I am thinking of getting my daughter a trek mt 220 https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...es_9_12/mt220/

Any opinions?

Make sure you have a good LBS to service it, as this model gets almost the bottom of the proverbial Shimano barrell parts. When she grows out of it, you may be able to get half of your initial investment out of it. I bought a Trek 3500 for my son, that boy skipped 24" wheels, and sold it for $155 after buying it for $230 a year earlier. The small 13" frame helped sell it easier, but a lack of a suspension fork hurt it. He now rides a vintage Specialized Hardrock with a new Sram 3.0/4.0 drivetrain.

If she is primarily road riding, stay away from suspension. IMO a rigid bike teaches a rider bike control better.

The bike you linked does not have bottom of the barrel Shimano as was suggested, it has a SRAM drivetrain for the most part. This does not make it better or worse than most of the bikes in this size/price range as they all have similar components.
I recently spent time shopping for a 24 inch wheel mountain bike for my son and had gone through the same excercise with my daughter a few years back. The Trek is not a stand-out but does have a few unique features such as the two pedal positions on the cranks. Other similar bikes are Kona Hula, Specialized Hotrock, Giant MTX 225, and Marin Bayview Trail. There are others but they are all more or less the same. I liked the Marin the best of this bunch. All of these bikes are suitable for most kids riding styles, they are ok on the roads, bike paths, and light mountain bike trails, none of them are very well suited to jumping or downhill mountain biking. The forks that come with these bikes are a bit hit and miss, some are so stiff that they really don't do anything, others have no damping so the fork rebounds too quickly and none of them seem to have any adjustment. Some of the forks do work well enough though, the one on my son's little 20 inch wheel bike is suprisingly smooth. Lots of people recommend getting rigid forks as they feel suspension forks add weight with no benefit, makes the bike less efficient or teaches bad riding habits. Personally I would let the child decide if they wanted a suspension fork, if you want them to ride they are more likely to do so if they like their bike.

If your daughter is likely to actually ride mountain bike trails you may want to look at some of the Scott bikes for cross country style or the higher end Kona (Stuff 2-4) or Norco (Kompressor) if she is going to be riding downhill or dirt jumps. These bikes are pricey but it gets you into better component levels. I ended up getting a Norco Kompressor for my son as it seemed unlikely that any of the other bikes in this range were going to stand up to the riding he is doing.

maddyfish,

A few years ago, we bought my son the entry level Trek mtb when it was time to move him up from the Diamondback BMX bike he had been on. Now, mind you, he has not been riding trails with it, (at least not one would normally think of as "singletrack") but it has served him very well. Even if he were riding some easier singletrack, it would be fine. I think you'll find it to be just fine. I like that red paint scheme, by the way.

What sort of riding will your daughter be doing? Mountain bikes are okay but they are HEAVY, the knobby tires are not a good choice for riding on anything other than loose dirt and mud, and the front suspension is not needed, too heavy, and can't be adjusted.

The Trek Wasabi 24" would be a cool choice but it's singlespeed and your daughter is probably wanting some gears. Yes? No?

If you can afford it the Trek KDR 7.2FX is a much, much nicer bicycle. Lighter, faster, something none of the other kids will have, that's for sure. Able to handle all the trails and jumps any kid that age will likely want to do.

As andymac said, there are a number of similar bikes to compare. The Trek isn't bad and most kids don't care because they have nothing to compare to what they ride. The important thing is to get them outside and riding and burning off some energy so they come inside and eat their vegetables and go right to bed.

I bought my daughter an almost new Trek MT 220 prior to the addition of the front suspension fork (2002/2003 model ?). It served her very well (2 years) until she was big enough to handle a 15" frame 26" bike, and is now waiting for use by her little sister.

Buy what fits them and what they can handle without putting them at risk. The $100 you are out after buying and reselling is small potatoes compared to the pain of picking up the pieces after a bad crash.

BTW: Children should not learn to ride with a suspension fork! They need to not just ride the bike, but to handle the bike. A suspension fork mutes road feedback and slows handling skills to an inexperienced rider.

Thanks for the comment, bbattle. I hunted around and found a local shop that happened to have the KDR 7.2 FX in stock - owner had bought it for his son but had not set it up for him yet. Bought it for my 7 1/2 year old daughter. I read her the comment about vegetables and bed - she thought that was funny.

Didn't come with a kickstand. Is there some kind of stand one can buy for the garage that she could just wheel it into? Thanks.

Ken

+1 on the Kona bikes. I am pretty impressed with what they did with them. They pretty much are smaller adult bikes. We don't have a local dealer locally that stocks kids Scott or Norco bikes. I would have liked to have seen them to try them out. The Shred at least is still a little heavy, especially for kids to maneuver around but not out of line with other kids bikes (someday I'll try to do a weight comparison). The only other bike I'd like to see available here as an option are the UK Isla Bikes. Although, the exchange rate makes them not very affordable right now. Funny how Trek is slowly making the KDR series bike available to smaller riders. This is exactly the style of bike the Isla has been making for at least a few years.