stacey_julieann

Hi everyone, I was hoping to come on here and get parent’s opinions on what makes a good bike for your child, I would preferably like opinions on a 16” kids bike. What are your preferred materials, styles if you could add or take away anything? Basically if you could create a bike from scratch for your child what would you include / take away. Thanks in advance 😊

Dave Mayer

I’m the ‘bike guy’ both at work and in the family, so I buy and recommend bikes for a lot of little ones. And I service a lot of bikes at the co-op.

I despair at the state of kids bikes new and used. I know that parents are under cost pressures, and manufacturers and marketers must appeal to kids and parents that may not know what they should want or why. So manufacturers are basically forced to produce bikes that look flashy, with all the trendy accoutrements, and have a marketing tie-in to the latest movie or hot toy. But all of these are expensive, and detract from the actual performance of the bike, with the added pressure of making this at the lowest possible price.

For example: suspension forks. These are less than worthless on a bike that isn’t being used for real mountain biking – as in a heavy rider hitting big rocks on steep slopes. Even worse: full suspension, as these bikes are very heavy and the loose suspensions provide imprecise scary handling and energy-sapping suspension bob. Disc brakes: costly, heavy, fussy and unnecessary.

Weight: the weight of kids bikes is both amazing and appalling. I was doing shopping for a 6-year-old, and all of the bikes is checked out (in a real bike shop) were heavier than any of the road bikes that I owned. Department store bikes are worse, in that they weigh more than the kids they were designed for. Imagine an adult riding a bike that weighs 150+ pounds.

If I were to offer one high-level recommendation: get a bike that is light as possible. Poor quality dysfunctional bikes and components are heavy, so one key filter/criteria to look for product that is light. No useless suspension, or fat knobby tires, overbuilt steel frames etc. Lightweight kids bikes are invariably higher quality and bought by folks who appreciate functionality over flash.

Finally, marketing tie-ins. I would stay away from bikes or accessories that are tied-in superhero movies or toy sponsorships. These are expensive and drain money away from what should be the higher objective of building a better-quality bike. Finally, would a parent circa 2024 buy a bike sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes, as in circa 1955? Or a Davey Crockett themed bike with tomahawk and pistol accessories? Or fast forward to now, themed bikes that parents that I know who are avoiding because of the studio politics and they are also boycotting all associated product past and present and forever? Not good resale value.

jimincalif

3-4 years old, a balance bike, no pedals, no drive train at all. No training wheels.

4-ish, 16” single speed, hand brakes. Light weight. Check out Woom and Prevelo for good examples. No training wheels, the child will already know how to ride, balance and turn from riding the balance bike.

5-ish, 20” wheels, rear derailleur bike.

This has worked great, so far for my grandson (now 5-1/2). I’ve ridden with him on rides up to 17 miles (over the course of a few hours, visiting playgrounds, the river and ice cream store). So far my granddaughter (3-1/2) is following along well. She’s transitioning between the balance bike and the 16” now. They both love to ride.

Balance bikes are a game changer, the kids learn to balance naturally, at their own pace, and don’t feel scared because their feet can be on the ground. As they get better they naturally start lifting their feet off the ground and balancing. training wheels should be banished, the kids can still fall with them, they don’t let the bike turn naturally, so they impede the learning process. Solid tires, relatively inexpensive is fine for balance bikes. Just my NSH opinion. 🙂

The somewhat more spendy kids bikes like Woom and Prevelo are a lot better than stuff from Walmart, etc. Decent components, made of AL so light weight. Look at the bikes we ride as a % of our body weight, then look at the heavy cheap kids bikes as a % of their body weight.

Rick

I never bought my children bicycles with training wheels. I purchased my 3 year old grandson a Woom balance bike a while ago. It has a rear V brake and a child size brake handle. The springs on that V brake were to difficult for him to use.I put on a Deore XT V brake and he learned how to use it.He is three and now wears 5T clothing. I like the Woom 16" bicycle but really like the Priority 16" bicycle better. The Priority weighs a few pounds more but has a Gates belt drive. It is over $100.00 cheaper also.

Trav1s

What do I look for? Ages 3-5 here is my list
- light weight (preferably aluminum)
- predictable steering response
- Upright seating position
- easy to roll and pedal

The Trek Precaliber 16 is hard to beat. She rode the wheels off of it and was sad to move to the 20" I picked up for her. That's a sore subject...

I picked up the used Specialized Hotrock 20" for.a great price on FB Marketplace but it was a poor choice. Why? It was the antithesis of the Precaliber 16...
- Steel frame and suspension fork (super heavy for the size)
- aggressive riding position
- hard to operate hand controls/multispeed setup

Her current Cannondale Quick 24 is light weight, has predictable steering, but has a be more aggressive riding position. In hindsight, the weight and related handing were the real issue with the Hotrock...

50PlusCycling

I got my 3-year-old an 18” bike. It was a cheap, Chinese-made Princess-type bike which I got on Amazon. It was a bit big for her, but I figured she would have more room to grow into and out of it, and I could bypass a 20” bike and her next bike would be something bigger.

When she turned 8 (last year), I got her a Trek 24” Precaliber. These are hardtail mountain bikes with a suspension fork, 1x8 driveline, and very big tires. I could lower the seat far enough so her feet touched the ground, and while she looks rather small on it, the big wheels are more stable, and she has no issue with it. For the past month we’ve been riding together almost every day, and she is now comfortable with the gears, being able to shift up and down when necessary.

For myself, I got my first bike, a Scwhinn Orange Krate when I was 6. It was stolen pretty quickly, so I rode my best friend’s older brother’s old newspaper delivery bike, a 26” Schwinn from the 50’s. I wasn’t tall enough to sit on the seat, so I sat on the top tube when riding it (not very comfortable).

himespau 

I went with a 12" balance bike (can't remember the brand) then 16, 20, and 24 inch used bikes from Giant and Trek. Got just about what I put into the balance and 16" bikes back when I sold them. Going to be selling the 20" (and maybe 24") this spring. Having slightly higher end parts that are less likely to break and lighter frames is helpful in preventing avoidable frustration when the kids are learning to ride. Don't want to get them turned off because, whenever they want to ride, Dad has to fix their bike again. The fact that I can get just about what I put into them (minus some new pads and a bell), which you can't usually do buying cheap big box is a nice bonus.

Chuck M 

I wish I would have explored balance bikes when I went through the learning to ride a bike thing with my boys and grand children. I ultimately had to remove the pedals as well as the training wheels for my grandson and in less than an hour, he was ready to put the pedals on and ride.

t2p

I removed the crank / pedals to create a poor man’s balance bike for my oldest kid

but not required for the next kid

finding quality lightweight affordable bikes was a challenge - especially tough to find quality kids ATB with a rigid fork - but had success at flea markets and garage sales … they grow through them quickly so did not want to spend too much money

at one point both kids primarily rode BMX bikes and BMX racers (with lower gearing) - these bikes were a tad spendy (not too bad actually) - but they hold their value (and some actually increase in value) … one of the BMX racers pictured above

t2p

two of the little Gary Fisher bikes we had - top bike is a 20” and bottom is a 24”

installed Maxxis ‘Holy Rollers’ on those bikes to decrease the rolling resistance - big difference … (not installed on the bottom 24” bike for the picture)