bassJAM

Thanks everyone for the input, I've done a lot of reading today and have a better idea of what's out there for kids. Woom, Prevelo, Clearly all look pretty nice and I might seriously consider those for a 20" which I think will fit them all a little longer than the 16". I think I'll go the used route for a 16" bike. I really want to get her off that Strider 14x so my son can try it out, and it's not the best bike for longer rides anyway. She's short for a 5.5 year old and not as aggressive as her little brother so I don't think she's quite ready to step up to a 20" yet.

dedhed

Not always selling for more than BB bikes.
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/bik...336471372.html

UniChris

What I notice as an indication that a kids bike is too small is when they alternating standing up to pedal and sitting down to coast, especially if you've already used up all the seat post range.

Stepping them up to something larger can then help a lot for overall pace.

That said the hammer/coast thing seems to take a while to outgrow. Also odd ways of getting on (or off) that may preclude getting the seat up to ideal height.

There are countless 16's and 20's hanging from garage rafters, but they're worth so little that I suspect they're as likely to be given to a neighbour kid or cousin, or put on the curb free on a clean out day, as end up listed for sale.

Would be interesting if a school/church/community fundraiser type charity sale specifically requested them as donations.

Darth Lefty 

There's two schools of thought about the seat height. Some people want to go on Bike Rides with their kids and they get bikes that are easy to sit and pedal. Some people want their kids to have Bike Skills and they tend toward MTB/BMX style things and don't concentrate a lot on seat height, rather reach. Standing to pedal for that bike style is normal.

AnthonyG

The Giant does look a bit better to my eye although usual caveat that it may come down to the condition of the specific bike.

Broodax

The other thing you can do is just go to your LBS. If mine are any indication, they'll have a line of used kids bikes outside. And the inside, Trek, Giant, and others all make kid sizes as well (not always down to 16"? But 20"+ for sure) if you see a new one that you want to have last through 3 kids.

mstateglfr 

That bike would squarely fit into the next comment from that post...

Trek, Specialized, and Giant all sell kids bikes that are a step above big box bikes, but are tough to categorize as quality. Nutted axles, absurdly heavy and overbuilt frames, stamped steel 7sp shifting with grip shifters that are tough for small hands to use- none of that, to me, is quality.

BikingViking793 

I like the Nishiki and Diamondback kids bikes from Dicks. Nice bikes and the resale was pretty good too cause they are better bikes.

bassJAM

So I went with a Belsize 16. The few options on CL were sold, and nothing was on Offerup or Nextdoor except typical walmart bikes marked way more than they should be. I really liked the Priority Start 16, but it wasn't available until August. Park Cycles looked like another decent one but no availability date was provided. My daughter said "EEEW!!" when I showed her the only color option on the Guardian Ethos, and the Byk E350 had higher gearing than I wanted for our steep driveway. Woom and Clearly were out of my price range but looked like really nice options. They, as well as the Priority 20 and Fairdale are bookmarked for when we need a 20" and I'll feel okay spending a little more.

I couldn't get coaster brakes with the Belsize, but that's a personal choice and I know many disagree on coasters. One the flip side it's super light which can't be a bad thing. It's only available in silver right now (apparently there's a bike shortage?) but when I showed my daughter the picture she said "Silver is ACTUALLY perfect for me, I'm a very shiny person!".

Thanks for everyone's help, looking forward for it arriving and putting it together.