11 Apr, 2011
Best place to buy kids bikes in Ottawa?
Posted by andrea tomkins in: - Ottawa for kids|Easy ways to make kids happy|Oh! Things!
We had a doozy of a thunderstorm early this morning. It crashed and flashed right over our heads, illuminating our bedrooms. Both girls and the dog came into our bed, although the dog didn’t stay for long as she seemed to prefer to pace nervously… click click clicking across the hardwood between all of our bedroom doors. I’m not sure what she though about all that racket.
Piper wouldn’t settle down so she and I eventually fell asleep on the living room couch, only to awaken to Mark standing over us saying: DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?
I had sleepily reset the alarm to 6:59 P.M. (note to self: I should never be trusted to do this) and as a result we all managed to oversleep. This created a bit of havoc this morning, but, whatever. The thunderstorm was a good way to officially ring in Sarah’s birthday. She is 10 today.
Sunday was sleepy. I was too pooped to do much of anything. We spent the day at Mark’s parents and had a celebratory dinner there too. The birthday girl got to pick the menu, and it was flank steak (!), french fries, and salad. Dessert was vanilla cake with chocolate icing, and there is a large part of it sitting in the kitchen right now. I’m trying to pretend it’s not there. :)
Sarah’s 10th birthday gift from Mark and I, was, er, is going to be a bicycle. She should have had it by now. We naively thought it’d be a cinch to buy a kid’s bike in Ottawa but so far it hasn’t turned out that way.
I don’t often find myself lamenting the 1970s, but this week, I am. I am sad that I can’t get a stylin’ 1970s bike for my kid. Like practically everyone of my vintage, I had a banana seat bicycle with long handle bars. I’m not sure of the name brand anymore, but they were the best bikes; easy to use (no gears, and a backwards coaster/push break), and a seat that was perfect for doubling your best friend. What’s more, the bike seemed to be virtually indestructible. I was forever tossing it on the ground, skidding and wiping out, and performing Evel Knieval tricks of all kinds. (Ha. Check this out.) It’s amazing that I even survived.
My bike was purple and had a basket on the front, long shiny streamers on the handlebars, and the occasional hockey card stuck in the spokes for excellent putt-putt sound effects. I think it *almost* made up for the fact that I never got a Big Wheel or Green Machine.
I spent hours on this bike and had many adventures, and I want my kid to have the same experience, but we’ve had a devil of a time finding the perfect bike.
Going the used route is a great option and it’s been recommended to me by several people already. There is a giant category on UsedOttawa just for bikes (and there are some good finds in there) but poor Sarah has been getting hand-me-downs and secondhand bikes her whole life. It’s time to go new. Besides, we pinkie promised.
Our journey, of course, started at Canadian Tire. For some reason it is deeply ingrained in me to go there first. In fact, our car practically drove itself to Canadian Tire. That’s where everyone used to go to buy this kind of stuff.
Canadian Tire, at least the one we went to, had a pretty small collection of bikes for a 10-year old girl. The one she liked was $99.00, but had really cheap components and didn’t look like it would last. After that, we went to a bunch of different bike shops in Ottawa. We’re still looking.
She’d like a hybrid. Suffice it to say that we are quite dismayed.
Here’s the problem: I am expecting to pay around $200-$250 for a decent children’s bike, and there really isn’t much available in this category. Am I being unrealistic? The industry seems to be fulfilling the cheapie-cheap-disposable-bike side and the pricey how-long-will-it take-before-it gets-stolen side. But there isn’t an awful lot in between for people who just want their kids to have a decent quality bike and not have to pay an arm and a leg for it.
We’ve gone to Bushtukah, Tall Tree, Westboro Sports, Fresh Air Experience, and Kunstadt to look at kids bikes, and have seen LOTS of great adult bikes, racing bikes, and toddler bikes, but we’re still empty-handed. Still on our list, Cyclepower, Sport Chek, Foster’s. What am I missing? (Please don’t say WalMart. I’ve pledged never to cross their threshold.)
Do you have a purple banana-seat bike in your basement? Because if you do, I’d like to make you an offer. :)
