Anonymous wrote:Get the Guardian, it's so lightweight and really foolproof and easy to use. My children literally taught themselves how to ride. I didn't have to do anything.

As a very short and lightweight adult, I'm honestly thinking of getting a Guardian bike for myself. The largest child size would work for me!

Sadly: yes. We got a Woom to replace our heavy REI Co-op 16 inch bike for our early elementary kid and she went from hating riding bikes to loving it and becoming really comfortable and confident on the bike. And it's 100% because it's super lightweight and easy to handle.

It is shocking how much these bikes cost though. We lucked into a second hand one and my DH was still horrified when he found out what we paid, and I had to explain to him that's just what these bikes cost. At least we will be able to resell it for close to what we paid when our kid outgrows it.

Yes a Woom is worth it if you actually want your kid to ride regularly. A heavy bike on hills is a quick way to quit biking. Light bikes make for better riding. Why else would grown adults pay $5k for a carbon frame? They can feel the difference and have the money to afford it.

Can your 2nd grader bike on the heavy Walmart bike? If yes, then the woom is not worth it unless your family goes for bike rides every weekend. In my opinion, a woom is worth it for a small kid though.

I know several kids who have guardian bikes and enjoy riding them.

Seems to be a weekly thread talking about everyone needing to buy a Trek or similar high priced bike. Are they a sponsor here? If not then they should be.

Specialized also seems popular. And the Trek Precaliber.

Anonymous wrote:I think the guardian is so heavy!

Which one do you have? The only bike I could find lighter than the Guardian in 24” was a Prevnar.

Anonymous wrote:Good bike, but seriously overpriced. Buy a used good quality bike with an alloy frame. REI is a good source for quality used kids bikes. Selection is random and varies from one store to another.

We went to REI and they had no used kids bikes. I’ve been looking at marketplace for weeks. Used doesn’t seem to save much (or requires driving out quite a far distance to see what might be in stock) and I’d rather have the convenience and security of buying new I think.

I think the guardian is so heavy!

Get the Guardian, it's so lightweight and really foolproof and easy to use. My children literally taught themselves how to ride. I didn't have to do anything.

Good bike, but seriously overpriced. Buy a used good quality bike with an alloy frame. REI is a good source for quality used kids bikes. Selection is random and varies from one store to another.

We love our Woom bikes, but we bike a lot. One kid uses their bike every day to get to and from school. Plus we often ride 10+ miles on weekends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This would be for a 2nd grader who is outgrowing his heavy Walmart bike. I'm a weakling and the idea of a lighter bike for transport is appealing to me. Is the Woom 5 worth it in your opinion? The other I'm looking at is Guardian. I have not seen either in person.

Get that kid some steak and muscles. Poor kid.
And no, at that age stick to cheapo used garage sale or pawn shop bikes, not even fancy new WalMart bikes.

I've looked at used near me and Marketplace, but people still want $150-250 for a bike. And not knowing anything at all about bikes I'm wary that we'll take it based on a short test drive and then a week later have the brakes stop working or find out the chain is messed up. And then we'll have to put more money into repairs (which can cost a lot). At that point, I would rather we'd have just bought a new $300-400 bike.

Anonymous wrote:This would be for a 2nd grader who is outgrowing his heavy Walmart bike. I'm a weakling and the idea of a lighter bike for transport is appealing to me. Is the Woom 5 worth it in your opinion? The other I'm looking at is Guardian. I have not seen either in person.

Get that kid some steak and muscles. Poor kid.
And no, at that age stick to cheapo used garage sale or pawn shop bikes, not even fancy new WalMart bikes.

This would be for a 2nd grader who is outgrowing his heavy Walmart bike. I'm a weakling and the idea of a lighter bike for transport is appealing to me. Is the Woom 5 worth it in your opinion? The other I'm looking at is Guardian. I have not seen either in person.