About two weeks ago, my neighbor emailed about a bike he noticed for sale off a motorcycle site. He said it looks perfect for Amy. I checked out the bike and sure enough, a pink 20" wheel Trek for $25. A steal for sure. After a day of voice mail tag with the guy, we drove over and picked it up. His daughter had out grown the little pink Trek and was now riding a 24" wheel Specialized. Perfect, so we forked over the dough and brought the bike home. I've been busy lately, so yesterday was the first chance I had to prep the bike for my daughter.
As purchased and ready for some cleaning and modifications. Bike is a tad big for Amy, so I had some ideas to shrink it down to size. First a quick wash, since it was a little muddy. The headset was incredibly loose, thought for sure the bearings were toast, but all was fine after some fresh grease and adjustment. I then removed the BMX style handlebars and rear hand brake, since it already had a coaster brake. No sense confusing braking matters with Amy at the moment.
After modifications and ready to roll. I cut about an inch off the seatpost, so it can be slammed down low as possible. I also slid the seat up on the rails a bit. Some old cut down mountain bike bars replaced the BMX 'bars, lowering the front end a few inches. I moved the original pink grips over to complete the look. Pretty cool, huh? Sorta like a custom chopper.
Amy in action on the new rig, she really likes it. It's still a tad big, but for buzzing around, works okay. With the aluminum frame and rims, it's fairly light as well. Plus it's pink - she digs that. Fun, quick, cheap project that worked out great. She'll be able to ride this bike for quite awhile, since I can always raise the seat and swap the BMX bars back into use. Pretty sweet deal for $25, no?It's been a blast watching her getting into riding bikes over the last few weeks. She's having a lot of fun and learning quite a bit. Great stuff for sure.
