Bike suggestions for 13 year old

Hello all! I am planning a trip this summer from Clinton to St. Charles with my son who turns 13 this summer. He doesn't currently have a bike that fits him so we are shopping for a new bike with the Katy Trail in mind. Any suggestions as to what features, size, tire options we should shop for would be appreciated. I am looking on craigslist, facebook marketplace etc. Currently looking at a Diamondback Cobra 24. Will a mountain bike be too heavey for him to do long days on the trail of 30-40 miles?

Thank you,

Jon from KC

Although a 13yo probably has a lot of energy, if he is not used to riding 30 - 40 miles a day he may need the energy to do that without being punished for having to ride a heavy mountain bike with poor rolling resistance. Do him a favor and find a hybrid type bike with more suitable wheels/tires and less rolling resistance.

I strongly suggest going to a bike store and have him fitted for a bike. The Katy is not a casual ride -- it is a multi-day commitment and he will be in the saddle for 20 to 24 hours. Improper size/fitting can not only cause discomfort (saddle sores), but also permanent damage (e.g. seat too low causing knee problems later). Yes, the bike will cost more than Walmart, but it's a small price to pay for comfort and security. He should also have padded bike shorts.

Hybrid bikes are great for the RIT and Katy. But he's going to need to build up stamina no matter which bike you buy. If he can't ride 25 miles on pavement, he's not going to be able to do 30-40 on the Katy, even with a longer ride time.

I am planning a trip with my 11 year grandson. We will be doing a lot of riding before we start and will do a over night test ride on the Rock island spur.
I bought me a new bike last summer and personally know that a lighter bike makes for a more enjoyable ride. So I will be looking at a new bike for him also. I really liked going to a bike shop and being helped to find a bike that fit me and my riding.

Your son has a Super Power. His Super Power he is 13 years old. He does not have in his head that he needs a fancy bike to ride.

My son, then 18 y/o, rode the entire KATY Trail on a Mountain Bike, that was in 1997, when Mt. bikes were heavier than today. Shoot. MY BIKE was heavier than most people ride today. We made it fine with no complaints about our, then, nice new bicycles.

I would recommend a 26" bike. He is 13 and will shoot up any time now (in size). (unless he is very short that is)

We just did the trail from Clinton to St Charles with our 13, 11 and 9 year old and it was great. We did it with all mountain bikes but did find the rides seemed easier for my 11 year old with the 27.5” wheel size on a mountain bike. Our other bikes had 26” wheels and were also fine. We did have a few flat tires even with the mountain bikes but that may have just been bad luck with tubes? One other thing we did at the last minute that worked out great was to rent a mountain bike tandem (from Katy bike rental in Defiance)!because the 13 yr old had a quad injury. It worked out great because then my 9 year old could trade off with her when he got tired! There was one detour before Rocheport that was on the highway for a couple miles that was a bit scary with kids but turned out fine! We do wish that we had done maximum 25-30 mile days just because they get to be long days. We had it broken up over 6 days as 35,50,38, 35, 53 and 13. Sometimes where we stayed also added a couple miles (especially Jefferson City). Have fun and bring a lot of snacks:)

A hybrid is probably the best choice. Your kids will be riding in style.

Be prepared for flats! It doesn't necessarily happen a lot but likely you will have at least one along the journey. So make sure you are prepared to easily fix a flat on whatever bike you have.

my girlfriends 8 year old daughter has a Specialized 24inch 7 speed mountainbike, it's light enough for her to keep up with us, even up pretty nice size hills. lightweight and geared is the way to go. You can also get thinner diameter tires too. We're planning on taking her to the Pedalers Jamboree. I am 100% confident she'll do just fine 40 miles out and 40 miles back. Flat ground with multiple stops.

13 year old. ... no problem

30-40 miles per day for 5 days in a row...different problem

Get him the bike you think he will be most likely to use after the Katy. This is a relatively flat railtrail. Biking it is not hard. 40-50 miles a day on a mountain bike with street tires should be no problem. The Katy is the perfect baby tour to initiate a young cyclist on. Short, minimal hills, no traffic, ample amenities--just the thing to get him hooked on an incredible mode of travel. I rode a mountain bike from Canada to Mexico along the Pacific Coast and it was fine.

Take him to a reliable bike shop and test ride some proper size bikes that are fiited to him the let him ride the bike for a few miles. Let him decide..

Happy Trails 5

What and when is the peddlers jamboree

www.pedalersjamboree.com

Is he a pretty amazing biker? And overall serious endurance athlete? 35-40 miles on the trail is like 55 miles on a paved surface. I don't know many (if any) 13 year olds who would be up for that. Even on a good day it feels constantly uphill because of the drag, and if there's any rain, it gets lots tougher in a hurry. 20-25 miles per day is more likely to be enjoyable. But that's just one guy's opinion.

Just my 2 cents: my son was 13 the first time we rode the whole trail together. Our shortest day was 25 miles (and that felt too short), longest day was about 45 (and that felt way too long). Ideal length FOR US was somewhere around 30 to 35 miles. But we later went on to ride RAGBRAI with much longer daily distances - a mile on the trail really is tougher than a mile on paved surface.

BUT the key is training - lots of advance riding. It's not just about getting your legs strong; your butt also needs to get used to being in the saddle for hours at a time. Do long rides of 20 to 40 miles on weekends, and short rides during the week. If you go out there cold, with no advance training rides, it won't go well.

One way to find out if you're ready for long days, would be to ride from Pleasant Hill to Windsor on the Rock Island. Spend the night in Windsor, and then ride back the next day - that's about 45 miles each day. Or Clinton to Sedalia for 38 miles each way. Those two days will tell you a lot about how ready you are for five straight days.

The other thing I always recommend is tire liners to help prevent flats. Our first end-to-end ride, we had about 6 flats. The next time we had tire liners and zero flats. Regardless of what you have for tire protection, be sure to have a repair kit or several extra tubes and a pump or compressed air.

Good luck!

I rode the trail with a 15 year old once. He had a pretty good bike already. The biggest problem we had was boredom. We pretty short distances 25 or so a day, but at 15 he really wasn’t interested in sightseeing and meeting new people. The challenge of the whole thing was pretty soon overtaken by being bored. At about the 100 mile marker he was ready to quit (we started in Clinton). The only thing that saved the trip was we started riding with 3 other people (one was a girl about his age).
Saddle pain may be an issue after 2 days or so, even well seasoned riders usually have this because of the constant vibration and sitting all the time with no coasting or standing. I really don’t have a solution for this, at 13 you may not want to give him bicyclers cure all for pain, ibuprofen.
Good luck with your trip.

Allen