Second eldest’s bike kept getting “borrowed” by the older kids in the estate until it finally fell apart so we recently decided to get him a replacement at the same time as his older brother.

He is only 5 years old and could not handle gears so it had to be single-gear bike.

The choice in Halford’s (Mahon Point, Cork) generally for kids isn’t great. But he spotted an pseudo-BMX bike and had to have it. At  €109 (after €50 discount) it was only a tenner cheaper than the 18-speed ATB that his brother got. However it seems to have higher quality components and is still reasonable value.

Assembly took about forty minutes at home. The handlebars, front wheel and seat were all that really needed to be done. But the axle extensions took the most amount of time due to not having the right tool.

All of the kids earlier bikes came with old-style crappy side-pull brakes. I now insist on V brakes and this one came with proper ones which are great stoppers. 

He loves the bike and makes sure to lock it all the time to stop the “biggies” taking it on him!

Highly recommended.