byrd48

Hi,
My son is 5 and his current bike is a 12 inch Huffy from Target.
He rode on the training wheels last year and now I'm trying to teach him to ride without them. We went to the park today for practice and I noticed that the seat is too low for him and the seatpost is too short to move the saddle up where it should be.
I ordered a replacement seatpost today (which I may have to saw off, it's 300mm). I haven't checked yet how high I can raise the stem, but I'm sure not a whole lot.
So I'm wondering if I should move to a 16 inch model bike, or just keep tweaking the 12 inch until he's ready for a 20 inch (I'm not sure when that will be). My first thought is go for the best fit, but then I'm wondering, how important is the fit for learning to ride, he's not riding long distance, just learning the mechanics. Obviously his knees can't be hitting his elbows when he pedals, the longer seatpost should help that.
While we were at the park, two different 7 year old kids asked to ride it and they tooled around no problem. Heck, I can even ride the thing. I guess it would not be such a big deal to drop another $90 at Target, but I'm hoping to build him a bike and I don't think that will be very feasible until he gets to the 20 inch size.
Thanks in advance,
Jon

bengreen79

Have you checked craigslist? There are always a ton of kids bikes for cheap or even free.

RyderTheRider

I think you can wait, unless it starts to look like the current size is really an issue.

Purpleorchid

I'll tell you my experience. My son is 4.5 years old and also currently riding two 12" bikes - a Huffy Lightning McQueen w/ training wheels and a balance bike. He was looking cramped in his 12" Lightning McQueen bike, so a few weeks ago, I bought him a 14" bike. That thing is so heavy (heavier than our adult bikes)! He rode it once around the neighborhood and said it was too heavy to pedal...he didn't make it up the small inclines that he can easily do with his other bikes. I think he won't be riding the 14" bike until next summer. So he's been happily riding his 12" bikes again.

BTW, having my son sit on the 16" bikes at the store made him look like he would fall over the second he started pedaling. The bike is just way too big for him to handle all that weight/size. Luckily they had two 14" bikes, but even now, he can't ride it.