Tony P.

I'm in the process of buying a 20" bike for my soon-to-be 7 year old grandson. My dilemma is over whether to get a bike with gears. I assumed gears were better than no gears (except for the weight) but I visited my LBS & was surprised to find most 20" bikes sold are single speed.


I'd appreciate hearing from those with children riding 20" bikes to find out if gears are a benefit.


BTW, the two bikes under consideration are a Specialized Hotrock 20" 7-speed or the Specialized Riprock 20" coaster.

clengman

I just bought a 20" bike for my daughter. I asked my lbs proprietor the same question. He had two pieces of advice.

1) He said that frames for 20" geared bikes seemed to be slightly smaller than single speeds so a single speed might fit her for a little while longer.

2) kids learn to use gears quickly, so I needn't worry that it's over complicated.

3) (and one reason I love this particular shop) He suggested I look on Craigslist. He had kid's bikes to sell, but told me frankly that if it was his kid he'd buy something used. Most 20" bikes you find used will have been very lightly used.

We live in a neighborhood with some hills, so I ended up buying her a mountain bike-style with 6 speeds.

One observation is that it's really difficult for her to use the grip shifters. Her hands just aren't big enough to get a good hold on them. I may swap them for thumb shifters.

Oh. And my daughter really prefers the hand brakes on her 20" to the coaster brake that was on her 16".

indiana_jane

My kid just outgrew his 20 inch single speed. We ride all the time, and he has not missed the gears, and not having them cuts downdon potential mainenance issues. We do, however, live in a pancake-flat city. That probably makes a difference.

His new bike -- with gears -- has been ordered and will be into our LBS this week. We will see how much of a difference it makes.

CliffordK

Kids grow quickly.

I think I gave my nephew his first 24" road bike at about age 8, and he was up to 650c size in about 2 years, and then another 2 years, and needs a 700c.

Anyway, if you wish to go with a MTB... perhaps just get a cheap 20" BMX bike for now, then get a 24" MTB with shifters and gears next year.

clengman

He must be a big kid. I have my daughter's seat as low as it can go and she can just reach the pedals. I'm sure she'll need be to ride it for a few years, at least.

My niece is 10 and still rides her 18" BMX.

jeffreythree

My 9yo daughter loves her single speed 20" BMX bike. It goes as fast as she wants and can take a her where ever she points it. She loves the combo of a freewheel and handbrakes; so I am glad I did not get her another coaster brake bike.

dylandewandel

If they're completely new to bicycles, I think they'd have just as much fun on a single speed as a geared setup. Really depends on what you plan to do; if you're going to do some serious riding with them where you could teach the significance of gears, what they're for and how they work, then buy that (because I doubt you're going to let a 7 year old ride too far out of sight..). If you're just going to throw them a bike to ride around the driveway and that's about it, I'd go with an entry level BMX bike.

veganbikes

I am for gears on a 20" kids learn quickly and if they are already able to pedal and balance gears a perfect thing to add. I know when I learned how to ride with gears it took me a while because I was much older where as if I was a kid I could have learned a lot faster. Plus with say the geared bikes you have hand brakes which is another great thing to learn and get kids off of the coaster. That all being said single speeds are fun.

sdmc530

I think this really depends on the kid. You will know if your grandbaby can handle the gears. Kids do learn very fast. My 7 year old is still on a Trek single speed and can't wait to get big enough to get a bike like dads. Dad can't either actually.

I think if the child is really into biking go for it, but if they just need a bike to abuse then go single speed, kids are really good on them. think about it, I was like 13 before I was able to move on from a single speed, I think most of were in that same age for the conversion? We turned out fine.....I think?

ksryder

Only if it's Campy 😂

starkmojo

I would say get the kid really comfortable on a single speed first and then move up to gears.

mstateglfr 

both my girls rode 7sp bikes once they hit a 20" wheel.
one is actually still using the bike.

they both used it as a single speed, for all intents and purposes.
here are goods and bads of it.

bad-
- grip twist shift is usually really difficult for little hands. Shimano and SRAM are both tough.
- more chance for RD to be out of alignment if the kid doesnt lay the bike down gears up.

good-
- once hands are stong enough, they learn gearing basics.
- gears legitimately do help, at least they have for my girls. Gears make the massive epic heroic climbs of 25' over 3 blocks possible. All seriousness, they have helped.


even though the 20" bike is usually ridden single speed, I can choose the gearing right before we ride and go. Or I have changed the gearing to climb legit in town hills at the stoplight before and changed the gearing back once finished.



so its sort of a waste until the kid's hand is strong enough and then its good, but still, you can set it depending on need before they are strong enough.

Tony P.

Thanks to everyone for responding. I went into this assuming a bike with gears was the way to go but have come to realize that's probably not the case. The possible difficulty shifting is something that's concerned me but has come to the forefront. I suspect his hand strength and maneuverability may not yet be what it needs to be for shifting, particularly with twist shifters. I don't want my grandson to become frustrated or disenchanted with biking because he's unable to do something others handle easily.

clengman

I think it's reasonable. I don't think it's that important one way or the other for a bike at this level.

I knew that my daughter probably wouldn't be using her gears right off the bat, but she'll have the bike until she's 10 or 11, maybe 12 depending on when the next growth spurt hits. By that time she'll certainly have the hand strength and confidence on the bike to use them, and my wife and I will probably have the confidence to let her be more independent and ride around the neighborhood on her own. I don't know what the terrain is like where you are, but you really can't go anywhere from our house without hitting a hill.

dabac

I know ONE kid with a multi gear bike who used the gears about right.
I've lost count of the number of kids I've seen stalling out on inclines on account of the bike being in a high gear, blissfully unaware that there was something they could do to make it better. The latest, about 45 minutes ago.
I've probably seen about half a dozen dads riding just behind hollering "shift, shift, shift!" as they see the speed drop.

Retro Grouch 

I think that the greater concern has to do with brakes. Does he have the dexterity to operate hand brakes and are his hands big enough to have the strength and range of motion for hand brakes?

cyclist2000

20 years ago I started my daughter with gears on her trailer bike, Burley Piccolo. Then for her first real bike I was looking for a midget racerbut couldn't find one so she got a 20" Raleigh mtb that was 3x7.

So to answer the question, yes introduce them to gears.

clengman

I think a tag along is such a great teaching tool. We have an Adam's with a single speed, but I talk to my daughter the whole time we're riding. I explain what I'm doing when we ride in traffic, I tell her when I'm downshifting to prepare to climb a hill, and when I upshift again to drive us up over the top of a hill. Now she tells me what to do. "Daddy! Here comes a hill! You better shift gears!" I still usually have to give her a little pep talk half way up to keep her pedaling. I tell her she's my turbo booster.

ollo_ollo

Gave my 8 y.o. grand daughter a 24", vintage 10 spd, step thru with stem shifters. She had no problem mastering shifting and hand brakes. Burned the neighborhood little boys on their mt. bikes, but when she was 11, told me "This bike is fast, but it's not in style!". Got dad to buy her a mt. bike, then she put streamers on the bar ends. (She was later a H.S. and College cheer leader ) Now living on her own & "style" is still very important, so it's a good idea to get feed back from the kid for your choice. Historical pic: Don

fietsbob

2 kinds of bikes with 20" Wheels

BMX , and Folding bikes..

not a good idea to jump and do half pipe X games stunts

On a Folding bike . (girls rarely do the stunt riding)

Folding bikes have gears, and can be adjusted as kid grows ,

You ride a BMX Bike standing on the pedals , not sitting down

except while coasting , or stopped and hanging out with your buddies..



....

Litespud

Kids bikes are going to be left out in the rain, dropped on whichever side is nearest the ground, crashed into things and generally abused far beyond anything you'd do to your own bike. They're kids - thats what they do. Hand brakes are good, but not essential, and gears are just something to get damaged. Our kids' bikes were all rehabbed dumpster divers, or from Goodwill stores/CL, and as they outgrew them or the accumulated damage became incompatible with continued use, we gave them away or junked them. When the first one came to me and said "Dad I want to get a road bike" was the first time I considered a "real bike", because I knew they had reached the point where their bike was more than just the thing they picked up and dropped as needed, but something that they would look after

Razorrock

My son got a 20" geared bike on his seventh Birthday this summer. I changed to a trigger shifter and he picked up on shifting right away. The hand brakes without a coaster brake took a little more time to learn. We live where hills are common so a geared bike has helped him.

fietsbob

Burly Piccolo, mentioned above, offered a front wheel/handlebar assembly,
to turn the trail a bike into a proper 2 wheel bike...