Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2014 12:19:44 GMT
An online acquaintance on another forum is interested in a road bike for their child and was looking for opinions on the small T3. I think the kid is a very confident cyclist and now wants a road bike. Can anyone here give any views on it? Quality compared to full T3, ease of using gears etc? Radchenister - is this what your lad has?
|
|
|
Post by joneve on Aug 13, 2014 12:21:00 GMT
I believe it's the same bike, just smaller...still has the MicroSHIFT bits etc.
|
|
|
Post by Radchenister on Aug 13, 2014 12:49:31 GMT
My lad has a T3a in the smallest size bought this time last year - I put a shorter stem on it, he was a bit stretched at first but is perfect now and we will run up the range of stems we have here, so he's good to roll for a year or so yet (we have stems in 80, 100, 120 knocking about - so should keep him sorted for a while yet, although he'll get more and more 'race' - which is fine). If set right, the gears are fine and the bike is great as a starter; the gears are preferable to the original T3 Red, he follows me most of the time (I sometimes stick him in front as well) and I have developed a method of indicating gear changes, via waving appropriate hand and saying left or right, click or pull - helps to teach them to gear change well. The forks are robust, being made in steel but once competent (and if disciplined - my lad knows his road bike doesn't get roughed up like his earlier bikes and he treats it as I treat mine) then the carbon forks would be preferable. I note the T3a White is on sale at a storming price (Β£280) - no small sizes on line though, you'd have to go to a store. If buying now, I'd also consider getting him a T500SE at Β£350 as it's got the lighter forks, although they don't seem to show small sizes at all on line (I don't know if they come in smaller sizes?) - with some fancy small wheels you could go racing on that no problem. There's also an on line offer of Β£330 for size 48 in last year's T5 - if the child is slightly bigger, then that's a top deal for a starter bike.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2014 16:59:11 GMT
Thanks Rad - that's very helpful!
|
|
|
Post by cosybike on Aug 18, 2014 17:53:37 GMT
I've got the smaller T5. And the forks seem to survive glasgow holes and occasional drops off kerbs and mountain bike style bunny hopping. Carbon fibre is stronger anyway. Stop panicing mincecore jeyboys! :-)
|
|