Help choosing a child's bike.

[t0ny84]

Hello all,
I have come to ask for your knowledge and expertise in choosing a bike for a 6-7 year old.
Size would be 50 cm / 20".

For Christmas (I know we are cutting it fine) I am looking to get my daughter a bike.
The requirements for the bike are:
- Cheap but not crap.
- Something she can use to learn to ride.

For the price range I have been looking at:

Kmart
50cm Spectrum
50cm Bella Vintage Cruiser
50cm Crusader Mountain Bike

Target
50cm Cyclops Steel Bike
50cm Cyclops Cruiser

Big W
Repco Dreamy
Repco Bayside Cruiser
Mambo Dragster
Diamondback Miz Dela Cruiser

Anaconda
Huffy So Sweet
Huffy Good Vibrations
Fluid 20" Mountain Bike

Now I am aware that these bikes will most likely not be the same as what I could get from a bike shop but currently I cannot justify the investment if she ends up not liking riding a bike / wants to go back to her scooter. If she does like riding and wants to do it more than every so often then I will be looking into a better bike.

I am wondering if anyone has had any experience with any of these brands or if not might be able to let me know what I should check these bikes have / don't have when narrowing the choice.

Lastly would you recommend a bike with front/rear handbrakes or one with front handbrake and rear "pedal brake".

Thanks for your guidance in trying to choose a bike.

Tony

[MattyK]

The requirements for the bike are:
- Cheap but not crap.

You need a "none of the above" option.

Get a 2nd hand ByK E450, or similar brand name bike.

[bychosis]

All the dept store bikes are rubbish, in general. The closest to a decent bike out of that list is probably the Fluid MTB. 2nd hand is a much better option, but can be difficult at short notice.

Having said that, a simple bike with coaster (back pedal) brake isn’t a complex beast and with some know how those rubbish bikes can be tuned to run ok, they will just be heavy and rust quickly.

[10speedsemiracer]

The requirements for the bike are:
- Cheap but not crap.

You need a "none of the above" option.

Get a 2nd hand ByK E450, or similar brand name bike.

I was going to say the same..

[Mububban]

Hello all,
I have come to ask for your knowledge and expertise in choosing a bike for a 6-7 year old.
Size would be 50 cm / 20".

Now I am aware that these bikes will most likely not be the same as what I could get from a bike shop but currently I cannot justify the investment if she ends up not liking riding a bike / wants to go back to her scooter. If she does like riding and wants to do it more than every so often then I will be looking into a better bike.

My youngest has just outgrown his 20" bike at age 8, he's average height.
The main thing that will kill little legs is weight. Cheap kids bikes are notoriously heavy, often heavier than full sized adult bikes.

Consider that a "lightweight" 20 inch kids bike like a ByK still weighs 10.2g (we owned and weighed the model with 3 internal gears). Compare that to your child's body weight. Now consider cheap kids bikes can easily weigh 12-13kg or more.

How undulating is your suburb and where you ride? Gears are a leg saver for kids, a single speed cheap bike can have them walking and pushing quite quickly.

Second hand is the way to go if you have time to wait for the right bike. If not, I'd go for the Fluid MTB. Suspension will do next to nothing but add weight, but will be a better frame than the K-Mart stuff.

[Tamiya]

Concur with above, I get to see/wrench/recycle most of those (AT) our primary school.
Only thing halfway decent you've listed is Fluid... & they're only good value when 50% off

For around $200-300 brandnew check out Malvern Star too - their Roxy/Attitude/Livewire aren't too bad.

Reid has some junior bikes.

Currently the only 20" MTB in our fleet is a Giant Areva, yeah it's pretty decent & well built.
I'd recommend visiting Giant or Trek showrooms but their entry point is probably $400ish.

[Mububban]

Hello all,
I have come to ask for your knowledge and expertise in choosing a bike for a 6-7 year old.
Size would be 50 cm / 20".

Fluid 20" Mountain Bike

The FLuid 20" MTB are on sale, $199 down from $399

https://www.anacondastores.com/cycling/ ... BP90112773

https://www.anacondastores.com/cycling/ ... BP90112775

[ColinOldnCranky]

IMPORTANT:

I have seen too many kids learner bikes that, quite simply, have a geometry that will make the bike less stable,wanting to deviate from a straight line. It does this my having a front wheel that is happier turning away from straight ahead than to remain tracking forward. Allow me to explain at length as it is important not to get it wrong.

A chopper motobike has a geometry that makes the bike want to keep tracking straight. A lazy stable bike suited to long easy cruising.

This is achieved in part by having the head tube stretching the forks further out front than other bikes ("rake").

The other factor is how far in front of the line of the head tube is the front wheel axle (offset or "trail"). The further it is the more the wheel will want to keep going in a straight line.

You can see what I am talking about in a sixties "Chopper" style bike as in the movie Easy Rider.

On the other hand racing push bikes have a geometry quite the opposite of a lazy easy riding chopper. It makes for a bike that is more responsive to steering input and that is appropriate for competition riding. That setup is appropriate for a bike that you want to be very responsive to steering movements.

However it is NOT appropriate for a kid learning to ride. It'll just make it harder to control and more inclined to kick the kid off the bike and onto the hard road.

I mention all this at length because I have seen many kids bikes that have almost perpendicular head tubes and very little forward offset. It's hard to believe but it is what it is - a product not fit for purpose.

There ARE kids learners built correctly and there are ones that should not be sold and it's not necessarily aligned to price or the outlet that sells them. You just have to know what to look for.

[jasonc]

Hello all,
I have come to ask for your knowledge and expertise in choosing a bike for a 6-7 year old.
Size would be 50 cm / 20".

Fluid 20" Mountain Bike

The FLuid 20" MTB are on sale, $199 down from $399

https://www.anacondastores.com/cycling/ ... BP90112773

https://www.anacondastores.com/cycling/ ... BP90112775

I put two of these together for family on Xmas Eve. Both were different. Both ok. Cable cap came off on one. Had to adjust brakes. Apart from that were ok

[twowheels]

Quote - For Christmas (I know we are cutting it fine) I am looking to get my daughter a bike.
I think the OP meant xmas 2018, the horse has bolted.

[Derny Driver]

... the horse has bolted.

and I think the OP has left the building as well

[twowheels]

... the horse has bolted.

and I think the OP has left the building as well

All he wanted for xmas was an answer to his question on his budget for a new bike for his daughter.

[t0ny84]

Apologies for the late reply I must say I totally forgot about this, thanks everyone for your input.

I ended up getting the Repco Dreamy, it has been a good bike and whilst not from a bike shop nor a "brand name" she was very excited about it being delivered from Santa. My biggest issues with the bike would be:

- The top tube thickness (pain in the backside to get on the bike rack even with an adaptor bar).

- The brake setup - whilst there isn't anything wrong with them but it has a pedal brake for the back wheel which I found is a bit hard to get my daughter used to.

Well thanks again for everyone's input!

t0ny84