Recreational & Family - Another kids first bike questions

My son will be 3 in a couple of weeks and I'm looking at getting him some kind of bike. We have not done alot of biking other than me towing him around in the trailer the past couple of summers while on vacation. Last fall he was riding a plastic tri-cycle around the campground and doing fairly well on it and independent enough to tell me to stop pushing when he was having trouble pedaling up hill. He was alos crazy enough to take his feet off the pedal and going flying down the hill.

Anyway he's showed desire in getting his own bike and I'm debaiting what to do. At first I figured I would just get him a two wheeler with training wheel and let him ride that and I was debating what size to get him.

BUt after reading this site for a couple hours tonight. I'm wondering if I should get him a better tricycle and let him ride that for a summer and then try to teach him next fall or spring right into a two wheeler without training wheels.

I have not measured his inseam yet, but he's a big kid. he's about 38-39 inches tall and 38-40 lbs.

Any suggestions you could give me either way and depending on the suggestion. if it's a two wheeler with ttraining wheels, what size. I was looking at them in the store and 12 inch seems way to small and the 14 and 16 inch bikes I looked at were actually the same seat hieght and same center bar height.

If the tricycle idea is better, what a good tricycle to get. I have a couple local bike shops around, but have not stopped in yet. I prefer to buy from one of them than walmart or toys-r-us. But I'd like to have a clue what I'm talking about before I go it. So I can figure if the salesman is tossing me a line of crap.

Thanks,
Nick

All kids are different as you know. I wouldn't sink more money into a tricycle at this point. It sounds like he will only be on it for a few more months if at all. Does he or you have friends where there is a kid on a 2 wheeler with training wheels? See if he wants to get on the two wheeler. If he does not, he is probably not ready. He will more than likely be ready Fall/Spring as you say if he is not ready now..

I personally like the Kettlers. I prefer the ones that have a foot rest as opposed to the dump truck bin. I prefer the foot rest because I remember I used to like to ride them standing on that. The Kettlers also have nice adjustments. I also like their push bar for moving younger kids along on the trike. I have seen alot of nice trikes in LBS's but some of them are far too big for kids.

Only way to know what will fit your boy is by trying him on them. It may also give you a chance to gauge his interest in the bike thing. Good Luck.

unfortunatley we don't have any friends with kids on two wheelers unless we are away camping on vacation. although there is a 12" two wheeler in my dad's garage that he was pushing around the driveway last year.

Maybe I'll just go down to the bike shop and see what his interest is and try fitting him to a two wheeler.
If he doesn't want to ride it this year, I could always stick with the plastic tri-cycle unless he's gotten too big for it.

thanks,
Nick

I also measured his inseam this morning and it seems to be about 13 inches. (crotch to floor)

Even though he's big for his age, you'll have to fit him to a bike. I suspect with an inseam of only 13 inches that you'll have to go with a 12" bike for now. I've noticed that brands vary markedly and it's not so much the wheel size that matters, but the configuration of the frame (distance from seat to pedals) that poses the greatest difficulty in finding bikes to fit small kids.

I'd skip the tricycle unless you can't find a 2-wheeler to fit his inseam. Tricycles scare the heck out of me because they are very unstable when turning while going fast.

Take him to the LBS and/or toy/department store and put him on several bikes until you find one that fits (hopefully).

Oh, and make sure you get a bike with rubber tires and brakes. I know this sounds stupid, but some of the smallest bikes at toy stores/department stores are actually made without these features. My son's grandparents bought him a bike that had plastic tires (impossible to ride up hill) and no brake (talk about a death wish)....it went right to the neighborhood garage sale.

Well, one of my sons is 3 (will be 4 next month so he has about a year on your kid) and we got him 16" bike for Christmas. He was quite active on his tricycle and also has a Kettecar pedel-steer car. That said, he is very slow to taking on a bike with training wheels. Not quite sure why but I think he is not used to speed-ride height-control-weight combination. He was quite faster in his Kettecar but quite slow on the bike. Don't get me wrong, he does ride the bike but not for very long. Also, the seat is lowered to the bottom of the post on his 16" bike (since my kid is almost 4, he is taller than your son). In other words, 12" bike probably makes better sense for your son, and be prepared to replace it on his next birthday (4th)! Don't forget, going from 3 to 4 is increase of 1/3 of his lifetime - huge change for him!

Why am I writing all of this? someone already mentioned it but I really recommend taking your child to a store (LBS, toystore, whathaveyou) and let him ride one before you buy it. If he is ready, great. If not, then maybe waiting a bit may be just fine for now until his willingness to take this on is there...

actually we went to the bike shop last night and he wasn't really interested in the two wheelers.
he did fit on 12 though, but being it's early spring. I think we'll just leave him to his 3 wheel scooter and tricycle for a few months and see how things go this summer. No need to rush into a bike. I also found out my mom has a 12 inch bike in the basement that I can borrow and see if he wants to learn to ride.

THanks for the help