geekmom

My daughter is 3 and a shorty

We are looking at getting her first bike, and I'm thinking that she will need a 12". What are your thoughts on bike store brand bikes vs walmart/target bikes? We are not a serious cycling family, although I am also looking into getting a burley or chariot trailer to be able to take our girls on some trail rides in the area, as well as around the neighborhood.

masiman

I'd check Craigslist for an inexpensive first bike. Even better if you can find a run-bike (no pedals). It lets them concentrate on learning to balance and steer without having to worry about pedaling. You can make your own if you are comfortable working on bikes but my guess is that you are not based on your post. Look up "LikeaBike" or "Skuut". These are not the only ones made but will give you an idea of what they are.

BurnMetal

Woo... you have a lot of options; I'll try to go through a couple of them.

For Kids Bikes:

X-Mart vs Bike Shop
Walmart and Kmart bikes go for around 50 to 100 dollars. For the same price, you can get kids bikes at Performance Bikes (www.performancebike.com).

At other Local Bike Stores, the price for Kid's bikes are typically between 150 to 200 dollars.

Getting bikes at Bike Stores (Performance Bikes included) means that they will be in top working order when you buy them. They also typically come with maintenance specials as well. Some stores will even offer to change the tubes and do maintenance on the bike for free if you buy them there. Go to your Local Bike Stores and see what offers they have, you might be surprised at the deals that you can find.

While you can get decent bikes at walmart for a good price, they aren't always put together all that well. If you're good mechanically (and I mean, very simple mechanics here), you can tune the bike up yourself pretty well. So having the maintenance and the bike being put together right from the get go, might not be such a big deal. But with Perfomance Bikes matching the prices of Walmart, etc., it might be worth it to head to a local shop if you have one in the area.

Kids grow up so fast!
The other issue that you will run into is that your kids are going to outgrow the bike pretty quickly. You have two options here. Either buy the cheapest bike you can find (going to garage sales, craigslist, etc.) so that you aren't investing money into something that will be outgrown or buy a good, solidly made bike that will grow moderately with your kid and then keep it for any other kids that you may have or to give to another family. Trek (and other brands) make some pretty cool bikes that Grow with your kid. Here's a neat girls bike that is about 180 dollars. It has features that allow it to fit your kid as she grows. https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes..._3_4/mystic12/

That's about it. Me personally, I would go with a high end brand, pay an extra hundred, and buy it at a local bike store. That way I have a good product that will last a long time, both for my current kid and any kids that may follow (or to other families that are near me, go to my church, etc.). I also have the Local Bike Store backing me with any issues that might arise with my bike (flat tire, mechanical issues from being thrown around, being solidly put together from the get-go, etc.)

That being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting an X-mart bike (or better yet, a garage sale bike. Yay! Saturday mornings!). Airing up the tires, oiling the chain, and going. The kid will put it through a lot and will probably not notice the difference in quality at her age.

Just up to you Concerning which bike or size of bike to buy for your kid. I would run down to a local bike store and get their opinion. Even if you don't buy a bike there, you can figure out nicely what size bike your girl needs.

1Echo

I agree with BurnMetal here. When shopping for my 3-yr old I had a hard time adjusting to the thought of $180 on a bike (Specialized HotRock 12). However, it has been well worth it. Why? Because this particular bike is MUCH lighter than the X-Mart bikes (and even the Trek one). The result is my son didn't need as much effort to get the bike moving forward which upped his enjoyment tremendously.

biking

Have you thought of having them learn on a balance bike? It is much easier to learn balance first and then learn peddling. I have a review of a few balance bikes on my blog at https://balancebikereport.com. Let me know if you have any questions!

AndrewP

Get a bike that she thinks looks good. Make sure it has inflatable tires as these roll a lot easier. Take off the pedals and lower the seat so she can push herself along with her feet and learn to balance. That's how my daughter learnt to ride when she was nearly 3, and was able to ride a 20 mile bike-a-thon when she was 4 1/2.

rorban

Holy cow, that's awesome!

Bikeisdusty

Trek Float. It starts as a balance bike. When they get the hang of balancing, then add the cranks/petals. We started with the hold the kid up with seat and let him try, but no luck as he had no clue how to balance and pedal at the same time. As a balance bike, my son learned to ride mostly on his own. He was able to skip around on it and figured out the balance thing. When he was good at scootering down the sidewalk, we added the pedals. It took a few tries, then he was good to go. He has done 7 to 10 mile rides on that thing.

The float use to be a good deal, but now is a bit pricey. So we are looking to do a hand me down to the girl. Maybe we will paint it pink.

My last two cents, avoid the training wheels. They do not learn to ride, they learn to lean. Bad Habits are hard to break.

Joyfulmama

I say avoid the training wheels too. I recommend the Mini glider. We have one that just moved down to my very short 3 year old and it is more than short enough for him. Plus is really light and easy to use. In one day he is making rapid progress. I honestly think he might be ready for a real bike by the end of the summer.


(https://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CCkQ8wIwAg#)

billyymc

Our kids' first bike was a 12" Toy-R-Us special on clearance for $8. Yep, it was heavy, but I put it together and it rolled, had a handlebar bag that they put all kinds of toys in, and they loved it. It got passed down to their cousin, so it's gotten a lot of use.

They outgrow a 12" bike SO fast that I can't see spending too much $ on it. Weight will just not matter much with how kids are typically using a bike at that age (for example, the 12" bike got a lot of laps around our 25'x25' deck). The next step up for them was 16" bikes -- one hand-me down from a neighbor who was goign to toss it (mis-threaded crank, fixed it with a micro file). This was also an x-mart special, and was also handed down to their cousin. And when they visit they occassionally get on it and ride it around the driveway -- even though it's like a clown bike for them now.

For me, 20" was the size I started upping the quality to a Trek from the LBS. Then a 24" Jamis which my youngest is still riding. And got the oldest a nice Ibex Alpine last year for $500 when they were closing out. It's too bad Ibex went under -- it's a really nice bike with great components, and was a steal for the price.
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