Kid's 24" hybrid, non-mountain bikes, where to buy in the U.S.?

landotter wrote:

I did a quick search as I was curious now about 24" road bikes, and
amusingly enough, Amazon has those GMC Denial jobbers in a 24". $150
As much as I'd not like to shop there, one could probably give one of
those horrors a once over in the workstand and make a bike out of it.
I'd repack everything and add some cross levers. Plus, they've got a
pink model for the girlies. Woohoo!

So is there a market that the real bicycle manufacturers are missing, by
not having a $250 kid's bike similar to the $150 Denali, with decent
brakes and gearing that doesn't need the once over in the work stand?
I'd assume that Trek, Specialized, et al's marketing people believe
there is no market, though the market appears to exist outside the U.S.,
and for bicycles from Amazon and mass market retailers.

On May 21, 5:17 pm, SMS wrote:
landotter wrote:
I did a quick search as I was curious now about 24" road bikes, and
amusingly enough, Amazon has those GMC Denial jobbers in a 24". $150
As much as I'd not like to shop there, one could probably give one of
those horrors a once over in the workstand and make a bike out of it.
I'd repack everything and add some cross levers. Plus, they've got a
pink model for the girlies. Woohoo!

So is there a market that the real bicycle manufacturers are missing, by
not having a $250 kid's bike similar to the $150 Denali, with decent
brakes and gearing that doesn't need the once over in the work stand?
I'd assume that Trek, Specialized, et al's marketing people believe
there is no market, though the market appears to exist outside the U.S.,
and for bicycles from Amazon and mass market retailers.

Move to Sweden and you can get any flavor of bike in a 24"!

This is what a good kids bike looks like over there these days:

http://www.crescent.se/cyklar/junior/1121

Dynohub on a kid's bike? Why not?

landotter wrote:

Move to Sweden and you can get any flavor of bike in a 24"!

This is what a good kids bike looks like over there these days:

http://www.crescent.se/cyklar/junior/1121

Dynohub on a kid's bike? Why not?

Yeah, I think the U.S. bicycle companies have their head up their butt.
They keep saying that certain bikes won't sell in the U.S., but they
don't understand that it's partially up to them to drive the market.

Look at the declining popularity of mountain bikes for adults, in favor
of more practical designs. Why hasn't the trend filtered down? If these
bikes sell in Sweden, Canada, Korea, Japan, etc., what is so different
about the U.S.? Is it the whole SUV mentality?

Not to worry, GMC has come to the rescue:

"http://www.amazon.com/GMC-Denali-Boys-24-Inch-Road/dp/B000GU68S2"

As expected, the reviews generally state that the brakes and dérailleurs
suck.

It's still a bit on the big side for some though. 17" frame with 26"
standover height. But probably more relevant, in terms of fitting, will be
the reach from seat to handlebar.

I'll be interested in hearing how it works out!

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

So is there a market that the real bicycle manufacturers are missing, by
not having a $250 kid's bike similar to the $150 Denali, with decent
brakes and gearing that doesn't need the once over in the work stand? I'd
assume that Trek, Specialized, et al's marketing people believe there is
no market, though the market appears to exist outside the U.S., and for
bicycles from Amazon and mass market retailers.

There are many "world" bikes that Trek makes, that don't make it into the
US. This year, for the first time, we got a real 24" hybrid for kids, but
it's not a lower-end model ($429.99). The first year they brought in the 24"
"racing" bikes they were a complete flop, as the market for a $600 bike that
a kid will grow out of is exceedingly small. In the US. In Europe, they're
very popular. Guess they're more sensible, or perhaps have an easier time of
selling used bikes for reasonable prices.

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

Look at the declining popularity of mountain bikes for adults, in favor of
more practical designs. Why hasn't the trend filtered down? If these bikes
sell in Sweden, Canada, Korea, Japan, etc., what is so different about the
U.S.? Is it the whole SUV mentality?

I think it's more respect for durable, long-term goods in Europe than we
find in the US. People don't get upset here when something breaks down. They
just throw it out, figured they wasted their money, and thus are even
less-willing the next time to spend a few more $$$ for something decent.

Thus our market tends to be driven more by fad than by what's practical. In
my humble opinion anyway.

Ultimately, some manufacturer will finally catch on and recognize what needs
to be added to a bike sold in the US to make it hugely popular.

Cup holders.

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
Not to worry, GMC has come to the rescue:

"http://www.amazon.com/GMC-Denali-Boys-24-Inch-Road/dp/B000GU68S2"

As expected, the reviews generally state that the brakes and dérailleurs
suck.

It's still a bit on the big side for some though. 17" frame with 26"
standover height. But probably more relevant, in terms of fitting, will be
the reach from seat to handlebar.

I'll be interested in hearing how it works out!

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com



Oh I'm not getting anything like that, nor would I recommend it, but
it's interesting that the only kid-like road bike under $400 seems to be
only available from mass marketers.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

Thus our market tends to be driven more by fad than by what's practical. In
my humble opinion anyway.

Yeah but the manufacturers often seem to create the fads. Certainly that
was the case with mountain bikes. Go tell Trek to create a new fad.

Ultimately, some manufacturer will finally catch on and recognize what needs
to be added to a bike sold in the US to make it hugely popular.

Cup holders.

"http://tinyurl.com/2fhcso"

Don't you sell these at your stores?

Now the key is to not get greedy, and to do some marketing. Install the
cup holder on all the non-racing bikes in your stores. Suddenly you'll
have something that the customer can't get at any other store. Offer it
for $10 extra then let the customer think they're getting a great deal
by bargaining with you to include it at no extra cost.

I remember reading some story of when Honda introduced the cup holder on
the Accord, and the Camry of the same year didn't have one. The cup
holder _was_ the deciding factor for many buyers, torn between two very
similar vehicles that were similarly priced.

SMS wrote:

What I'm looking for is something like what's at
"http://www.mielebicycles.com/en/velo_hybride_confort.asp?BIKE=BIELLA&COLOR=BLEU,BL ANC"
or
"http://www.mielebicycles.com/en/velo_hybride_confort.asp?BIKE=TORINO&COLOR=ROUGEBO NBON,ARGENT"

Well to follow up on my own post, and replies from others, there seem to
be no such bikes sold in the U.S. other than a couple of very low-end
bikes from Huffy (Blackwater, available at Target).

To buy the Miele bicycles on-line from Canada, see:

"http://www.brauns.com/gc/gc_item.exe?K=MIELE-TORINOJR24HYBBIKE" ($213)
"http://www.brauns.com/gc/gc_item.exe?K=MIELE-BIELLAJR24HYBBIKE" ($230)

Shipping is about $55.

On May 22, 12:26 pm, SMS wrote:
SMS wrote:
What I'm looking for is something like what's at
"http://www.mielebicycles.com/en/velo_hybride_confort.asp?BIKE=BIELLA&..."
or
"http://www.mielebicycles.com/en/velo_hybride_confort.asp?BIKE=TORINO&..."

Well to follow up on my own post, and replies from others, there seem to
be no such bikes sold in the U.S. other than a couple of very low-end
bikes from Huffy (Blackwater, available at Target).

To buy the Miele bicycles on-line from Canada, see:

"http://www.brauns.com/gc/gc_item.exe?K=MIELE-TORINOJR24HYBBIKE" ($213)
"http://www.brauns.com/gc/gc_item.exe?K=MIELE-BIELLAJR24HYBBIKE" ($230)

Shipping is about $55.

Add $25 for duty charges as well. So about $300 when all is said and
done, pretty expensive for a kid's 7 speed bike. For that kinda
cabbage, I'd actually buy one of those GMCs and see if I could make it
more kid friendly, or even return it if the quality truly was
appalling. It's not like the Miele is specced any nicer by the looks
of things. I'd probably swap out the bar on the GMC for something more
kid friendly, or add cross extensions. I'm wondering if those twist
shifters would work on a flat bar or some moustache bars...Pricing it
up, you could go flat bar with Tourney shifters, a basic bar, and some
cheapie levers for $30ish extra.