# 1st roadbike for fast growing teenager.



## dr.mediocre (May 7, 2008)

Would a WINDSOR WELLINGTON 2.0 be a decent starter road bike for my young teenaged son? He is still growing like a weed and I don't want to spend a lot on a bike that he will outgrow in a year. Would the Wellington or even the Dawes be worthwhile for this?

I don't want him to get turned off on the sport by a bad first experience. 

My other option would be getting a higher end model like the Grand Record or Windsor 3.0 and just swapping frames in a year.


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## 20sMotoSpirit (May 27, 2007)

well first,

the Wellington 2.0 is all sold out on BD - unless you have a shop i don't see much choice with that option.

Second a few quick questions - 
Does your son already do cycling regularly?
Does your son want a "new" bike?
Does he already do other biking?


Depending on your answer, I may recommend the the

Mirage Sport - cheap and gets the job done for the road level.

However, If he likes to do the mountain bike once in a while, I would recommend the Fantom CX... its in the Cyclocross section, 16 spd... compact gearing, Only a tad more, but the parts are great!! the R500 rims allow you to put 23c or 25c tires on there and make it into a full road bike. This allows you to cover a few bases and the resale value in a year maybe close to what you paid for it. 

But this is not easy question. the lowest amount of money you can spend on BD is 369 for a geared frame.. and there are not a lot of options as far as that amount. 

You can either get a steel junker off Craigslist (10spds is how a lot of us started)
Or get the Fantom CX which is the most bang for the buck.

I just bought an LSL and love it! but Im debating over getting either an orange messanger or a gray Fantom CX just because they are both really simple bikes!


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## dr.mediocre (May 7, 2008)

Thanks for the reply. The Wellingtons are still available on ebay. They have several listed. 

My son currently owns a Trek Mountainbike that we built up together last year. We MB together weekly and have always loved it. It's just a pain to load the bikes up and drive 30mins to a trail every time we want to ride. 

He doesn't care about "new" or "name plate" but he could really tell the difference in ride quality, build quality and weight with his Trek over his friend's Target "Schwinn Ranger".


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## 20sMotoSpirit (May 27, 2007)

dr.mediocre said:


> Thanks for the reply. The Wellingtons are still available on ebay. They have several listed.
> 
> My son currently owns a Trek Mountainbike that we built up together last year. We MB together weekly and have always loved it. It's just a pain to load the bikes up and drive 30mins to a trail every time we want to ride.
> 
> He doesn't care about "new" or "name plate" but he could really tell the difference in ride quality, build quality and weight with his Trek over his friend's Target "Schwinn Ranger".


(live with the MTB talk for a sec!)

I agree. I too have a Trek MTB and I love it!...the 3900-4500 is not a bad frame, I took off all of the plastic parts and replaced the Acera with older black 8spd Deore LX, Since Im not hardcore mountain I can't complain. If I was going to upgrade my MTB I would buy the fantom comp and swap parts onto the Trek frame and sell the rebuilt mtb for $350 (With lots of mods!)

If your son can feel the quality of the ride, I would consider waiting. He is still growing and buying a quality bike will just hurt later on. Sry to ask this but

What age is he?
What is the inseam length?

If he is in the second or third year of high school consider a quality bike not one that he will out grow in a year. I personally think the Aero TT could be the best bet for you since its got good components and the straighter seat tube angle may give you more room to adjust. Mirage pro is similar but for a few extra dollars you get the 105 with true STI shifters. If he is strong enough stay away from triples, I thought they were good a year ago, but im a double/compact person now.


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## dr.mediocre (May 7, 2008)

Thanks for the quick reply. I am new to road biking myself as well. On my Mountainbike I have a single front with bash guard so I understand that but why would you choose a compact over triple on a road bike? Which way is more "the norm" now-a-days? 

My son is 12 years old, 125lbs and 5'6". Since I am 6'2" and my wife is 6' he will probably be at least 6'3" or 6'4" by the time he hits high school. His inseam is 29.5"and he rides a 17" MB frame and it fits perfect right now. 

The comment about quality is due to the fact that he does 3' drops w/o blinking an eye and loves to do whooptidoos (sp??). He is fearless and I had to get him off his friend's Schwinn because he was landing so hard it ruined the wheels and bent the mozo fork.


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## 20sMotoSpirit (May 27, 2007)

Ballin!!!! Sweet... Alright now thats out.... 

30in (inseam is 76cm)

67% of the inseam is the recommended seat height
that puts your son at 51 cm.

Alright here is tricky part. you dont want to make the bike uncomfortable for him now, and never rides it... and you dont want to make it to close to what he is now..

I would make the frame a 54/55 cm frame... you also may want to check the reach to the handle bars because over extending your torso will hurt your arms, neck, abs, back over a long distance. Im 5'10 32-33" inseam I just bought a 56... I had a 58 which meets the french fit or touring fit for my body. I changed because I started racing with my local team and I could not get power out of my frame (57TT with 110mm 6/84 deg-relaxed stem) 

If you set him up on your grand Sprint maybe you can get a feel for what he may need in terms of frame size.

If he is already 5'6 and the growth is 10" with maybe 3" in legs(depends on the family genetics) I would say 56 and buy ALOT!!! of stem lengths.... 60-130mm

This will allow a very large touring frame in the beginning and a tight racing frame in the end maybe mid way through high school.

As far as Crank recommendations: I like the doubles.... simple, either one or the other. 

The Only triple crank I would get is a 52/39/30 because its will allow you to only use the top two gears if hes a powerful climber...and it will be like having a double.....BUT!!!! most of the triples on BD are 52/42/30....which are not really great for climbing because on a 12-25 cassette there is too much gear over lap...

A gear way to see which cranks work is to open Excel.....or open office 

and graph X/Y plot

52 - 42 - 20 VS 12-25 ( list the gear teeth in the column)

then 

52-39-30 VS 12-25 ( list the gear teeth in the column)

Then!!!

50-34 VS 12-25 ( list the gear teeth in the column)

You will find that you get 90% of all the gears with a Compact... Minus the highest and lowest range on the gears.....The two triples over lap gears/power ratios in the mid range. 

The Compact does have some over lap.. but its very small. just from a decending/ sprinting view you rarely use the 11 or 12 tooth cogs on your cassette. the reason you use it more on your MTB is because the front ring is 44 or 42T. The compact lowers those ratios so that you use those gears more... but this is more for the hardcore cyclist that want to make every gram "pull its weight". Plus!!! if you realize that you are climbing steep hills and you don't use the compact advantages. You can go to a classic double crank.

In Conclusion:
his measurements:
Inseam: 29.5" - 75cm 
Seat tube (.67) - 51cm
Seat ride height (.883) - 66.25cm
Adjusted tube height for growth - 56cm
Seat post(top of saddle) beyond C-T - 10cm


Frame: 56cm (seat tube height is almost nothing) 
Crank: Compact or triple( but only if you get a 52/39/30);(This range will last longer.. and grow with the rider) 

Components: 105 or better! Ultegra is my personal preferance!
or the Fantom CX for cheap end.

Suggested bikes:
Record/ Grand Record
Vent Noir
Windsor Knight
Sprint/ Grand Sprint

All bikes are under $1000 but if you are planning on getting a bike that is going to be with him for 2 or more years... get components that WILL GROUP WITH HIM!!!


now that took a while!:thumbsup: .... now I really must finish my Fluid Mechanics hw.


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## dr.mediocre (May 7, 2008)

Absolutely amazing answer 20sMotoSpirit; thank you for taking the time to write it. I believe that I learned more about frame sizing from your post than I did in the first year if Mountain biking. 

As far as the cranks go, you definitely calmed my nerves about buying a compact crankset. I looked at the Dawes 1000 after reading your post and it says that it has a compact frame. I assume that this would limit him too much in his growth so I will look at the 56cm frame on either a Windsor or Moto cyclocross. 

Thanks again, you guys are great.


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