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Buying a bike for a growing teenager

I'm looking to buy a nice-ish road bike (e.g. Giant Contend) for a growing boy for his 16th birthday. He's 169cm tall so looking at size guides he should get a 'Small'/52 frame but I'd expect him to grow over the next year and need a 'Medium'/54 frame. If I get him the 'Medium'/54 is he likely to struggle? Does anyone have experience with this kind of thing?

Thanks.

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11 comments

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clairec | 6 years ago
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I can't believe I've had to register on this forum to confirm that indeed yes, MariaTheBiker is using my bonce as her profile picture! While I suspect it's unlikely the user will be monitoring this thread, it would be much appreciated if you stopped using my photo. Thaaaaaanks. 

RE the forum subject, I'm really sorry but I can't help  2 I hope you get a fab bike for him (that fits!). 

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henryb replied to clairec | 6 years ago
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clairec wrote:

RE the forum subject, I'm really sorry but I can't help  2 I hope you get a fab bike for him (that fits!). 

 

Thanks Claire - and I hope you get the mysterious usage of your image as someone else's profile pic sorted out!

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MariaTheBiker | 6 years ago
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Last year, for my son's birthday we got him a really nice mountain bike called "Northwoods Aluminum Full Suspension Mountain Bike". Before bying, we read a lot of articles like this one: http://bestadviser.net/reviews/mountain-bikes-reviews/top-mountain-bikes.... My son was about 170cm and the bike frame was 50. I can say, that he had a full year of riding and then we had to get another one. But anyway, this bike was a great expirience and we made a right choice bying it. 

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DaveE128 replied to MariaTheBiker | 6 years ago
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MariaTheBiker wrote:

Last year, for my son's birthday we got him a really nice mountain bike called "Northwoods Aluminum Full Suspension Mountain Bike". Before bying, we read a lot of articles like this one: http://bestadviser.net/reviews/mountain-bikes-reviews/top-mountain-bikes.... My son was about 170cm and the bike frame was 50. I can say, that he had a full year of riding and then we had to get another one. But anyway, this bike was a great expirience and we made a right choice bying it. 

Personally I'd say that the following article provide infinitely better advice on buying bikes for kids if the bicycle is going to see any serious use. (It mostly covers younger kids but a lot of the same principles apply.) The models mentioned are also actually available in the UK.

https://www.cyclinguk.org/guide/buying-right-bike-for-your-child

Personally I'd advise steering clear of lower budget full suspension mountain bikes. You get much better value for money going for almost any other kind of bike. I'm glad your son has been enjoying cycling though  1

PS you aren't just posting a spam link to raise advertising revenue and borrowing a profile photo from https://clairecycles.wordpress.com/about/ are you? (Sincere apologies if I'm being hopelessly cynical!)

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henryb | 6 years ago
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Thanks all - in the end I went for a Medium as I think there's a good likelihood of him growing a fair bit over the next year and the difference between Small and Medium measurements was pretty small (stack: 23mm, reach: 4mm) and the measurements aren't that different from what he's ruiding at the moment (very old, heavy, falling-apart, crappy, no-brand hybrid)

HB

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BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
1 like

So long as he hasn't got ridiculously short arse legs and can't physically swing his leg over the top tube then a 54cm is going to be no bother at all for him, in fact that would be the size for a traditional horizontal top tube frame for his height.

Modern day sizing for racing bicycles is complete bollocks, it's based on giving you the smallest size frame possible whilst having a shit ton of seatpost exposed, they then counter this with either a ridiculously long headtube and long stem that looks like it has a 'semi' and possibly a setback seatpost to cram you in on a frame at least a full size if not two too small.

 

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Simon E | 6 years ago
3 likes

Or buy something secondhand that you can sell on once he has grown out of it. IME 16 year olds aren't great at looking after stuff they're given.

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alansmurphy | 6 years ago
1 like

Take him to the shops to sit on a few, measurements from different manufacturers can differ slightly as can the overall geometry...

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Canyon48 replied to alansmurphy | 6 years ago
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alansmurphy wrote:

Take him to the shops to sit on a few, measurements from different manufacturers can differ slightly as can the overall geometry...

+1

also depends on what type of riding style he'll adopt.

i.e. If he becomes the next Mark Cavendish, he'll get on with a smaller frame. However, if it becomes the next Mike Hall, he'll probably want something a bit more upright with a longer wheelbase.

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Canyon48 | 6 years ago
1 like

Hrm that's a difficult one.

I got my first "proper" road bike when I was 15. It was a 54 cm (I was about 176cm) - 6 years on and I still ride 54cm (and I'm only just 178cm).

When I bought the bike I should have been a size small (just) but I expected to grow a little, so I bought  M. At the moment, I'm right between sizes S and M - but I ride M because I have gangly arms and I much prefer a long position (partly because it's what I'm used to).

I think it really depends on how much you expect him to grow, I stopped growing by 16 - but I know it's very different for boys around that age.

At 169cm, that's firmly within size S for most bikes.

If you bought him a small and he becomes a fully fledged bike nutter (*one of us, one of us!*) and grew another 10 cm in the next couple years, then he could stick a longer stem on the bike (just like a lot of racers do - ride a smaller frame but with a longer stem).

If you bought him a medium and he wanted to carry on cycling in a couple years, but didn't grow anymore, then he could end up riding a bike which is too large - you can't really solve this, even using a smaller stem.

I think you'd be best off buying a 52cm, then, in a few years, if he's hooked on cycling he might need a larger frame...

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CXR94Di2 | 6 years ago
1 like

You will unfortunately be buying two bikes, due to him growing. I had the same problem with my lad, fortunate for me he lost interest in cycling whilst he was growing rapidly. I bought him a bike just as he stopped growing, yay.

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