Hi! My son is turning 14 this September and has asked for a new bike for his birthday to ride with his friends. I have absolutely no knowledge on bikes other than how to ride one so I asked him to send me ideas, but he just sent me one screenshot of a $900 bike and I don’t really want to spend that on his first nice bike 🥲. It seems like he wants a BMX. He’s about 5’2, hasn’t hit that huge growth spurt quite yet so he’ll be growing quite a bit soon. I think he’ll max out at 5’11-6”. He’d use it to go to the park with friends and there’s a skate/bmx park and trails here too. Realistically I’d like to spend less than $500-600- but I don’t want to sacrifice quality so please, please help a mama out! Also, any good helmets recommendations and good advice or tips to get a kid to actually keep their helmet on?
Oh, his favorite color is black.
Here’s the screen shot
by accordingtoNina
10 Comments
Buy for the height he is now, not the height he “might be in a few years”.
In terms of helmets, he needs to try things on — the most likely helmet to get worn is one that fits well.
the rippers are fun but u can only really do wheelies on not ideal for a skate park
As much as that’s an s.e racing and their history is bmx, that’s not a bmx bike it’s a wheelie bike, so it’s worth making sure what style of bike he’s after really.
check out kink bmx i’ve had it for 6 or so years and use it almost everyday, most the bike i have changed to aftermarket parts, like bottom bracket chain sprocket back hub etc but it still works like brand new and fresh out the box will last a long time.
This isn’t a bmx bike, it’s a wheelie bike and the two are rather different. SE has BMX roots and tries to leverage that with their naming conventions at times, which can add to the confusion.
If it’s really bmx he’s looking to get into then 900 on a bmx would be very expensive especially if he doesn’t stick with it. The bike in the picture is a wheelie bike, a first bmx should be around 5-600 and you should look at brands like Sunday, kink, fit, we the people, and a few others that sell completes for that price range. Look for something that has all sealed bearings, and as little hi tensil steel as possible though it’s not a deal breaker
If he’s into wheelie bikes, more reputable bmx companies have released their own 26/29 inch versions that are also more affordable and reliable and potentially easier to migrate to a regular 20 inch bmx later on.
Sunday hi c – 29 inch – $589.99 https://shop.sundaybikes.com/collections/sunday-bikes-high-c
Fairdale taj (Sunday sister brand i believe) – 27.5 inch – $649.99
https://shop.fairdalebikes.com/collections/fairdale-taj
Fit Cr 29 – 29 inch – $679.95
https://fitbikeco.com/shop/bikes/cr-29-hurricane_yellow/
Kink drifter – 26 inch – $696.00
https://kinkbmx.com/collections/bikes/products/drifter-2023?variant=40218043121773
Mongoose hooligan – 29 inch – $529.99
https://www.mongoose.com/products/hooligan-aluminum
I recommend 26 or 27.5 inch bikes, there are riders out there like Tom Kilcoyne that ride more jibby bmx street style. 29 inch bikes are trendy wheelie bikes but are limited.
My friend got that bike, he’s been using it for a couple of years now I really think it’s a good bike. But like u said it’s expensive but it will last the years
You could get pro tec, shadow or fox as helmets, those are some good brands, you’ll probably have to measure his head tho. I have a Protec Bucky and its very lightweight so its comfy, but for a safer one i recommend the ones with MIPS certificate like the fox flight mips
Bmx are commonly 20 inch bikes but he probably wants a wheelie bike since they’re more trendier nowadays. You could get another SE model, there’s cheaper ones for sure. I recommend u seeking in Source BMX or Danscomp