has pretty much standard components. Also, it has Shimano Tiagra shifters which are great and easy to use. All in all, at 18 pounds, if you have someone who likes biking and would really use it, it is a good value.
You do have to assemble it, but that shouldn't be too hard is you are reasonably mechanical. Ours shifted fast and was great, although the front brake caliper was a little bent.
Tong Family Blog: Christmas is coming, time to. It's been three years since Alex and Calvin got their K2 Zed road bikes. They have loved them ,but they are getting bigger, so nows the time to find out what's next. They need bikes that are really right for someone who is about 5" tall and with a standover height in the 26" range.
24" road bike makes the most sense, but almost everyone is onto mountain bikes for kids. There are quite a few mountain bikes reviewed at MTBR Review
Some choices include for road bikes that are in the 18 pound range:
- H.H. Racing Kid Road Bikes. They are still around. Have a 3.5 pound steel frame. You build up from there, so maybe some of my old components can go into it. The main thing is that you can build up a great bike but it will cost more since you are using grown up parts.
- Ibex Vantage JayVee road bike that /uses 650c wheels (26"). They say that this works for folks under 5" tall (60 inches). They aren't super expensive and their parts are pretty good. Shimano Tiagra instead of the really low end Sora and it comes with a carbon fiber fork and standard 650cc wheels (26"), so you can use them for other things rather than the pretty non standard 24". All and all a great choice, but it sells for about $640 on the Internet, so certainly not cheap. Only one review on roadbikereview.com but the guy liked it and so does Ethan
- Redline Conquest 24. Streets for $600. This one is a cross bike, so good for both. Uses Sora parts, so not as nice as the Ibex. Like the Ibex, it has a 26" standover so will fit most kids at about 5" in height.
Here are some mountain bikes to look at:
- Ibex. This is a real mountain bike. Comes in 20" wheels and also 24". The 24" K440 is only about 25 pounds so not bad for a hard tail.
- Specialized. The standard mountain bike from a big manufacturer, it is cheap at $250 or so street, but of mediocre components.
- Trek. They have a line of kids road bikes. The KDR seems the right road bike model.
Cervelo P3sl. Well, I've got an incredible road bike. The main thing I could do with it is to change the frame. Maybe to a Tarmac SL because it is 200 grams lighter, but in terms of equipment it is pretty much state of the art or the Cervalo R2.5 which lists for $2200 for frame, fork and post. (BTW bikesportmichigan.com is a great site.
The main things left are the usual maintenance that comes from riding your bike too much. I do have to say the new Campy CT compact cranks are great.
- Rebuild the front wheel bearings. Topolinos are great but after three years and all this Seattle rain, its time. I need to learn to do that.
- Rebuild my Speedplay X-1s. They have been great, but I've never lubed them regularly. Anyway, one is frozen, so I need to rebuild it.
- New shoes. The Rocket7s look good as lighter weight and custom.
But, in terms of bike lust, what's a person to do? Well, there are two things, tandems and time trial bikes. So, here's a review of the best selling triathlon/time trial bike there is, the Cervelo. This bike was bike of year at bicycling.com.
But here are some better in depth reviews:
P3SL. This is aluminum and like Trek's 5200s and now Madones, they are stock bikes that triathletes use to win all the time. The most important thing is a super low position although incredibly uncomfortably is fast because of the wind resistance reduction. Unlike standard road biking, folks actually have the bars 12.3 centimeters (that's five inches!) below the saddle.
The tubes are of course incredibly aerodynamic as well. They even have a curved seat tube that goes around the rear wheel. The thing is also designed to work best with a solid disk rear wheel since it create less turbulance.
These aren't light bikes, they weigh 17-18 pounds and they aren't really expensive:
P3 Team. Has Ultegra 10. $2800
P3SL. Completely jet black and about 100 grams lighter, $3600 with Shimano Dura Ace 10 speed.
P3C This is the new carbon fiber bike. It won best of show at 2004 Interbike. $4400 list price but hard to get. Most important thing is that they tend to run large. So, if you are a 56cm on a traditional bike, then you probably want a 54cm, since in truth its top tube is 56cm center-to-center (the same as a 53cm P3SL by the way). Even, so this reviewer found that he went to a 51cm P3C! It looks good with those Zipp wheels doesn't it?
P3 Carbon. Bicycling magazine gave the Cervelo Time Trial/Triathlon bikes a top rating. Incredibly light, there are a bunch of models from the P2K, P2 SL to the PC, P3 SL and the top of the line P3 Carbon.
Super light and fast. Also, the R2.5 is traditional road bike that is incredibly light. Just 800 grams or so.
Several national federations
are working on a grace period so that people with old bikes can still
compete in events. But this grace period will likely only apply to bikes
purchased before January 1, 2000, so if you are looking to buy a new bike,
please ensure that your bike is approved by the UCI. And for more
information on a grace period, contact your own national federation.
Calfee Design - Custom Carbon Fiber Bicycle Frames, hand built, finished and painted. NO, this isn't a joke, they actually make bamboo frames. They say they ride great. Only make 100 per year and they have a 10 year warranty. Hey they weigh four pounds, but pretty cool don't you think?
www.cyclingnews.com news and analysis. My buddy Mark raves about this bicycle. I can see why. It is all carbon fiber and super stiff. And like most modern bikes, comes in at 7.2Kg or 16 lbs without pedals, etc. (By, the way, that makes my 16.6 lb now Trek 5900 pretty amazing given that it is 5 years old. Of course its had a few upgrades :-)
In any case, it list for $5,500 which is a hunk of change, but it is a dream. All Dura Ace, Ksyrium SSL SC wheelset and carbon fiber components everywhere. It is super light and fast. The new 2006 models are just coming out but they are roughly similar.
www.cyclingnews.com presents the 92nd Tour de France. Another incredibly light bike. Saunier Duval-Prodir's American rider Chris Horner told Cyclingnews that he thinks his Scott CR1 team bike is "the best road bike on the market today" and he's already won a Tour de Suisse stage this year to prove it. Scott's CR1 frame weighs in at just 880g without fork, which makes it easy to build into a bike that hits the UCI weight limit of 6.8kg.
:http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2005/tour05/tech/?id=/tech/2005/features/tour05/bikes2 While Mark Wong is raving about the Specialized Tarmac SL, it sure won't be cheap!
The S-Works Tarmac SL, this sub-1.2 kilo superlight newbie (both frame and fork) is not only to be lighter, but considerably stiffer and more road compliant than the original Tarmac.
The general public can expect to see the Tarmac SL hit the shelves later this year, with the estimated price a cool eight g's for the frame and fork - which translates to roughly a 40 percent increase over the original Tarmac. Around the same time, a Tarmac SL 'dream bike' will also make its debut, complete with: a S-Works FACT carbon crank that's said to be 165 grams lighter and 11 percent stiffer than its Dura-Ace equivalent; the Barmac FACT one-piece bar and stem, no brick either at 349 grams and to be available in 11 different sizes; the 155 gram Toupé saddle (for your bum, not your dome!); and Roval Rapide carbon wheels, tipping the scales at 1,550 grams per pair, with Campagnolo's Record group gracing the rest of the dream machine.
www.cyclingnews.com presents the 92nd Tour de France. Drool, drool, this is an incredible frame called the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL. $8K for just the frame and fork. It is supposed to be amazing. Mark Wong thinks they are very cool.
It is supposed to be the stiffest bike out there and incredibly light too. The full bike will be amazing as well with...
a Tarmac SL 'dream bike' will also make its debut, complete with: a S-Works FACT carbon crank that's said to be 165 grams lighter and 11 percent stiffer than its Dura-Ace equivalent; the Barmac FACT one-piece bar and stem, no brick either at 349 grams and to be available in 11 different sizes; the 155 gram Toupé saddle (for your bum, not your dome!); and Roval Rapide carbon wheels, tipping the scales at 1,550 grams per pair, with Campagnolo's Record group gracing the rest of the dream machine.
