Not electric, not even a mountain bike, not even for adults - but what would you do to help improve this terrible heavy bike my son was given?

[Tetsugaku]

Quick background - I have two kids, I'm about to finalise my divorce. My daughter, almost 8, got an Islabike for her 6th birthday and got into it when she was 7. I was going to buy my son (5.5) one for his birthday but my ex has preempted that with a second hand bike she got cheap / free.

Problem - it's crap. I'm not interested in being the one who got him the bike, but I am interested in him being safe and enjoying riding. He cannot reach the brake levers, and even if he could, he's not strong enough to pull them properly. He has problems even wheeling it on his own, because of the weight.

I've ordered two replacement brake leavers (Wiggle | Tektro TS325A Junior MTB V-Brake Levers (Pair) | Brake Levers) which should fit him and can be adjusted.

Any other suggestions other than making my ex look bad and buying him an Islabike to match my daughters?

 

[Tetsugaku]

Example pictures. The last one is her good bike!

 

[Gary]

The brake levers on it have reach adjustment screws. Wind them in until the levers are close enough to the bar for the wee man.
replace All the cables. inner and outer (and sort out the routing)
remove the V-brakes sand and grease the mounting studs so thay they move freely.
unwind the spring tension on the v-brake arms.
fit new brake pads (decent ones) and set up the brake properly (Being a cheap bike it's unlikely it ever was from new)
Now clean the cassette and chain then lube the chain (spend time doing this properly so every link is free and well lubed but not wet at the outer link plates) Now open up the twist shifter, clean it and add a tiny bit of grease to the pressed steel spring and moving surfaces index the gears making sure
If you take time and care doing this you will now have a bike that brakes and shifts almost as well as an Islabike.
now lower the bars. They're too high if that's the hight he need his seat.
This is basically just a full service so also check the headset, BB and hub bearings are spinning smoothly with no play. (if anything is tight, service and replace grease. if anything is loose just re-adjust so long as bearings adjust properly ie. are still smooth with play removed. they're good to go.
pump up the tyres and claen the bike. (pledge/WD40 will give it a nice shine) so he'll now be proud of his new shiny bike. This makes more difference than you may think. Doing all this should cost you less than £40. (ssuming you have lubes/grease and tools already)
The weight probably isn't the issue you make out. but if you really want to upgrade it. buy decent lightweight tyres and tubes.anything else is just wasting your money TBH. It's an old Apollo Spektor. not the worst bike out there. it at least uses SRAM/Shimano gearing. but the frame and fork are most likely very heavy in comparison to the likes of an Islabike

The Islabike (going by the saddle height) is now becoming too small for your daughter. The sensible option here is reallly to buy her a bike that fits (Go Isla if you feel that's the way to go). and lower the saddle in preparation for the wee man growing into it. By the looks of it it shouldn't be long.

 

[Tetsugaku]

This is really useful advice thank you. Totally happy to do some work on the bike, something I can do with him as well

I think getting it up and running well now as you mention, then upgrading her bike in say 6 months and passing hers on to Him would be a great idea and much more economical as well.

I have got all the tools and materials I need, all bought for my Levo.

That seat height is unadjusted actually, he literally turned up with it Friday like that. Her bike hadn’t been adjusted for her height either. Both bikes had almost flat tyres as well!

Thanks again I’ll source some bits like brake cables ASAP

 

[Gary]

Here's another wee tip for you. If you just buy brake outer and ferrules it will work out cheaper. Brake outer is not compressionless like gear outer and it's a wider Internal diameter. This doesn't actually matter on a 5 or 6 speed shimano system and actually causes less friction. A massive bonus on a grips hit shifter to allow small hands to operate more easily. Your LBS might advise against it. (depends how savvy they are). But it's absolutely fine to do so. I've done it to many many bikes over the years.

 

[Slowroller]

I agree with everything Gary said, that bike needs a complete refurb, but it'll probably be ok. I'd pull the geek ring and the reflectors off because they're useless, as well as the der protector, it's dead weight. Throw some quality reflective prismatic tape on the frame instead, you can add some squares on the inside of his rims too.

I'd also advise buying some real tires for him targeted towards whatever his interests are, be it an urban kind of bike, or mtb.

The Ultimate Guide to Kids Bicycle Tires