HELP - Need Recommendations for Kids Bikes
 

Hey all,

New to this forum, was pointed here from a friend at work. I'm looking for some recommendations on new bikes for my kids. We were recently in a Dicks Sporting Goods and my oldest two daughters (ages 6 and 5) fell in love with these kids 20" Nishiki mountain bikes...Pueblo I believe was the model name. They are relatively inexpensive and look very stylish (pink and purple!) but neither of my daughters has learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. They are both tall for their age and among their classmates at school and are getting too big for their little 16" bikes we got from Target. But I dont know if that type of bike is right for them at this stage.

I guess my question is, firstly, is a 20" mountain bike the wrong thing for their age/size bracket?

Second, if I'm not barking up the wrong tree, can I put training wheels on these new bikes until they learn to ride without them? Or is that not possible with that type of bike?

Third, any recommendations on specific bikes, sizes, training-wheel advice, etc is welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Do they fit on the bike? Can they easily put their feet on the ground when sitting on the season? (That's a BAD way to test size for an adult bike. It's important with a kid who's still learning how to balance)

... & so it begins ... heart warming ...

fwiw: I think I started my kids with smaller bikes & wound up getting progressively larger sizes every year or so, always buying used off craigslist (w/ 1 exception). if you keep buying them a new bike every time they need a different size, you're gonna be spending more than you need to. lots of other ppl w kids & bikes. check craigslist

A big factor is the weight of your children compared to the weight of the bike. Amazon lists the weight of the 20" kids version as 29 pounds. How does that compare to the weight of your kids? I've seen the result of a parent giving an 80 pound kid a 40 pound Walmart bike with all of the useless bells and whistles that make the bike much heavier. I see the Pueblo has front suspension. Cheap front suspension is a selling point rather than a useful component. It would be lighter and better with a rigid front fork.

Before you buy them new bikes, take the pedals off their current bikes and let them learn to balance on the bike by scooting around with their feet (like those tiny little bikes with no pedals for small children). Training wheels are a terrible way to learn how to ride because all the balancing part never gets learned and it takes hours of you running alongside the bike holding the seat.
My 2 cents coming from someone that has taught five kids to ride a bike.

Choosing a bike for a kid is so boring and hard. There are a lot of bicycles available for the kids. Some of the bikes are good. you need carefully searching for them. Better to depend on online bicycle review sites to get a perfect kid's bike.

I recommend RoyalBaby BMX Freestyle bike for the kid.

Bought our boys cheap bikes from Walmart. (No gears / shifters). The bikes outlasted their size. I stepped it up to 24” when they were in junior high. Walmart or Dick’s sporting goods. I’d do it all over again. Once they quit growing, I dropped some money on really nice bikes that would last them through college and beyond. Trek Marlin 6 when they each turned 16.

This is what I did too when my granddaughter outgrew her small size balance bike. I bought her a Guardian in her size and left the pedals off. No coaster brakes (freewheel hub) and an effective handbrake system that the applies rear then front from one lever. She “balanced biked” with it for maybe 3 months before the pedals went on to stay. The other thing about balance biking is she immediately puts her feet down if something goes sideways so she seldom wrecks.

We bought Woom 3 16" bikes for our twin 5 year old grand daughters for Christmas. They are freehub, hand brake models and are 12 pound bikes. They started without pedals and used them as balance bikes for about 4 weeks. They put the pedals on and have been riding up to 4 to 5 miles per outing for the last 4 months. My only complaint is they are geared for ease of start and pedaling, which means they are spinning out on the down hill slope.

While these bikes are pretty expensive they are great bikes with an active after market. They re-sell very quickly at about 80% of purchase price. Woom will also buy the bike back from the original owner at about 60% of purchase price, but you have to pay a fee to opt in to the program. All in, ownership after sale of bike to upsize, is comparable to less expensive, heavier bikes, albeit with a higher initial investment.

Our kids are fairly young, so we tend to get them "new" bikes every year since they are growing so much. When kids are young, go for fit but inexpensive. As they get more into it, spend a little more to extend the life of the bike for them.

^This.
I have a big box bike with selling point fork. Took the springs out. Drilled holes in the outer stanchions and plug welded the stanchions together.

Those forks are the worst of both worlds because the geometry will be messed up if you try to use a normal fork. All those forks do is add weight and complexity.