thisistrevor

I have a 2.5-3 year old who after mastering his balance bike, is now very good on his 12" hotrock. Since I could not keep up with him on foot anymore, I went and got myself a used kink 20". Now wants to learn to "make his bike jump like daddy". He's doing well, and will really be doing it in a year or so.

Now my question. He struggles greatly with the coaster brake. When you lean back to pull the front end up, your peddles naturally move back a little bit. With a coaster brake, this brings you to a dead and unexpected stop. He's a 2.5 year old learning how to bunny hop. He doesn't need any extra challenges thrown in the mix. So I want to get him a freewheel and hand brake. All the bike shops I've gone into say they can't find a 12" wheel with a freewheel, so it can't be done.

I feel like I must be able to get him a freewheel hub that fits his forks and lace it into his rim. I don't really know where to look to find this hub, and I don't really know what the specs are I should look for. It's a 16 spoke rim (maybe I need to find a 32 spoke hub and go every other hole?) And a 16 tooth driver, which is perfect gearing for his little legs, don't want to change it.

Any thoughts?