I stopped by the Trek store today. My main goal was to see what size bike frame I needed. I aired up the tires on my road bike yesterday and took it for a spin, but I felt very ungainly on it. I wasn’t sure if I had grown slightly in the last 12 years and it was the wrong size for me now; or if it was the 40 pounds I’ve gained; or that I’m too used to riding a mountain bike yet. Turns out it is the perfect size for me, so I’m guessing it’s a combination of the last 2.

While there I asked about bikes with gears for boys. Ora 5 has been spinning out the gear so I started looking for bikes with gears, but only found bikes that were 20-inch bikes or larger had gears, but Ora is not ready for a 20-inch bike.

The Trek salesman confirmed that I would not find smaller bikes with gears, so I began to wonder about making one. Could I not buy a 20-inch bike with gears at a garage sale, remove the gears and place them on Ora’s 16-inch bike. Then I began to wonder if there is a market for that. I would guess there is not since no bike manufacturer is doing it. But they are looking at how much profit they can add to their bottom line by adding a 16-inch bike with gears, which is probably not much. I’m looking at having no bottom line and adding income from the sale of niche bikes, so the economics for the “little guy” are slightly different.

Something to also consider is can a small boy learn gears. I think he can. When we bike Ora has done a great job. While we ride, I am constantly giving him directions: “Stay right. Go slow around this corner. Speed up this hill” etc. Following the same process I think I can teach him to use gears.