kids' bikes

[flydhest]

So, I need recommendations. My niece, perhaps the most adorable child in the world, is turning 6 and wants a bicycle. It will be riding in neighborhoods on fairly good streets, if that matters.

I have precisely zero experience with this sort of things. Her parents (my brother and sister-in-law) appealed to me because of the cycling hobby.

A little help? Brands to avoid? Issues to avoid? Brands that are better than others?

I assume adjustability, as children grow rather quickly, is a big plus.

Other thoughts?

[LegendRider]

My kids rode the Trek Jet bikes at that age. No problems with them, though your road bike likely weighs about half as much:

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/kids/#ages_6_9

Parents seem to frequently unload them on Craigslist if you're looking at the lower cost route.

[mandasol]

Depends on how much you want to spend and how much riding the kid will do. Bikes from ToyRus/Walmart/Target are very poor in quality and very heavy, but can get the job done if its just riding around the block or the neighborhood park. My nephew has one of those and I took a look at it recently when I noticed he looked uncomfortable on it. I was able to adjust some of the positions of the bars, levers, seat to make it fit better, but forget about adjusting the brakes or anything mechanical. It cost less than $100 so I didn't expect much.

When the weather gets better I'm trying to talk my sister into getting something a little better. My lbs has some nice looking kids Fuji bikes that have gears and nice looking adjustable components starting about $250. I may pitch in so my daughter can get it when she'll be big enough to ride it in a few years.

I'd avoid purchasing online. The quality can vary so much in these things. Especially pay attention to the force it takes to apply the brakes. Some bikes I can barely squeeze the brake levers, don't know how little kids are supposed to use them.

[flydhest]

Thanks for the answers so far.

Price is not much of an issue and the ~$200 for the Trek seems like price won't have to be an issue.

Knowing my niece, the bicycle will get lots and lots of use.

[rwl]

Be cheap; go used; upgrade often. If your niece's parents are strong riders, consider buying a tag-along 1 wheeler, and get her used to go going out for long rides.

My daughters (twins, now 10) started at 6 with the local shop specials, which I think was Taffy. In retrospect, I wish we'd started them a year earlier on used gear. Because we spent the 160 or so per bike, we were a bit slower getting them, and a bit slower moving up, because "we'd invested more". I did have two tag-a-longs and they started riding with me at 4 or 5, yelling 'faster' at me continuously for 30 mile rides.

16" wheels are probably more appropriate than 20", which is where mine started.

I strongly recommend the "take the pedals off and push with your feet while learning to balance" approach.

With fatherly pride, I'll add that they both now rip on club ride and tours, riding their 520-wheeled Ed Littons. It's time to look at moving up in size again.

[mandasol]

I strongly recommend the "take the pedals off and push with your feet while learning to balance" approach.



+1 if your niece can't ride a bike yet than a push/balance bike may be better. My daughter just turned 3 and she's already riding a push/balance bike.

[pmac]

I got them decent bikes from the LBS (~$250), and had to upgrade every 2-3 years. With boys about 2 1/2 years different in age, this worked pretty well since the younger didn't mind taking on his hero's old bike (the last one had to be new, since once you get to normal sized wheels there is more room for adjustment).

A neighbor took a different approach, getting very cheap bikes. They've had all sorts of problems keeping the bikes runnning (if the kids are having fun it's a good bet they're not too concerned about babying the bikes), to the point where the kids seemed to lose some of their interest in riding.

If money isn't a problem, I'd strongly suggest getting decent bikes and then sell or donate them once they no longer fit.

[Lifelover]

Same advice I woudl give a new Roadie. Go to a good LBS that caters to family style bikes.

Any brand name is going ot be about the same. Any walmart type bike would be ok as long as you are willing to cover over it and retighten everything.

[Smiley]

So, I need recommendations. My niece, perhaps the most adorable child in the world, is turning 6 and wants a bicycle. It will be riding in neighborhoods on fairly good streets, if that matters.

Other thoughts?

Serotta MeiVici when only the best will do :)

[sevencyclist]

For the most adorable kid in the world, you will need to get in touch with Vanilla Bicycles. Don't know how long is the wait list. Perhaps a shorter list for the kiddie sizes?

You have to start her early. "Life is too short to ride bad bikes." :)

[veloduffer]

I've purchased Trek bikes for my son. What's nice is some of the components are adjustable like the stem and crank (two sets of holes for pedals). Well made and helps my LBS.

[Ozz]

I picked up a Novara BMX bike (REI brand) for my son when he turned 5. It was great...built like a tank and is now going to his little brother.

It is a nice little bike to get started with.

[JeffS]

If money were no object, I'd probably call islabike - http://islabikes.co.uk

I have been extremely unimpressed with all of the US brands. The brand name bikes are only marginally better than the Wal-mart trash - at twice the price.

[flydhest]

Thanks again, for the food for thought.

A follow up question. My assumption is that for a 6 year old (and likely for a couple years to come) that a single speed is the way to go. Am I way off base?

It just seems like too much coordination and thinking for a kid, and most adults I know barely know how to use gears. Plus, my brother, bless his heart, and my sister-in-law, who is amazing, are not exactly mechanically inclined, so simple seems smarter.

[pdmtong]

it depends....when my daughter was six she was XC single tracking on her 20" 6-speed hotrock. def needed gears to climb and descend....

when she graduated to 24" at 7.5yo she was on a hotrock full-suspension and a kdr1000 road

now she is 10yo and riding 30 miles on a 44cm dolce (can do a 3.3 mile / 1300' climb in 45 minutes, 2 stops) and bombing on her size XS santa cruz juliana.....

pretty much all her bikes I've picked up off craigslist. nothing worse than the wrong size

I'd still go with gears...better resale and no harm in her foolig around shifting.....

with a little influence from you, this could become a lifelong endeavor for her, just as it has for all of us

[djg]

I've looked at a bunch of things, from small, one-speed jobs with training wheels to junior road bikes, and have various examples in my garage. You're welcome to come by and look at particulars, shoot the bull, and whatever. I think you've basically gotten good advice, but here goes:

Big box or department store bikes are not necessarily that much worse than "name" brand bikes from bike shops, except in several ways that might matter a bunch: first, is that while the best of these look a whole lot like offerings from trek, giant, etc., the worst are really pretty darn bad; second, is that assembly and quality control can be extremely variable -- including piss poor, which can be a headache or even something of a danger; third, is that it's sort of a miracle finding any decent guidance in such places. All of these speak in favor of hitting a bike shop or even a neighborhood garage sale (decent kids bikes show up in these all the time, because, well, you know, if you feed the kids, they tend to grow).

The big players: trek, giant, special-ed all make suitable kids bikes, and REI puts their house label on things that seem fine too. There's nothing especially good about these. A little kid's bike from a major manufacturer will outweigh your race bike by a good 10 pounds, if not more, and every bit on the thing will be a budget part built in a budget place, in ways clear enough to the naked eye. OTOH, they don't cost a fortune and they all work fine, especially if a decent bike shop is taking a little bit of time checking them over when they assemble them.

I'd say the most important thing is getting something that's not a disaster, from a functional point of view, and a tolerably good bike shop should be able to deliver that.

The other most important thing is serving another part of the likely preference: the darn thing has to be a good color and look right to the individual kid. I don't have any six year-old daughters, but I've got two daughters, each of whom has been six, and, on the assumption that two gets me from anecdote to data, with an n of 2, I'll tell ya that the bike has to be the right color. Or a right color. And have the right markings or fail to have the wrong ones.

On the single speed thing: six year-old kids come in very different sizes, but the vast majority of what's out there for most of them is a one speed bike, with either a coaster brake or a coaster brake augmented by a single hand-operated brake. Some look like ersatz mountain bikes and some look like ersatz cruisers. It's all fine if it looks right to the end consumer, fits ok, and is assembled right.

A decent minority of six year-olds can, however, fit something else -- the market for little mtbs and road bikes is small, and choices relatively few, but there are things to look at if she's really riding. The thing is, if it's really about riding around the neighborhood, or a mile or two down a bike path, these are overkill -- maybe worse, because harder to find, harder to ride or master, and a good deal more money for something very soon to be outgrown. OTOH, if she's really riding quite a bit already (with people who really ride) -- and it doesn't sound like her story, but I dunno -- then it may be worth a search. A middle ground is to get a kids bike plus a trail-a-bike type of thing.

[tlm993]

Looks like many have had success doing the passing along the older kid's bike to the younger kid. This has also worked for us as well.

My older boy outgrew his 20" mtb (K2 Zed from REI) at age 8 or 9 that we bought new. His younger brother was just outgrowing his 12" Schwinn single speed so there was a little bit of time when the 20" was a little big.

When my younger boy eventually was tall enough to ride the 20" at about 5.5 he took to the v-brakes and gears no problem. He could now chase his brother with a little more speed. Of course the older guy got his Kona Jake 2-4 cross bike and now goes even faster.

We went used on the Kona for the very same reasons mentioned before. Great value and the condition was really good. I think we paid 1/3 retail for a couple year old bike that had less than 100 miles on it. I think the original price was around 600?

As for other bikes to check out, definitely check out the Redline Conquest 20 (http://www.redlinebicycles.com/bikes/cyclocross/2010-conquest-20) . Looks cool!