kids bike repairs

peteb2

So i bought a "well loved" Isla Beinn 20 on Adverts for about €70 for my 5 year old. Wanted to bring it for for a service as i reckoned we'd get a few years out of it so would be worth it. Had a fair idea there was a problem with gears and tyre after i got it home. Brough to bike shop and it needs chain and cassette, new tyre (pricey cos of size), new pads, cables for gears and brakes. All in its 180 quid.

Would people be of the opinion to forget it or do it? Given that i guess it would be like new (except asthetically - which is still battered)

magicbastarder

It might just need a good clean and lube? Stick up some photos of the chain and gears etc.

cletus

None of the things needed are particularly difficult jobs to do yourself (with the possible exception of the cassette)

Might be worth pricing the items and doing the work yourself

magicbastarder

a chain on a kids bike would not need to be replaced because of use, i'd guess. if it's been left out in the rain and treated like ****, yes, it might be worn, but what you may be looking at may be normal wear and tear and there may still be some life left in the components.

peteb2

bike shop said they wouldn't change the cassette without changing the chain. To be fair i reckoned cassette was worn as gears 1 and 7 were skipping and sticking and when i was giving it a clean i nearly cleaned out a birds nest of filth.

I wouldnt be confident of chainging the parts. I'm a big overthinker and I'd spend my life going down rabbit holes on youtube!! 😮

peteb2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119625492#Comment_119625492

bike shop has it at the mo

loyatemu

chain is a lot cheaper than a new cassette - I'd be surprised if the cassette was worn out on a kids bike. The shop may not be bothered taking off and properly cleaning the cassette when they can bung a new one on in 5 minutes. how many gears on it?

peteb2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119625986#Comment_119625986

i think the cassette is fair. 7 gears. It skips at one and seven. And if recall correctly the teeth seemed to be bent a little when i had it up on the stand. Just know going foward, the adverts.ie phrase "well loved" means hacked to bits!

CramCycle

Stick up pictures and I'll give you a price to do it if you are local to me.

peteb2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119627711#Comment_119627711

Thanks but i ended up just biting the bullet and paying for it. Turns out the rear wheel was also on its last legs and about to crack! Lesson learned on buying bikes from adverts and hoping its all just cosmetic issues!

smacl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119642282#Comment_119642282

As others mentioned, servicing a kids bike is worth learning to do yourself. Great way of spending some quality time with the kids doing it too if you get them involved, even if the it can be a bit frustrating at first. Great thing about a cheap 2nd hand bike is you won't be too precious about it and they're great for learning this stuff.