1st bike

[bcail]

Been trying to decide on what to get the boy's for their first bikes. Stats are as follows: twin 7 yr olds - turning 8 in january, one is about 75 lbs with the other being 50 (yes they are twins), both are tall for their age. They have only bicycle experience.

I've been leaning toward the xr70, it has a 26" seat hight which might be a little high but should give them some growing room.

Please let me know your thoughts.

 

[gwcrim]

Have your boys sit on an XR70. If they can flat foot, it's way too small. If they can just barely tippy toe, there's a bit of room to grow.

Given that you'll have to be buying two bikes at a time, you'll want to make sure that they don't grow out of them too soon. IMO, an XR80 might be worth a look. It's a much stronger bike, chassis wise.

 

[23jayhawk]

Another consideration is whether you want them to learn the whole clutch & shift routine while they are learning to ride. The XR70 is an auto-clutch (I think), and the XR80 is a full manual clutch.

At 8 YO, I would lean toward an auto-clutch, since you're likely to be upsizing soon anyway. Kinda depends on how much latent gearhead tendencies you've seen in them.:)

BTW, there's probably no reason to go new on the first one, since any used XR70 (or similar bike) has not likely been used that hard. Only problem is finding them on the market, but you're coming into the buyer's season.