Good bike for daughter / size recommendation (16/18/20??)
 

I'm looking to get a decent quality bike for my daughter. She had a bike before and could ride it fine with training wheels. I tried to show her how to ride without them a bit over a year ago, but she was terrified of it, fell off once, and refused to get on it again with or without the training wheels. The bike was junk, she wasn't interested anymore, and we were about to move, so I gave it away. Now we live in a new area where all the kids ride around on bikes, and she is finally interested in trying to ride again. I'm hoping that if I get her something a bit nicer than the old bike (wife bought it used on Craig's list, had bent wheels, total trash) she might have a better time trying to learn.

She is nearly 7, but small for her age (45" tall, 21" inseam with shoes). Looking at all the bike size charts around the 'net, she's a bit big for a 16", but too small for a 20". 18" looks about perfect (in theory), though I know they're not nearly as common. I'd like to keep it under $200.

I'd appreciate any recommendations on size or model that you guys have. Thanks in advance.

What I have is not readily available,(70's Gitane Mini) but what I see kids riding at the local velodrome (where my kids ride) are Redlines with 18" wheels and road rires. I'd think you could find a used one off the 'bay or on CL for $200- IIRC they're about $400 new.

http://www.redlinebicycles.com/bikes...-proline-micro

Hint- Never use training wheels- much better to lower the seat until the kids can stand and pull the pedals so they can develop balance as a "push bike"

Specialized hotrock 16. Giant Puddin' Pink 16. Fuji Fazer. Remove training wheels AND pedals. Let her scoot and coast on her own. You will be surprised at how fast she will be able to balance by herself. Re-attach pedals once she expresses desire to pedal and enough confidence on her balance, not sooner.

All these have really low gearing.(common feature of kid's bikes) Good for a couple of blocks to the park, maybe not the thing if you're planning on doing any sort of distance.

The kid is 7 years old and just starting out. "Any sort of distance"...really? :rolleyes:

Thanks for the advice, I'll take a look. I did read about the "no pedals" training method, but by the time we tried it she was already too scared to give any real effort. I'm hopeful this time around, as she came to me to ask to try riding again (instead of me trying to pressure her, which didn't work), and I think we'll retry the no pedals way.

Hmm. Did a 50 miler (half the NSC) with my 7 y.o. this summer. So between a couple of blocks and that is quite a range of "distance". Over a couple of miles, that low gearing is really limiting. You'd be surprised what a kid can do on a decent bike. ;)

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...ttleGitane.jpg

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps6989e1f2.jpg

Hmm, my recommendation was based upon the information given by the OP and not what you want your child to accomplish nor what you want the world to believe that your child is capable of doing. Let's not make this about you. I have not yet met another parent who did not believe that their children is more special than others. ;)

I couldn't care less what you may think about my kids, but if you put a kid on a dog bike with low gearing, you get a kid that doesn't ride a lot. Seen it happen enough that I wouldn't, in good conscience, recommend an undergeared bike. What my kids do has very little to do with any desires of mine, and alot to do with desires of theirs. Better bike goes further, faster and with more fun. ;)

I think this dichotomy boils down to whether someone thinks a bike is a toy or a means of transportation.

Felt has a pretty nice 24" wheel road bike.



of course if you buy a Folding bike It will grow with her and be an adult keeper as well .

Craigslist is a great resource. i know. i just sold two of my daughter's bikes on there for great prices. it's winter. are kids riding around right now? wait, of course they are, kids don't mind cold :) if you waited until near-spring, she'll have grown a bit. because they grow so fast, i'd say find a 20 inch bike that can lower the seat well enough. one bike i sold was a Giant Gloss with big fat roll-over-anything 20 inch tires/wheels. it was a cruiser style with coaster brake and one hand brake and bell for about $200 (sold mine for $75 in like new condition). she may be too young to use the hand brake but the frame style was semi-Townie-like and with the seat lowered my daughter had no problem. 2 years later the seat was fully extended and it was already too small for her.

because neighborhood kids are riding, the peer pressure, in this case good, will encourage her to try again without much prompting from you. and it sounds like she's ready. and though gearing will help with distance, like wearing t-shirts and no jacket in cold weather, kids don't care. give them a single speed bike and they'll just crank harder to keep up if needed. just think "neighborhood riding" and the equation is much simpler. i don't know about you but i rode a schwinn stingray everywhere and didn't get a real "10-speed" until i was in my teens. uphill through snow, both ways... chuckling.

kids are funny. i originally had training wheels on it but the first summer, i took them off and said Let's go learn to ride a bike! i held the rear of the seat and ran behind her a few hundred feet a couple of times and would then let go without her knowing like "they" did to me long ago (sneaky adults). an hour later she was riding the pathway around the small park on her own. i even witnessed her first crash with my video camera. i saw her across the park veer into a trash can. crash! she picked herself up quickly and waved to me she was ok. there was nothing i could immediately do at that distance but it's on video now. she was fine...

that first bent trashed bike probably should never have been bought. go together, with collective wisdom between the two of you, you can find a good deal. just use common sense. pick up a used bike, bounce it. does it make weird noises? does everything look fine? any signs of abuse? if so, just walk away, you'll find another. of course much easier if you buy new. good luck and enjoy this new adventure of hers.

eric
fresno, ca.

PS, i just checked. Giant's Gloss is now a double hand brake 24 inch with derailleur. the 20 inch model is now called the Bella.

Well, we just moved the Tampa area, so winter isn't much of a concern for us :lol:.

I ended up taking her to a Specialized/Giant/Felt dealer and tried a bunch of bikes. Most of the 20s were just a tad too big, but the 16s seemed small, and I didn't want to spend full $ on a new bike that she'll outgrow in a few months if I didn't have to. Then I found a 2nd hand bike shop nearby, and they had a used Hotrocks 20 for sale for only $45. It was a single-speed 20", which looking at the Specialized website archive they only made in 2008. Surprisingly, with the seat lowered nearly all the way she fit on it real well, the old single speed frame must be slightly smaller than the current 20" Hotrocks. I did try Craig's List, but they were all either Walmart junk that I could buy new for the same price, or too far away to make it worth the drive.

I tried taking off the pedals again, and she was doing fine, but after about 30 min she was whining about how she wanted her pedals back. I put them back on, and she can ride it fairly well... until she gets scared. I'll hold on to her seat with my hand, so she can't feel my hand and tell when I let go. She rides perfectly without me holding for 2-3 houses, but as soon as she realizes that I'm not holding any more, she panics and puts her feet on the ground, which causes her to lose control and occasionally tip over. Oh well... every day she gets a little better. Hopefully if she stays motivated and gets over her irrational fear, she'll be riding well enough within a few days.

I really hope she does, because I just got the wife a bike as well, and if the daughter finally starts rolling then we can all start riding together. There's a real nice park only about a mile's ride away, with dirt and paved trails, playgrounds, and even a dirt BMX track. If she rides well enough that we can start increasing distance, and her single-speed bike becomes a limiting factor, I'll look at getting her something more elaborate.

Here's hoping the biking is going good. I spent six months watching Craig's List last year before I was able to find my 7 year old a bike I thought would work for him. He's small for his age as well, although I think he might be finally growing a little. We got him a 20" wheeled 7 speed, but had to turn his handlebars around as he was just a bit too small for it. As we were riding yesterday, I noticed that he might be big enough to turn it back around. Most of the CL bikes are the Wal-mart/K-mart which are the first bikes I bought my boys but once the older one wanted to start riding more with us instead tag-a-longing or trailering it, we had to get him something better. I am hoping in a few years, he will grow into my Cannondale and I will have a reason to get a new one. Let us know how she's doing.

Dude, what is that bike? I want one! For my 8 year old boy. He like to ride and on his heavy clunky Trek 20 inch mountain bike he has gone up to 8 miles. This thing looks cool.

[QUOTE=seeker_moc;15101820]Well, we just moved the Tampa area, so winter isn't much of a concern for us :lol:.

I ended up taking her to a Specialized/Giant/Felt dealer and tried a bunch of bikes. Most of the 20s were just a tad too big, but the 16s seemed small, and I didn't want to spend full $ on a new bike that she'll outgrow in a few months if I didn't have to. Then I found a 2nd hand bike shop nearby, and they had a used Hotrocks 20 for sale for only $45. It was a single-speed 20", which looking at the Specialized website archive they only made in 2008. Surprisingly, with the seat lowered nearly all the way she fit on it real well, the old single speed frame must be slightly smaller than the current 20" Hotrocks. I did try Craig's List, but they were all either Walmart junk that I could buy new for the same price, or too far away to make it worth the drive.

I tried taking off the pedals again, and she was doing fine, but after about 30 min she was whining about how she wanted her pedals back. I put them back on, and she can ride it fairly well... until she gets scared. .

If I may make a suggestion? When you hold the seat, no matter how gently, there is a tendency for the bike not to go where she is steering it, but where you're pushing it. When we teach kids to ride, which is most weeks, we push them (very lightly) with fingertips between the shoulders. We then make a game of it, by getting them to start counting out loud until they put a foot down when we remove our hand, starting with 1...2, then 1...2...3, and so on. The challeng of beating their last count acts as a motivator and they begin to concentrate on that and not on the fear of falling.

By the time they've reach 20 or so they're away Most are riding ok within an hour and sometimes sooner. 5 minutes is the record. by the way, we use this whether the kids is on a balance bike, an ordinary bike with the pedals off, or when you put them back on. The fact that they can feel you touching them seems to give them confidence.

If you decide to move up to a geared bike soon, I recommend the Islabike Beinn 20" small. My daughter is in that same awkward height zone (she's 46" tall)--almost too big for her 16" bike but too small for most 20" bikes and the Beinn small is a great fit for her with lots of room to grow.

Also, I disagree that single-geared bikes are necessarily limiting. My daughter was able to ride 4-5 miles straight (9-10 miles round trip) on her 16" Hot Rock.