any LIGHT kids (5yr old) bikes?

[jimcav]

So far all i've found is the specialized hotrock which is expensive and not that light. the more affordable diamonback type ones are steel and weigh as much as my son.
anyone know of aluminum kid's bikes?
thanks
jim

[CaliFly]

My oldest son (now 7) still rides his 2-yr-old Hotrock and it is a tank. My other (4) rides a Target special-of-the-day. Neither seem to mind the weight very much...it actually helps them build some inertia after a good takeoff, and they don't seem fazed by small pitches.

[jimcav]

My oldest son (now 7) still rides his 2-yr-old Hotrock and it is a tank. My other (4) rides a Target special-of-the-day. Neither seem to mind the weight very much...it actually helps them build some inertia after a good takeoff, and they don't seem fazed by small pitches.

forthe 5-7 yr old? or did you go for the 20 inch?

[000050]

My wife has and would like to dispose of a caad 4 40cm road bike

she is 4-11 so not much taller than most kids. i think I am gonna hear about that!. i refer to her and her family as 3/4 scale humans while I am 1.25 scale.

Best
K

[Steve in SLO]

How about a Raleigh Scout? Similar in trim level to Hotrock and has an Al frame. IIRC, about $100 cheaper, too.

[CaliFly]

forthe 5-7 yr old? or did you go for the 20 inch?

20"

[bluehorseshoe]

If your child doesn't ride yet, you may want to look into this:

http://store.likeabikeusa.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=L&Product_Code=PJMP&Category_Code=BIKES

A friend of mine has this for his son, and it weighs about 8 punds. That's appreciably less than the 45 or so pounds my daughter's gary fisher weighs.

I don't have one, but I did teach my kid to ride by knocking the pedals of her bike and lowering the seat (same hobbyhorse concept), which worked much better than I expected.

As for light bikes _with_ pedals for kids, I'm afraid I haven't found one yet.

Have fun.

[TMB]

So far all i've found is the specialized hotrock which is expensive and not that light. the more affordable diamonback type ones are steel and weigh as much as my son.
anyone know of aluminum kid's bikes?
thanks
jim

Let me know what you are looking for.

I have a Kona Jake 2-4 that my daughter has outgrown.

It is a 24 inch wheel, AL framed CX bike.

[Ozz]

So far all i've found is the specialized hotrock which is expensive and not that light. the more affordable diamonback type ones are steel and weigh as much as my son.
anyone know of aluminum kid's bikes?
thanks
jim
I always thought it was funny that my son's bike weighed more than my CSI!

It is a solid bike, although he has outgrown it and will be getting a new one for his birthday. His little brother will start riding it this summer!

[CaliFly]

If your child doesn't ride yet, you may want to look into this:

http://store.likeabikeusa.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=L&Product_Code=PJMP&Category_Code=BIKES

A friend of mine has this for his son, and it weighs about 8 punds. That's appreciably less than the 45 or so pounds my daughter's gary fisher weighs.

I don't have one, but I did teach my kid to ride by knocking the pedals of her bike and lowering the seat (same hobbyhorse concept), which worked much better than I expected.

As for light bikes _with_ pedals for kids, I'm afraid I haven't found one yet.

Have fun.

I saw one of these in action last week at my local playground. It just seems like an unnecessary step (and cost) when pedals can be easily removed.

[jimcav]

If your child doesn't ride yet, you may want to look into this:

http://store.likeabikeusa.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=L&Product_Code=PJMP&Category_Code=BIKES

A friend of mine has this for his son, and it weighs about 8 punds. That's appreciably less than the 45 or so pounds my daughter's gary fisher weighs.
.

but my wife already got the crappy performance bike version of that for our 2 yr old. it weighs a ton and the bars are impossibly hard to turn

thanks
jim

[TMB]

How quickly we forget.

I forgot what the bikes for 5 year olds look like.

I see now that my memory is very short.

[pdmtong]

Jim, I went down the Hotrock path with my 5yo daughter. The 6-speed 20" proved trail worthy, and she learned her XC singletrack skills on it. At the time it was $240, I sold it for $175 on CL. IMHO a good alternative is the Novarra branded REI bikes. Very good value. The best value though is picking one up off CL locally...let someone else buy it new.

[happycampyer]

There's a great bicycle shop in Falmouth on Cape Cod that I love to visit when I'm on the Cape, and the owner, George Sykes, who is a great guy BTW, has a collection of awesome bikes that he has had built for his daughter—a custom Merlin tricycle (not as nice as Sacha White's daughter's tricycle, but pretty cool nonetheless), a custom 20" Franklin, a custom 24" IF steel Crown Jewel and apink Burley Piccolo to match George's pink IF Club Racer... Now that's the way to do it—bravo, George!

Check out the "cool stuff" tab on the left

http://www.cornercycle.com/

[don'TreadOnMe]

fuji ace 20
seriously, check it out. wicked little flat-bar road bike.

or, go for one of those skinny-tire bmx mini's...talk about LIGHT, rippin' bikes.
...something to be said for a light little single-speed for a 5 yr old.

[pdmtong]

jim
here you go....rei winter sale

http://www.rei.com/product/772523

[dwightskin]

So far all i've found is the specialized hotrock which is expensive and not that light. the more affordable diamonback type ones are steel and weigh as much as my son.
anyone know of aluminum kid's bikes?
thanks
jim

I don't think you can avoid the "more expensive makes a better bike" problem.

Haro Z16 or Z20 are pretty cool bikes for around $170. Mirra makes some similar ones too.

The "big" companies seem to make the little bike look like mini down-hill bikes, which just makes them heavy and "busy."

Not sure if you are getting 16" or 20", but be careful with bikes that just have hand brakes -- you need to have enough hand strength to adequately stop the bike.

Some of the 20" bikes have coaster brakes AND hand brakes which seems like a good idea to me.

Also, some of the older steel bikes are made out of decent steel so they aren't that heavy.

Dwight

[RABikes2]

jim,
We sell a lot of kid's bikes in our store. They are sturdy, well-made, priced well, warrantied, reliable, and the weight ... well, that is something you would have to decide if it was good for your son. This might give you some insight as to what is offered.
Happy hunting! :)
RA
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/kids/

[majl]

The best value though is picking one up off CL locally...let someone else buy it new.
+1 for craigslist. I picked up 3 used Specialized Hotrocks locally at different times last year for my kids. Condition varied from good to excellent. Prices were roughly $0.50 on the dollar. $70 for the 12" - $75 for the 16", and $140 for the 24" 21-speed. The kids don't mind a few scratches here and there, and the lighter aluminum frames do make a big difference.