John Redcorn

My daughter has rode with me up to 15 miles on flat trails on her wmart bmx, I want to get her something with gears as soon as money allows so she can go on the hilly trail right next to our neighborhood.

She is fairly small and lightweight for her age but she's rode my wife's wmart full suspension mongoose 26er a very few times and with the seat fully low, to me it looks almost perfect for a proper mount/dismount but she doesn't like that she can't put her feet flat on the ground. I think she'll get over that easily when she learns the technique.

Don't know exactly what my budget is, less than $400 for sure, I had my eyes on a fuji kids road bike at sun and ski for $400 that I thought would be awesome but thinking about it there's no way she'd ever want to take her bmx to school again and I don't want her putting a $400 bike on the school bike rack to get banged up. I also looked at a specialized hot rock 24er at the lbs I bought my crosstrail from but after later seeing her on my wife's bike and that it works I'm really wanting to get her an adult bike. Wife and I both have some < 5 foot < 100lb ladies in our families and she seems to be shaping up to be like one of them. I'm thinking something that fits now may fit good 5 or 6 years from now when she's done growing.

I'm thinking something like a ladies step-through rigid 26er with some slicks or would there be some type of inexpensive step-through 700c hybrid that would work for her?

wahoonc

It will be a real challenge to find a 700c wheeled bike to fit someone that petite. My bride is just a tad over 5'. Her favorite bikes are her Raleigh Colts, a Raleigh Twenty and a Huffy cruiser with 24" wheels.

I would actually look for two different bikes, one inexpensive to lock up at school and something like a decent folder for regular riding. Folders fit a wide range of sizes and can be used across a variety of riding situations. Dahon and Tern are two decent companies to look at. The price point may be a problem, though I only paid $35 for my wife's Huffy. One Colt was free, the other cost me around $150. The Raleigh Twenty was ~$200.

Aaron

katsrevenge

I'm in that height range and every bike I've ridden that wasn't BMX style meant tip toes on the ground and a hop up onto the seat. Right now I'm looking at a 'Dutch style' Critical bike. It's inexpensive... and has a very low loop frame for easy step-through. There are also bike direct bikes. I have an IGH 8 speed mixte from there that I love. It's a Windsor Kensington... great bike but on the big side (it's long and a bit heavy).

linnefaulk

I would look for a bike with 24" wheels. I think she would be able to ride that for number of years before it gets too small.
This Trek MT 220 has a retail price of $379

spdntrxi

Felt F24.. although it might have to be slightly used at that price point.

fietsbob

Folding Bike , it can be adjusted to grow with Her.


Brompton M* bar can move closer & their Saddle adapter pin pointed forward moves the saddle closer..

*S straight bar in M steerer mast is closer bend to seat than the S one.

cplager

I had this thought as well. Just make sure you get good doing tires.

delcrossv 

+1.

Look for a used Scott 24 or similar on craigslist

Wilfred Laurier

the smallest sizes of adult mountain bikes
are usually 14 or 12 inches
and this is almost definitely better than the one size fits some x mart bikes
and will likely fit her as she grows up to about five foot three or so

RLKester

Have a Felt F24; have had it for 4 years, the boy is growing and now into a 650c; so this F24 is ready for a new home; it is in superb shape and always properly serviced. Have extra tire, tubes etc. Not a toy, this bike is a real road bike, just properly proportioned for a youth ( under 4'10"). price point in the $450 range plus shipping

fietsbob

actually I was thinking small wheel folder not a 24" .. 20" in the daHon style ..

or Brompton.. practical tranport for decades.

martianone

Consider a xootr swift folding bike

chaadster

The problem with folding bikes is reach and bar height being inappropriate for kids.

I'd take a gander at the Torker Interurban 24:

wahoonc

Most of the folders I have seen you can adjust the bars enough to reduce the reach and height. I have a couple of vintage Raleigh Twentys that fit people from 4'-2" to over 6'.

Aaron

Gallo

I had my daughter on a Hotrock at that age whom was similar in size. The bike will no last her long but will provide a level of confidence that you will not get on a bike that is too big. And lets face it if the seat is slammed all the way down the bike does not fit.

chephy

Second that. We have two 10-year-olds, and that's what they both have had for a year (not that particular Trek, but a 24" LBS bike). Fit them perfectly, and still plenty of room to grow. One bike was $300 at an LBS, another I managed to snag off Craigslist, in like-new shape, for under $200.

And if she is indeed shaping up to be under 5' under 100 lbs woman (though you can't really tell till puberty hits ), a 24" bike might actually suit her better than a typical 26"-er or 700cc. If I were a <5' adult, I'd have no hesitation riding the bikes our kids own -- they are solidly built and the shifting and braking are all very smooth.

chephy

Wow, I'm LOVING the look of that! Though I just read a review that says the shifting the gears may require more strength that many 10-year olds possess.

SanDiegoSteve

My 8 year old daughter is on a Specialized road/hybrid. She wanted "Green" so it doesn't have the shocks and came with slicks. My 10 year old got a Trek 24" mtn with shocks when she was 8. I think the road variant is better. Both are 6 gears and hand breaks. Both girls have ridden them pretty far, but not 15 miles. Shifting isn't a problem and never was for either of them; learning to stop was tricky at first.

chaadster

Most you've seen? Hmm, most of the folders I see in the USA are Dahon, and offer no reach adjustment. I see Tern and Citizen a bit, and most of those offer no reach adjustment.

I guess if you live in a very affluent area you may see more Bromtons with their availaable upright bar, which you could rotate backwards, and some others do have stems that can be changed like Montague, but I'd be very, very surprised if my statement that most folding bikes offer no reach adjustment was not true. Even then, in my experience, the front-center length on bikes designed for adults is often too long for kinds to really handle confidently. They can do it-- I've put 9year olds on my Dahon, but it's far from ideal in terms of stability and handling, I believe.

The 20 has been out of production for, like, 40 years, so I fear not terribly relevant, though something like the Citizen Barcelona is similar.

dagray 

look at the Raleigh Talus in a small frame. This will have the 26 inch wheels, but you can upgrade fromthe 2.0 model all the way to the 5.0 model. My oldest outgrew his (he jumped two frame sizes), and we went looking for another.

These can be had new for $350.00 on up depending on model and size. We ended up picking our boy up a Raleigh Talus 29er in a Large frame and our youngest a 20 inch BMX Giant (used) both bikes for $715.00 out the door. We dropped the seat all the way down on the BMK bike and added training wheels as the youngest is only four years old.