Recreational & Family - 10 year old girl needs 26", anything withOUT suspension forks?

My 9almost10 year old girl is already 5' tall, mostly leg. When we went to the LBS today she was obviously too big for a 24" 'kids' bike. The 26" bike they wanted to put her on was a Giant Boulder w. I like the price and it fit her well but it's heavy as a tank. The big chunky suspension fork is a complete waste given her slight 70lbs. Looking around all I see are suspension forks these days. Does anyone make a kids' or womens' specific 26" multispeed "mountain" bike without the suspension fork?

Thanks,
Don

Well the Specialized SIrrus comes in a XS size and is full riged but it is a 700c bike. What do you mean by "mountain"? Jamis Coda and Kona Dew are other full rigid 700c flat bar bikes.

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=12388
http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/bikes/06_coda.html
http://www.konaworld.com/shopping_cart/FrontEnd/Products/product_detail.aspx?productid=346&parentid=253

Another option would be to buy the sprung bike and put a rigid fork on it...they are pretty cheap...but probably wont matck the pain job.

yeah, get her a XS Sirrus, she'll love you! she may be able to keep it for years and years, even into adulthood, depending on how tall she's gonna get

The Trek Navigator 50 has a hard fork. It comes in both a sloping top version and a step-in version, with the smallest being a size 14. It is not designed as a hard-core mountain bike, but is well suited to dirt paths, level trails, gravel roads, and urban bike paths.

I just got a Trek SU100 for my short commute and to use on gravel trails. It's basically a fully rigid aluminum MTB with 1.5" slicks and slightly higher gearing than a normal MTB. I took it out on some gravel roads on Monday and it did great. Don't know if it comes in a size small enough for your daughter, but might be worth looking into.

Thanks all for the replies and suggestions! I guess I should have been a bit more specific. I was hoping there was some 'big girl's bike' out there since she'll want it to be pretty, but not girly-bike-pink. Lacking that, I guess a comfort bike is probably the right style to target. The Navigator 50 looks good (pricewise too, I'll want it to be sub $300), but the color choices are blah. Cruisers are another option but when you get into the nice multispeed models they get pricey fast. Knowing her strength, she'll need some granny gears. I'll keep searching. Thanks again!

-Don

Guess that you're looking for something like a Trek 3500



http://www2.trekbikes.com/bikes/bike.php?bikeid=1012000&f=19

The 3700 is about $20 more and has a working suspension fork



http://www2.trekbikes.com/images/bikes/large/3700_red.jpg

My son is 9 and is riding a Gary Fisher Marlin GS like this one but upgraded to disk brakes.



http://www.fisherbikes.com/bikes/bike_detail.asp?series=genesisters&bike=Marlin_GS

Oh! That 3500 would be perfect - if she's ok with the color. All my time digging around Trek's site I missed that one somehow. Thanks!

-D

Not a "mountain" type frame, but have you looked at the Giant FCR series? My 10 year old daughter has the 2005 FCR 4, and loves the heck out of it.

Basically, it is a road-type frame with V brakes, flat bars, trigger shifting, and 700c wheels. Once we got her on that last Xmas, she's been doing 40 mile rides with us. It is lighter than a MTB framed bike, and the 700c wheels/tires really help her go faster for longer distances before tiring.

Here's what one looks like:

A lot of the smaller women's bikes use the 650 size wheels instead of 700's. Since your daughter is 5', I'd be looking at those. Giant FCR, Trek FX or the low-end hybrid, Specialized Sirrus. Marin has a number of suitable models. Fuji and Felt, too.