leila0915

Hello,

We need to buy new bikes for our two kids - 5 & 7. They both can do a 20". We will primarily be riding as a family on paved roads as well as some gravel trails, and some hills. Our budget is around $300. I have been reading about bikes and didn't realize weight was such a big factor but it does make sense so we would prefer a lighter bike. Also, we would prefer hand brakes and not coaster brakes. We have 1 younger child so at least one of these bikes will go to him. We have been looking for used bikes too but they are rare and would prefer new at this point because we want to buy soon. Thank you for your help.

Olefeller77 

Used bikes would be a problem in these stressed times. I wouldn't get to stressed over the weight issue. Your kids young legs will do fine on one of the Wally world offerings. You would need to tighten all nuts and bolts of course and keep the chain oiled.
No doubt there will be many other opinions, but be prepared to pile lots more cash on your $300, lots more. Good for you getting them on bikes.

Dave Mayer

I have a couple of perspectives on this.. First, I volunteer as a mechanic/instructor at a big-city bike Co-op, and we see many bikes come through the door - every week. We have a large stash of kids bikes that we simply give away. Second, in December I was shopping for a kids bike (large 4-year old) for a relative. I was frequently scanning through our kids bikes at the shop, and I also visited the big-box stores, thrift stores and kids second-hand stores, and finally several local shops.

Overall impression: I was appalled by the quality of the options, and I looked at several dozen bikes. On almost all of the bikes, the components were low-end garbage that would have broken quickly, would have been almost impossible to keep in acceptable working order due to their abysmal quality, and were setup so as to be dangerous - in most cases.

Weight: no kidding! Some of the bikes for 5 year olds weighed in excess of 40 pounds, or more than double what any of my good (adult road) bikes weight. The kids bikes were unnecessarily ballasted down due to the massive steel frame tubes that were designed to look like they were aluminum, steel wheels, and useless suspension elements that would have bounced around like pogo sticks during riding. The worst of the worst were the big-box store full-suspension bikes with useless brakes, and wobbly forks and suspension linkages that would have been grossly inefficient to ride uphill, and terrifying to ride downhill. Plus the huge knobby tires that would have slowed down any rider down unnecessarily.

So after a long and discouraging search, I bit the bullet and shelled out $325 at a shop, for a decent bike which had NO suspension, alu frame and wheels, good (front and rear) hand brakes designed for small hands, and somewhat slick tires. Still, this little bike weighted more than most of my road bikes. Trust me: weight is a huge factor in performance and riding pleasure. If you've never ridden a light road bike, you'll not yet appreciate this.

Nevertheless, the bike I ended up purchasing was still poorly set up by my standards, and required an hour of work to true the wheels, set up the brake reach properly, and adjust the headset and hubs.

Good luck.

kingston 

I have 4 kids who range in age from 16-20 right now, so I went through the whole buying bikes for kids thing several years ago. At 5&7, unless they are already super interested in cycling as a hobby, I'd just get some cheap coaster brake department store bikes. Kids don't ride very far or very fast so it doesn't make any sense to me to get nice bikes that they'll just grow out of in a season or two. If they show an interest, you can get them a nicer bike when they're ready and big enough for another bike anyway.

Olefeller77 

My great grandson is riding a 20" BCA Crossfire. Last fall a couple days after he turned 7 he rode a 25+ mile trip. I offered many time to let me call the wife for rescue but he was having too much fun. The other great grandson (8) doesn't have any interest in distance but enjoys his Kent ATB 24 2.4 Terra. that I picked up at a local yard sale for $20.00. I would imagine it is a Wall mart offering. I asked him if he wanted a new bike this year. He said "I'm fine, I love my bike". He doesn't know or care at this point if it is a lead sled. I wish they made the Crossfire in a 24" for the 7 yr old.
I guess my point is I couldn't afford to put both boys on light weight nice bikes. I think the big box places are quite aware of that situation.
I have heard that the BCA bikes are made in USA but don't quote me on that.
I might add that both boy's bikes have functioning kick stands. ---And want them there. lol

alo

It seems the OP has this figured out already, but for other readers: (large numbers of people read forums but don't participate)

I would get the largest size the kids can ride. They will grow bigger. They will grow out of a smaller one sooner. Larger bikes are likely to be better quality too.

I would look at second hand bikes first, and only go to new if you cant find a decent second hand bike.

I am amazed at the prices people are talking about. In many parts of Australia, you can get enough bikes from the trash to never have to buy one, both adults and kids bikes. I know not everybody gets things from the trash, often because they are well off financially. That leaves more for us others.

I would be surprised if you can't buy second hand kids bikes for under $50.

leila0915

Hi. OP here.

Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciate it! A few questions:

1. what brands of bikes would be good to even consider? No one has really mentioned any. Around $300 even a little more?

2. my kids have these REI coop bikes now and we ride a lot. We live right by a trail in orange county CA and we bike from our house down to the trail. Right now they go about 3-5 miles a few times a week. So this isn't a once in a while bike we are looking to get for them. And they have both outgrown the bikes and can't really ride comfortably anymore. And they do not like the bikes they say its not comfortable.

3. My husband found a few used ones on craigslist. I can't post the links. They are Trek Jet Pack 20, Trek Precaliber, and Specialized Hotrock 20" ones. Used they range from $175-200. Either of these good to consider? Thank you so much!

Russ Roth

All of what he said, I will never understand a "cyclist" with a fleet of bikes who thinks nothing of dropping a couple hundred on a pair of shoes, over a hundred on a helmet, and even 70 on a tire and yet looks askance at the cost of a kid's bike and thinks that, they're kids, they'll just cope with the weight, or the poor spec and just get them whatever won't hold together since they'll grow out of it.

To the OP, if you can find used off craigslist for a good price go for it, the Specialized hotrock tends to be light enough as far as kids bikes go.
For kids bikes in 20 and 24" I have preferred to go with Cannondale over crank length, so far its the only brand in its price range that is speccing the proper sized crank. 110mm on a 20" bike, for 12" and 16" I found a brand called Park Cycles in Canada that had the best price point, low weight and proper crank length, really affordable, only wish they did a 20". One of the biggest issues I see with most kids bikes are crank length, kids like to have the seat down so they can touch, not only does this result in bad leg extension but it means their knees typically go well above optimal height in relation to their hips, a shorter crank might make optimal leg extension worse but it means they have better leverage and less pressure on their joints for the down pedal which is much better for them. Bikes in the 7-800 range that specialize in kids bikes get this, mainline bikes don't except C-dale. The biggest defect to every bike I've found in the 3-500 range is that stupid 7sp revoshifter from Shimano, the 8sp works fine, the 7sp is hard for a parent to turn. I had moderately more success putting an easier to push thumbshifter on my son's 20" but an older light action sram gripshift might be best. Don't have a good solution for this one.
People think nothing now a days of shoving a 300.00 I-whatever in their kid's hands, bolting a 2k tv to the wall or using a 1k phone, how is a 350.00 bike so expensive, maybe you'll only get 75 back on it when done but the rides and memories and knowing you gave them something light and more fun to ride is worth it.

Dave Mayer

I won't recommend brands or models, but usually the big 'name' brand bikes are much better in terms of design and build quality. But be prepared to pay a lot more for these over a department-store bike.


But here are some basic design and construction principles you should look out for, from the perspective of an engineer and Co-op bike mechanic:

• NO suspension, front or rear. Unless the kid is 75+ pounds and riding over head-sized rocks at warp speeds. The ineffective suspension forks found on kids bikes just add 2 pounds of useless weight, and a bunch of energy-sapping suspension bob, plus vague and imprecise steering. Full suspension bikes (a.k.a. pogo sticks) are even worse, as they add even more weight, and they are a misery to climb with, and because of the floppy linkages, they are terrifying to descend on.
  
• As light as possible: again, trust me: a light bike is a joy to ride on.
  
• Alu frames and wheels. Steel wheels are heavy and hopeless at actually braking. Particularly on the first trace of moisture on the rims.
  
• V-brake type rim brakes front and rear. No weak coaster or back-pedal type brakes. Make sure the kids can reach the levers, and that the levers do not bottom-out on the grips during actual braking. This is the biggest single problem I see with kids bikes: the brake levers cannot be safely operated by kids with small hands.
  
• No disc brakes. At this cost level of bike, discs will add more useless weight, be ineffective and just for show. They will require constant adjustment due to rotors rubbing, and within the first month the kids will bend the rotors, leading to all forms of misery.
  
• Q-factor. A sleeper issue of biomechanical efficiency. The pedals should be as close together as possible (low Q), when looked upon from above the bike. This applies to all bikes, particularly kids bikes. All of the kids bikes I saw had huge Q's, which led to the bikes riding as if you are on a horse.
  
• Crankarm length... this should be low to match the size of the child.
  
• No product endorsement bikes. I don't have a problem if the branding of the bike is tied into a kids movie or toy, but the issue here is that a significant share of the cost of the bike will be tied up in royalty payments to some big movie or toy factory. Money that should have been spend on quality components.
  

Finally, regardless of how carefully you shop or how much you pay for a bike, it will be set up poorly. Not as poorly as the appallingly dangerous setups on the big-box store bikes, but still bank on one hour of shop time to fully tune the bike. Stiff wheel bearings, stiff headsets, rims rubbing on brake pads, brake hand levers bottoming out on the bars (no braking!), brake pads not set up squarely on the rims etc. Some issues will be annoyances, other serious safety issues. So bank another $75 for 60 minutes of shop time.

kingston 

It's based on personal experience. At least with all four of my kids, they couldn't tell the difference between a $50 bike and a $500 bike at 7 years old, so sure, if you want to buy your kids a nice bike go to one of the big four and get one that fits. They're all good. But my kids were all perfectly satisfied with cheap department store bikes at that age. Even at the distances the OP describes. I have no problem spending money on kids sports equipment, my kids are swimmers so I have been buying $400 swimsuits several times a year for over a decade, but I don't see the point on wasting money on something they don't really care about. FWIW, I rode RAGBRAI (>500 miles in 7 days) when I was 8 on a Schwinn Stingray 5-speed, so I know little kids can ride crappy bikes for long distances with no problem.

Russ Roth

Of course they didn't care, just like everyone else they don't know what they don't know. How can they miss something they aren't aware of? I like going on 10-30 mile rides with my kids and I like that they're able to do it at a pretty good clip. Most of that is them but knowing I gave them an advantage to doing it just a little better or faster and more comfortably makes it worth the money. I've got no problem tooling down the boardwalk on a 350.00 trek 7100 so I don't mind what I consider to be a cheap bike but I've ridden walmart crap, and it sucked and I'd never ride it again, so why make my kids ride it? If all you can afford is a walmart special then so be it, if you can afford better then spend better. I can't image why I would even spend 400 on a swimsuit let alone multiples when one from walmart seems to work good enough for my kids and its not like they're too heavy or they've complained about how its ruined their swimming.

kingston 

Russ Roth, all I can do is share my experiences on this board, and in my experience with my 4 kids, cheap 20" department store coaster brake bikes were 100% adequate when they were seven. Again, in my experience, 30 mile bike rides at a good clip is quite rare for a seven year old, so if I had one of those I probably would have gotten them a nicer bike too. When my kids got into 24" bikes I started getting them nicer ones.

I agree with you on the swimsuits by the way, but when you go to a big meet and every kid on the block has a tech suit, your kid needs one too. My only point in bringing up the swimsuits is that I don't mind spending money on things when it matters to the kid. Thankfully USA swimming banned tech suits for 12-and-under last year so that's no longer a thing for little kids.

Viich

So, my 9yo and 7yo are both on Specialized Hotrock (street), I found the two of them a few years ago on Kijiji, and they are far better than most bikes,and there are a lot of them around. They're light enough that my oldest rode it at 6, when he probably wasn't big enough, but it was lighter and he was a strong rider. My niece and nephew have Cannondale bikes - they are slightly better, but comparable.

The boys started BMX racing last year - it's amazing how light even the entry race bikes are - down around 17 lbs in the size you're looking for (called 'junior'). I wouldn't want my oldest to have it as his only bike because of the lack of a front brake, but my 7yo doesn't get going as far or fast. Most 7yo don't use gears anyway, do BMX bike doesn't give up much.

Darth Lefty 

There's unfortunately no way for a kid bike to cost less than an adult bike of similar quality - and grownups expect to get many more years out of an adult bike, so most of the ones for kids are a bit junky.

The Specialized I'm working on for my kid right now is a pretty great frame begrimed with some pretty crap components... though they are a lot better than the equivalent Trek model. I'm replacing a few of the worst offenders (steel handlebar, chain guard / idler, freewheel hub), leaving others that I don't have great solutions for (especially the suspension fork). It could be built out with 1x11, hollow spindle crank and a very nice fork if I wanted. But honestly kid 1 doesn't ride that hard, kid 2B isn't showing promise of riding very hard, and kid 2G is going to need something smaller sooner... I'm kind of choking on spending enough on a tiny single speed that only fits her and shopping used for a Cleary or Woom

Russ Roth

Check out the parkcycles.ca I mentioned above if the smallest needs a 14" or 16" bike; under 300 and mine weighed in at 16lbs out the door. Could probably swap out the seatpost and the BB to take another 1-2lbs off but really not bad.

MRT2

When my kid needed a 20" wheel bike, I bought him the Raleigh Rowdy, which seemed spec'd similar to Trek but at a lower price. Since I bought it from a local bike shop, it was set up by them. I had them swap out the heavy knobby tires for a lighter semi slick which made it better for road use. At that time, my son's limit was about 6 or 8 miles (usually with a stop for ice cream half way), and the bike got the job done. The only thing that failed in the 3 years he rode that bike was a front V brake assembly, which cost maybe $20 to replace.

Because my son was growing rapidly, I decided to skip the 24" wheel size and go right to a small adult size 26" wheel mountain bike, and went with a used Trek 800, also purchased from a local bike shop. By this time my son was maybe 9 or 10, and he was able to ride much further. And even with a relatively heavy mountain bike fitted with street tires, he was able to ride reasonably efficiently for up to 25 or 30 miles. That bike was actually really good and lasted him until he outgrew it somewhere around his 12th birthday, at which point he was able to ride my medium sized Bianchi hybrid.

It comes down to balancing cost versus how long you will use the bike. Because children grow quickly, most childrens bikes will only fit for 2, maybe 3 years. But at the same time, you need to get them something that fits, and is safe and actually fun to ride. I am reasonably proud of how I balanced these factors because my son is almost 19 and still loves to ride, both road and mountain bikes.

Darth Lefty 

^^^ parkcycles.ca is all out of stock

Olefeller77 

I had my say about cheap bikes for young kids but when I felt they had bounced around on the heavies long enough I switched bikes on them . At 8 or 9 I got one of my grandsons a Specialized Dolce designed for a woman. That was what I could find short enough for him to ride .I think that set me back about $700. A year or 2 later I got the other grandson a woman's model Trek to get a stand over he could live with . I think that was well over $500. Plan to part with some cash if you want to put kids on 70c wheels. lol
The later grandson is now a Marine in South Carolina and is small bodied enough to still ride the Dolce.

TexasGrg

I have been looking for similar bikes. Here is a list I have compiled so far of brands I am comfortable with. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to check them out or buy one to give my final thoughts. I had links to all of them but it won’t let me post URLs since I’m new here. Any inputs from others for or against any specifically I’d like to hear. I’d love to find a used one of any on the list. If I’m buying new it’s probably going to be the Scott Scale 20, Giant XTC Jr lite, or Haro flightline 20 plus.


WOOM 4

Ugly but well engineered, light



Pello Redi 20 (single speed 17 lbs $420) or Rover 20 (7 speed 20 lbs)

Light, well designed



Cleary Owl 20 1 or 3 speed. Light but steel frame



Giant ARX 20 looks awesome aggressive stance and light $430



Giant XTC JR 20 lite $280

Less aggressive handlebars, not sure what other differences vs ARX



Scott Scale 20 Rigid $350 or suspension $300

Looks likes a winner



Scott Roxter 20 $370

Winner but scale is listed 2 lbs lighter



Specialized riprock 20 coaster $270



Or specialized riprock 20 $410-450

Gears and front suspension



Haro Flightline 20 plus $320

Rigid forks winner

22.3 lbs



Trek wahoo 20 $430

Rigid fork

19.6 lbs



Cannondale quick 20 $380

Rigid forks

7 speed

Good geometry



Cannondale Cujo 20 $475

Similar to quick upgrade to disk brakes larger tires “narrow stance cranks” (low Q?) not sure different than Quick

Viich

Cleary are great - no reason that a steel frame should be a negative.

I'm not sure about the difference in the Cannondale models, but my niece and nephew have them, and they're great bikes. My kids are on Specialized Hotrock Street 24 (no suspension - from before they switched to the RipRock) which is a little cheaper (and heavier with lower-spec components) than the Cannondale, but they're both cheaper new and easier to find used.

I moved them to the 24" early - they ride 20" for BMX still, but I didn't want to get a derailleur setup on the 20". My kids anyway didn't use gears well at that point, I swapped in a Shimano Nexus 3sp internal gear hub - it worked great. They can shift while stopped (great when they forget to shift then end up halfway up a hill), and they usually stop pedaling when they shift anyway (too many things at once - but having to let up more is a drawback of IGH in general)

Anyway, those are all great bikes.