Comments on: Crappy Fathers Day

By: John Romeo Alpha

John Romeo Alpha — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 02:48:52 +0000

BluesCat, what wheels?

By: BluesCat

BluesCat — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:20:32 +0000

JRA,

The wheels were probably stolen, too!

By: burnhamish

burnhamish — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:27:44 +0000

My kids have a used Kona kids bike and a fairly new Schwinn comfort bike Grandma isn’t riding anymore. The kid(s) who demonstrate(s) a serious interest in riding regularly (and personal responsibility) will get higher quality new stuff when the time comes…

By: Ted Johnson

Ted Johnson — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:55:12 +0000

Three was the magic number for me too.

By: Ted Johnson

Ted Johnson — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:51:49 +0000

Thief’s dad told my dad yeah, but we want the wheels back.

Man. Way to set a positive example.

If I’d stolen a bike and got caught, my Dad would have offered the victim my bike as a parts bike just in case anything was missing.

By: John Romeo Alpha

John Romeo Alpha — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:50:33 +0000

My blue stingray (3 spd, sissy bar) was stolen when I was a kid. I spotted it on another kid’s yard, with upgraded tires. I stole it back, then traded the tires with my friend Todd, who had just gotten a new Stingray but liked the color of my tires, which I think were blue. My dad talked to the thief’s dad, notifying him that his son was a thief. Thief’s dad told my dad yeah, but we want the wheels back. I said, What wheels? I learned several valuable lessons through this experience.

By: Chuck Harmon

Chuck Harmon — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 23:57:16 +0000

Another approach, buy your kids affordable bikes and also invest in a quality tandem. I purchased Burley Duet when my older daughter was 11 years old and my younger daughter was 9 and could just reach the pedals without a child conversion kit. I figured that between my wife and two daughters I would find at least one stoker. As it truned out my older daughter loved the tandem and we spent 10,000 miles together on it during her teenage years.

By: BluesCat

BluesCat — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 22:41:00 +0000

Ted,

Konas … ouch … that’s gotta hurt.

If it makes you feel any better, I had a sheety Dad’s Day, too: I worked.

I had given all the bikes a bath on Saturday (I worked on Saturday, too). When I got home from work on Sunday, I saw that my Giant had a flat rear tire. I swapped out the tube for the one that has been banging around in the seat bag for about a year, and it had a hole in the seam and went flat almost immediately! So I swapped it out for ANOTHER tube and that one looks like it is holding air.

By: Ted Johnson

Ted Johnson — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:47:53 +0000

Here’s a marketing slogan:

Magna: You won’t miss it when it’s gone.

Yep. I think you did it right. The bikes we handed over to our local thieves were Konas.

By: BluesCat

BluesCat — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:24:28 +0000

I bought a pair of Magna mountain bikes for my son and myself way back in the late ’90′s; spent maybe $160 total for them. They were both eventually stolen.

When he got serious about getting the Boy Scout Cycling Merit Badge, I felt justified buying him the brand new, just-off-the-truck Specialized Hardrock.

Last year, he “re-gifted” it back to me. He had taken pretty good care of it.

So I guess I accidentally did some things right: I bought the cheap bikes first, so when they were stolen I didn’t feel so bad; I got him another bike only when he had expressed an interest and a reason for having the bike and taking care of it; I made sure he knew that if he didn’t feel like riding it any more, I would.