Originally Posted by
az1900
I'm having the hardest time deciding off of information on the web. The bike stores around here will only have 1 bike in this size and thus they try to sell me that. I'd be happy to buy from a bike store, and spend up to around $300 (we have a younger one who will use the bike eventually) for a lighter weight bike but how do you choose based on reviews online? No training wheels necessary, 21 inch inseem. So a 20 inch bike, or if we get bmx maybe 16 inch.
My husband turned down RoyalBaby due to that name being printed all over the bike. My husband wants one that has pegs and will do tricks, however the BMX bikes that I see cost more than our budget and I believe would be uncomfortable for most of the riding which will be just around the neighborhood or on park trails.
I'm not good with his choice of a Mongoose because it seems too heavy at over 30 lbs.
I've read the recommendation to choose a manufacturer that only makes kids bikes because they get the geometry correct and others don't usually. Is that true?
Those recommendations on the mom-blog-sites are mostly garbage. Companies that build good bikes can absolutely get the geometry right for kids - but might be a little more focused on kids that want to ride aggressively than the kid who's just following mom down the bike path to the park and back, which seems to be what the Woom is built for. Very stable, long - hard to handle to do anything but ride sedately. Spawn & Frog bikes both build bikes kids are going to want to ride as well as be able to...
Weight actually is fairly important - because the kids need to be able to lift the bikes. I bought my kids 24" Hotrock Street bikes at least a year before they were ready - but my oldest started riding it right away because it was lighter than his 20" (which was a cheaper bike-shop bike). The Cannondale 20" are really good at that size.
As far as BMX - Mongoose were really cool when we were kids, but their absolute best bike is very much entry level now. A really good BMX in that size will be closer to 10lbs than 30. If you've a BMX race track nearby - it's a great sport for little riders.