Bike for large teen - HELP!

[deepstarfish]

We bought a cheap Halford's bike for my son to ride to school and in two years he has broken virtually every possible part. (Not exaggerating.) He is adult size and weight , 5ft 7 ish. He is naturally clumsy and the bike is in a bike shed without cover at school. Is it worth spending more on a better bike when it gets such hard use, or should we keep going with cheap ones and accept we will end up replacing them every year or so? He has just started year 9 so three years to go.

We don't have an independent bike shop or second hand bike place anywhere near, they have all closed down in the last few years. Otherwise I would be looking for a second hand one.

Any advice welcome!

How cheap was cheap and what on earth has he broken? It is more a case of he needs to learn how to do some basic bike maintenance now and again or look after it more carefully e.g. stand it up rather than throwing it onto the floor? If it's being used every day you can expect some general wear and tear, bikes need servicing the same way that cars do.

Bikes are generally very robust. What has he broken on it?

Well, in two years we have replaced both tyres, one wheel although it's buckled again. The cassette I think its called with ball bearings in, a pedal, probably other bits I've forgotten about. Today the chain snapped. So other than the frame and the brake cables, pretty much everything. It was a £200 ish bike from Halfords, we've probably spent about that again on parts and servicing in 2 years.

Hmm. That sounds like he is treating it very roughly.

Yes I agree but he is a very large dyspraxic 13 year old so not unexpected and (mostly) not intentional.

How far is he riding it? I cycle a lot, on a bike that cost little more than that. Typically a bike lasts me 10 years, with thousands of miles a year on it. I have broken some of those components (between DH and I we can replace all the above), but it sounds like he's jumping down kerbs etc. with it if he's buckling a wheel. Unless he's very heavy? When I looked, most adult bikes are rated for riders up to 120kg.

It's definitely worth learning to do your own maintenance, but on a £200 bike, some of the components may not be designed for hard use.

I'd look for better quality bikes second hand, but whatever you bike you buy you will need to maintain it and look after it. They need servicing and parts will need replacing, just like a car. £100 a year on parts and servicing sounds pretty standard for a bike that is getting ridden every day and stored in a school bike shed.

It's 4 miles a day. First time he buckled the wheel he had ridden it on a bike track over a jump, I do believe that he hasn't done that since and it probably is just bumping down kerbs. I also agree a cheap bike probably isn't intended for hard use but at what price point would it be any better? I really don't know what I'm looking for.

5ft 7 isn't large for an adult male unless he's also overweight, but even so, he'd have to be seriously overweight for his height to exceed the recommended weight for a bike!
Maybe a mountain bike would be more sturdy for him? I don't think you get much for under £500 for a basic bike. If he's bumping down kerbs then maybe something with light front suspension. Something like the Trek Marlin series maybe? But make sure he has a good lock as they're quite attractive to bike thieves! Marlin 4 Gen 2 - Trek Bikes (GB)

Try Facebook Marketplace for 2nd hand bikes, I always see some on there.

Could it be the wrong type of bike, so a racing bike isn't meant for dirt tracks and a mountain bike isn't for speed, bmx are for stunts. I could be wrong but you get the gist

I'd be VERY cautious of buying off marketplace, a lot of bikes have been stolen. if a deal seems too good to be true it probably is.

Do not buy him a more expensive bike if he cannot treat a cheap bike properly. It will not last any longer and it will only be more money down the drain if he wrecks it. Expensive bikes have better components but they will not be any more durable.

Jumping down kerbs will ruin both tyres and wheels eventually. Braking too hard will put flat spots on the tyres. Stomping down on the pedals will eventually break the chain. Dropping the bike on the floor could break most of of the components.

Go down the second hand route on Marketplace or Ebay. Check out a sellers profile, other listed items and engage them in conversation before buying though.

Or buy him a scooter. There is not much to break on those.

Good grief, there's some bloody good bikes in the <£300 price range in Wilco with full suspension, disc brakes, etc. rather than £500 for a teenager to bounce off kerbs and jump ramps.

@deepstarfish that sounds like a lot of damage just being put down to clumsiness. Bike chains and gear cassettes don't just break. He's old enough to do a bit of weekly maintenance every weekend - clean, oil, inspect, etc.

I'd say he needs to watch some gcn videos on basic bike care and maintainace.
Wheels can be replaced, rebuilt and repaired at a decent bike shop (not Halfords). At the minimum he should be cleaning and living his chain weekly.

I'd second the suggestion of a mountain bike (unless he uses panniers), or possibly a hybrid. We've got on well with Giant bikes - another user has suggested Trek, also good.

Re price, I've looked up the bike I bought (earlier this year) for just under £300. RRP was £500, and other places stocked it at about £425. It was an end of line, and bought from a local bike shop we've given plenty of custom over the years. So £500 full price is about right for a bike worth having.

However it'll still need fixing - I've looked again at the list of things your son has broken, and while I haven't managed all of those, I have managed a good few others! It's also worth fixing when it starts making a strange noise, rather than when it stops working, from (long) experience

The trouble is that cheap bikes are basically rubbish, "bike shaped objects", and the parts will break more easily. A properly refurbished older second-hand bike from the 80s/90s would probably last a lot longer than a cheapo basically supermarket bike, with plastic components, made in china and assembled quite possibly by someone without any qualifications in bike maintenance (cough - part time Halfords staff). But I appreciate you've said you don't have any decent independent shops near you. Nowhere that does schemes where people donate old bikes and they teach teenagers or young offenders or refugees or whoever skills to refurbish them? We've got a few things like that here, but we were once a 'cycling city'...

Carerra bikes 2nd hand are good, not necessarily stolen!