Kids Bikes - Crap vs Quality

[agavelvr]

My son is so frustrated with his bike right now he doesn't want to ride at all. Am I pussifying him I get something he can do better with?

How on earth is it possible for a 5 year old to have issue with the quality of an average bicycle?
I'm guessing your kid does not like biking because it is biking.
That's normal, some kids take longer to warm up to it than others.

My wife and I chatted about this tonight at dinner.
After spirited debate, she convinced me that a 30 pound "my little pony" crapper bike equipped with a nice basket up front, handle bar streamers, and an obnoxious horn that you squeeze would be superior to any bike. I think most kids under 8-9 would agree. I was dissapointed to learn they do not make this one in my size

 

[Mlachica]

At that age, geometry is key. Make sure the geometry of the bike allows him to be efficient. Strength and endurance will come with time.

I have 3 boys - 10, 8 and 3 years old. All rode without training wheels before their 3rd birthday. My youngest doesn't know what training wheels are thanks to the balance bike. Around 5 years old I bought them decent 16" bmx bikes (around $150). For my kids, around 8 years old was a good time to get a quality 24" mountain bike (Cannondale/Giant). Now they both mountain bike with me, singletrack and all. Love it. When they got the 24" bikes, their 16" bikes were pretty hammered. They were really hard on their bikes and they still work but not in a condition worth handing down. Never did they complain about them. And yes coaster brakes are king, their hands are too small for levers.

 

[ghost0623]

Check out http://spawncycles.com/ca/ I think they r the lightest but it does cost quite a bit.

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[Jason911]

Give earlyrider.com a look-see. I just got my 2 yr.old a balance fat bike. Rolls over everything.

 

[rockbender]

Our family enjoys biking and enjoys the benefits of a quality bike. We want our kids to have bikes that pedal, brake, and shift well and that are light enough to pick up. Like another poster, both of my kids (now almost 6 and almost 3) were on pedal bikes at about 2 1/2 years old. We are big fans of the new generation of kids bikes - Islabikes, Cleary, Spawn, etc. I think that they would still have fun on most any bike, but we want them to LOVE riding their bike, and the more they ride the sooner they will be riding trails with us, so the more expensive bikes are an investment in our free time as parents too so that we can all be out riding sooner.

I skipped the 12" bike with my almost 3 year old. While he can't quite get started by himself yet, he can pedal and handle the 16" Spawn quite well. It has hand brakes only too - no coaster. This I think makes it easier for them to get started by not accidentally putting on the brakes when the crank goes backwards. He has already gone out on a few 4-5 mile rides with me while I get my run in.

Yes, we threw down some money on bikes for our kids, but we will be able to pass them on and they will also have excellent resale if and when that time comes as well. I know I've spent a few hundred bucks on much worse things, so for me it is money well spent.

 

[BEG]

How on earth is it possible for a 5 year old to have issue with the quality of an average bicycle?

When the bike is heavy, the geometry is cramped, the pedals are set too wide, the hand grip circumference is too big, the brake levers are too stiff to operate etc. the child WILL notice. He might not have anything to compare against, but he will not enjoy it as much as he could, which might lead him to dislike biking, not because "it's biking" but because it's unnecessarily scary and difficult and uncomfortable and not very much fun.

At that age, geometry is key. Make sure the geometry of the bike allows him to be efficient. Strength and endurance will come with time...My youngest doesn't know what training wheels are thanks to the balance bike.

This. It's not about buying above-average bikes for kids because they're expensive. It's because they facilitate learning faster, which allows them to enjoy biking more. Why wouldn't a parent want that for their child?

the 16" Spawn..It has hand brakes only too - no coaster. This I think makes it easier for them to get started by not accidentally putting on the brakes when the crank goes backwards. He has already gone out on a few 4-5 mile rides with me while I get my run in

How the heck did you get your hands on a non-coaster brake kid's bike? IIRC, it's illegal for any "sidewalk" type kid's bike with tires under 20" to have a freewheel.

 

[Maddmatt]

Lots of good advice already - pulling in a couple different directions, so why not add mine? ;-)

Two daughters, now 14 & 11. I've been 'into' cycling since I was very small (early '70's) - got my first 'cool' bike in '80 (Huffy Mono-Shock - you don't even know heavy, or the fun of having the skin ripped off your thigh, until you bottom out one of these) my first road bike in '82 (Huffy Santa Fe, 24". Won it in a read athon). Discovered Mountain biking in college in '87 - maxed out 3 cards to buy a Raleigh Chill. bio-pace baby.

So I dig bikes. Garage is full of them - Raleigh, Trek, Diamond Back, Specialized, Kawasaki.... and I'm not afraid to spend money on them.

So we went this way:

1st bike: Barbie bike from Target for the first one, Little Mermaid bike for the second. Same bike, different stickers. I wish I'd known about the striders at the time, would have definitely gone that way. But - I took a golf lesson once (didn't really stick) but one thing the pro told me did stick in my mind. When you are learning, your equipment should call you from the garage. Get whatever clubs you think are cool - if you get good, get good clubs.

Same thing with the bikes - both girls thought their first bikes were AWESOME and wanted to ride them all the time. Cheap buy in cost - a couple hours (no lie, hours) making the brakes actually function on each - and they rode those bikes until the training wheels fell off.

Second round was craigslist - garage sales all the way. For one of them I was in an 'unemployed' time period when her birthday rolled around, so I hit a bunch of garage sales and was actually given 2 20" 'mountain bikes' for free - neither worked. Another couple hours of part swapping - and daughter #1 couldn't have been happier. She cleaned that thing as much as she rode it, she loved it so much.

2nd daughter got a $20 garage sale one when she moved up in size. And so it went. Until they hit the 26" wheel size.

One got a new Raleigh (bought on closeout from REI) the other inherited my wife's Trek 4900. Both bikes are super light, well built and will last the rest of their lives, if they want them that long. The teenager has already moved on to a 3 speed cruiser - much to my sorrow.

So that's how we did it - cheap bikes that they liked when they started, to get them hooked. Cheaper bikes when they grew, didn't really care if they liked them or not, as they were going through the sizes - and then reasonably inexpensive 'real' bikes when they hit grownup size.

Worked for us - YMMV.

 

[DaGoof]

I learned how to ride late (age 10) on one of those 20" Huffy tanks. I hated that bike for a long time because I got it when I was 6 and couldn't move the thing. Once I was big enough to coast down a small hill across the street I figured out how to ride it and was happy with it. As mentioned above, it was my ticket to freedom.

I didn't want my kids to hate their bikes the same way I did so I did a little research on learning how to ride. Striders were just starting to be available but I couldn't stand the idea of spending money on something so short lived. I went into my local bike shop and asked about kids bikes. I discovered something very important, they would buy the bike back at half the purchase price if it was in good shape. The buy back price would go down if it were trashed.

I bought two. A 12" and a 16" Specialized Kid Rocks and had them take the cranks and chains off. Clean out the bearing races and bam, two Striders!

My son, who was three at the time, figured it out in a week and I put the cranks back in his right away.. My daughter took longer but she got there. I've traded the original bikes in and he got a 16" and she got a 20", then this spring he got a 20".

They beat on them but keep them in the garage and love every moment on them. The lighter bikes I think have encouraged their riding habits.

Don't discredit your local bike shop, they may have a good deal on used bikes or offer a similar buy back program.

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[rcintx]

Excellent advice guys. Thanks a ton. I'm going to tinker with the tank and see if I can get running a little smoother while I keep searching for used ones. I'm planning to hit the local shops as well and see what they can find.

 

[rockbender]

How the heck did you get your hands on a non-coaster brake kid's bike? IIRC, it's illegal for any "sidewalk" type kid's bike with tires under 20" to have a freewheel.

Spawn Cycles is based in Canada, so subject to different rules. I think we had to sign some liability waiver when we bought it, but the freewheel was one of the reasons we went with this option.

LOTS more little bike comparison and discussion on MTBR for anyone that is interested.

 

[BEG]

Spawn Cycles is based in Canada, so subject to different rules. I think we had to sign some liability waiver when we bought it, but the freewheel was one of the reasons we went with this option.

LOTS more little bike comparison and discussion on MTBR for anyone that is interested.

That makes sense, thanks.

 

[jjstahl3]

I was turned into this site for used bikes and although I bought their bike on Craigslist this seems to have a lot of good deals http://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/

 

[infaze]

My son is 7 now but had my son riding on 2 wheels by 3. Started with a balance bike & went straight to a 16". Opted for the Redline Pitboss 16 because it had the lowest standover for a 16. Also is aluminum so super light and easy to toss around making for very easy starts. Gearing is key too as it was a comfortable enough gear to start with one foot on the ground but not so easy he was spinning out at faster speeds. He's 7 now but a short 7 riding a 7spd (and he shifts) 20" specialized with front suspension. To me, starting them right saves time & money and so much fun seeing them ride with no fear or frustration.


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[uberhahn]

i feel i'm qualified to reply on this subject. i have 3 kids. twins that are 9 yrs old now, and one that is 6yrs old. they all started riding balance bikes at 3.5yrs old.

at the speed at which they grow, frame sizes change too quickly. they are at an awkward age where a small frame has less than ideal pedal to handle-bar spacing. you'll be changing bikes every 12 months. i had to, and my kids are short and grow slowly.

my suggestion is to stick with cheaper box bikes for now. i have had neutral experience with those. some stuff worked, some stuff i had to fix, but nothing major. i have always gone over all of the fasteners and lubed everything before the 1st ride. Even if i had to replace a full bike, i could buy 2 or three...

wait until the kids become a bit more proficient. mine 9yr old boy just got his 1st "gear bike", a big-box mongoose that will serve him well for a few yrs.

 

[luckyjoe]

Their 20" bike weighs in at about 19 lbs, and is built very well.

That is not light. And the likelihood of building an affordable 10# bike is slim as well. My solution was to buy a set of 20x1-3/8 BMX race bikes and re-gear them to suit my kids. These are real BMX bikes, intended for racing with real components. I picked-up an aluminum Schwinn that tipped the scales at 12lbs. Singlespeed is fine, especially for kids (I'm 50yo and I ride SS). Swap out teh plastic seat for a kid-sized padded seat and you're good to go.

I have the following up for grabs if anyone is interested.

Haro


Schwinn


Trek (16")