Bike for an 8 year old boy?

[Calliope]

Hi, I'm a newbie here, with a kind of strange question.

Our department has adopted a needy family for the holidays, and the boy wants a bike. I have no idea how tall he is, etc.

Any suggestions on a bike for an unknown 8 year old boy? Size, brand, etc? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Calliope

[mimitabby]

we ran into this last year, when we adopted a family with kids that wanted bikes. You can't buy a kid a bike unseen. 8 year olds come in all sizes. A gift certificate at a bike shop?
I guess you could buy a bike with the understanding that it can be returned for the right size.
sorry

[Calliope]

we ran into this last year, when we adopted a family with kids that wanted bikes. You can't buy a kid a bike unseen. 8 year olds come in all sizes. A gift certificate at a bike shop?
I guess you could buy a bike with the understanding that it can be returned for the right size.

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of.

Thanks! I appreciate it!

[Tuckervill]

No, you can buy a bike for an 8 yo boy unseen. It just has to be the coolest BMX-looking bike with 20" wheels that you can find. He will find a way to ride it. My son is 5'7" and still likes to ride his 20" bike to the pool in the summer.

I've given many bikes away over the years. I know we have our standards here of what kind of bike we like and we all wish we could take every needy kid in for a proper fitting, etc. That's unrealistic. Any decent 20" boy-themed bike will do, as long as it works, and is shiny and clean. They will be happy it's a bike.

In my opinion.

Karen

[Bklynmom]

Absolutely - get the kids a very cool BMX bike - you look the coolest if the bike is too small. If you want to get a more roadie bike, we got my older son a kid size Specialized bike when he was nine - her road it untill he was 12, and it fit his much smaller brother at 9. The design is very clever with a very long seat adjustment. Has just enough gears and good components to get him up the big hill in the park.

Also very important to get the coolest helmet you can find so the kid will wear it. We got my 9 year old a gold skateboard helmet he loves and he usually remembers it because it is cool.

I also have to say, it is so cool you are doing this - this kid will be thrilled and have an oportunity to enjoy bikking which is such an empowering thing for kids. Yeah!

[li10up]

There are many, many generations of people who rode bikes as kids without a single bike fitting. I say go for the bike. He will love it! Our office a few years back adopted a whole family one Christmas. My DH and I bought a bike for one of the kids. I was lucky enough to be one of the group that went to give the family their gifts. The look on that little girl's face was worth way more than what we paid for that bike. I definitely got a warm and fuzzy feeling that day.