Is this going to get DS mugged?

[ACupOfTeaSolvesEverything]

DH is a fan of bikes. He has a Very Expensive mountain bike that he uses once every couple of years!
DS has grown out of his kids bike and needs a new bike to cycle to and from high school when he starts next September. I’ve managed to convince my 6ft husband that no our 4ft8 son can’t “just use Dad’s bike” so DH is going to buy him one of his own. Fine. But he is looking at spending up to £1000. On a bike for an 11 year old to ride to school. We live in an averagely nice area but AIBU that this is going to make DS a target? I don’t want him to get knifed for his bike!!

£1k for a kid seems ridiculous.

Where I live yes

I'd have thought a cheaper bike would make sense simply because an 11 year old boy is likely to outgrow a bike very quickly.

Ohh I’m with you in this.
I worry about my 13 years old sons bike which was £300 (this was the most we ever spent on a bike and was due to lockdown Christmas so wanted extra special and didn’t think things through), he doesn’t ride it to school though, but I worry when he’s at the park etc…..
It better to go for £100 or second hand for school?

Yep. Even if not it will be nicked from somewhere I suspect, I think a fancy but more reasonably priced bike would be a good compromise.

Where I live there are some very brazen bike robberies (using angle grinders in broad daylight on the busy streets). I'm sure if they saw a child on an expensive bike they wouldn't hesitate to help themselves.
In Richmond Park there are organised gangs stealing expensive bikes from adults, again quite brazenly with no regard for being witnessed.
You are right to be concerned 😟

If he is 11 I expect he will be still growing, so it would make more sense to buy a bike 'for now' with the expectation that he will need a larger frame when he gets to 14/15.

Bikes are money pits, they get wheels and saddles stolen, whole thing stolen, etc.

Get a cheap 2nd hand one

It will get stolen.

I also think spending that much when he’s still growing is a bad idea.
It’ll make his bike stand out at school too. Around here (also in a decent but not mega rich area) most of the younger secondary kids are riding decathlon or carrera type bikes- not complete rubbish but not flash either. You can get a good quality, light-ish bike for around 3-400, I think that’s a better idea and maybe look at something more expensive once he’s a few years older if he’s into riding as a thing to do (not just to school and back)

DS rides (rode) a somewhat knackered but acceptable Luath 26 (6 miles each way). He's not allowed to ride his expensive bike.

Your husband needs a damned good shake!

Cheaper one as he's likely to grow fast.
I he stops on his way home form school and leaves it outside anywhere, around here it would be gone in seconds unless it's an old boneshaker.

Well I live in London, but my first thoughts was is he trying to get him killed?! Sending a child out alone with something like that is just a disaster waiting to happen. Designer dogs, Rolexes and fancy bikes are all prime targets and things you wouldn’t wave around in a dark area alone…

I live in a wealthy area (although not wealthy myself!) and it would 100 percent be a target.

Anything 250 plus seems to be a target. That being said I think the area being wealthy makes it a target for thieves etc

Speaking as someone who's adult DS had their old crappo of a bike nicked from outside their very new and CCTV covered office in a 'veh nice' area on day 2, you have Porkies 747 chance of your DS keeping a bike like that for more than a couple of weeks. Buy him a nice one to ride and then only ever leave in a very secure shed, but for goodness sake, buy him a £30 second-hand one for riding to school too.

Wonderful! I didn’t think I was over reacting.

Geat a second hand bike, bikes are an easy target for thieves. Valuable bikes stand out like sore thumbs, its not worth the worry. My sons ride inexpensive bikes and they and their friends have had them stolen at some point, even with with really expensive locks.

Where I live yes. My son had his new £300 bike taken off him when he was 11. They said they had a knife, he didn't see the knife but he gave it to them anyway which is exactly what we had told him to do in that sort of a situation. The insurance wouldn't cover it as he had "voluntarily relinquished possession of the bike" He now rides a beat up second hand bike that cost £70 and is much happier in the knowledge nonone else would want it.

Yes that is ridiculous. My DP commutes to work every day on a £300 bike!

get a chespish-but-does-the-job bike from decathlon or halfords or smyths.

get a frame lock as well as a chain.

There was a spate of bike thefts from my son’s secondary school last year some very expensive and not so expensive bikes were stolen. School have now had a lockable bike cage built that remains locked until the end of the school day.
Whichever bike you get I’d recommend a good quality bike lock

but the best lock will not protect from being mugged whilst riding it.

@purplesequins

but the best lock will not protect from being mugged whilst riding it.

I didn’t say it would 🤷‍♀️

the frame locks are very hard to clip open without damaging the bike as they are so close to the tyres.