Vintage childrens bike

If I had a child the right age I would definitely be bidding on this. I think most of the rust on the chromed parts would rub off with a green scouring pad.
 
I tend to find that up to around the age of 8, your kids think everything that you're into is infinitely cool, followed by a brief period of realisation then after the age of 10 they think everything you're into is lame af!

As charming as i find that bike, if i bought it for my kid he would either die of laughter or embarrassment

Have i failed as a parent?

😁
 
For a lot of kids, being seen on that bike might be a hard sell. Unfortunately we live in an era where the latest is always the best, even if the latest is a bicycle-shaped-object from a catalogue. And most people have no appreciation for a beautiful, old, chromed bike that has more style in its fork crown than most bikes manage in their entirety.

I think it really depends on the community and their friends. In some circles you'd get a lot of social credit for riding something that is retro and has been upcycled, although the credit might be more likely to come from other kid's parents rather than other kids. And look at how much Raleigh Choppers are now selling for. In my opinion that lovely bike is much better, and far more rideable than a Raleigh Chopper.
 
I think a big problem with old kids bikes is the weight.
My daughter's current bike is about 6.5kg without guards, and the next size up should be about 7.5 by the time we're done building it.
There's probably more kilos in the old bike's fork crown than in a whole modern weight weenie bike. And even an extra kg is a lot of weight for a small girl.

I've bought a couple vintage bikes to restore with my kids in the past and they all quickly ended up on gumtree because of their weight.

Other parents are a lot worse than other kids. Kids will be daft (my bike has 24 gears - that's more gears than yours) but parents are often a lot worse & they should know better. If your kid is not on the latest isla, that's probably because you can't afford a decent bike for your kid (never mind that the kid is riding a custom built resprayed kona that's several kg lighter and is a much nicer & more age-appropriate ride ;) )
 
I agree that kids can be a bit silly with respect to one-upmanship, but I'd be surprised if that vintage bike is much heavier than many of the bikes currently made and marketed for kids. I've just had a look on Halfords website, and a lot of the kids' bikes have front suspension and multiple gears, which is going to add a lot of weight. And the weight hardly matters for anyone who has access to a reasonably flat area for cycling. There are now four bids. Maybe someone from here will buy it, and let us know how heavy it is, or isn't.
 
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