Recommend a bike for my 5 year old.

katonk · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:24 pm

Can some one recommend a bike for my 5 year old?

I'm thinking he needs an 18 or 20 inch coaster brake bike. Haro makes an 18 inch and Spec, GT and Haro make 20 inch bikes that look OK. There are others for sure.

His current bike is a trike. He's 43" tall with a 17.5" inseam. I'm not sure if we'd use training wheels or just take off the pedals and have him "walk" on it.

The next bike for him will likely be his older brother's 24" Spec geared (1x8) hard tail.

Did I mention that I need the bike by Saturday and I'm poor?

Thanks.

Robo · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:15 pm

I got the 16 inch Trek Float for my 5-year old back when he was just turning 4.

http://treksandiego.com/itemdetails.cfm?libid=39643

It's turned out well, and he's stoked to ride. This has removable cranks to make the pedal-less option easy. But because he was so young and couldn't reach the ground at first, I started with training wheels (extra $, they don't come with this bike) instead of removing the cranks. Now I kinda wish I went with one of those lower pedal-less bikes, as he would've been pedaling way earlier. Training wheels aren't fun, and they're reluctant to give them up. He finally switched a few months ago when he saw another kid on the street his age do it. For this type of bike, be prepared for ridiculous weight though. It's honestly almost as heavy as my bike. There's another Trek named the Jet 16 with training wheels included and cranks that don't easily pull off.

If your kid hasn't ridden on two wheels yet, I think the 20 inch bike might be a little hairy as I don't now if he could touch the ground with the seat even slammed down all the way. My son can comfortably set his feet down on this, and that makes for a lot safer exploring. Gonna take him on his first true trail ride probably this week over at UCSD.

Also, this bike has both a hand brake and a coaster brake, but for some reason, my son's always used only the hand brake. Not bad I guess - he'll transition to mtb better.

Check craigslist for this stuff, there's usually a ton.

Red Hot Sloth · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:28 pm

Well...
Kids grow a lot faster than affordability allows for most of us. When my boys were that age I took them to walmart and let them sit on some bikes. I know, I was being cheap but practical as well. I ended up buying one a 16" and the other a 20". I think I payed $50 or $60 for each bike. The 16" was a coasterbrake while the 20" had rim brakes. The boys were 4 and 5 at the time. The 20" seemed just a bit large for the older son but not for very long. Before I realized it, my younger son outgrew his and started riding big bro's. When it was time to get "real" bikes I sold the department store ones in a garage sale for something like $10 each.
Basically the way I see it, when they are 5 they don't need a bike that costs as much as a new crankset for my bike, they are going to drop it, ghost ride into stuff, leave it in the lawn while the sprinklers run, jump off it when they get sketched, their first bike is going to take a lot of abuse and under that akind of abuse it would be impossible to get any money out of it next year when your son won't fit it anymore and you can only sell it for 25-50 bucks. But thats just me being pragmatic...and poor. I'm sure if I were wealthy my opinion on this would be different.
In the end you end up making your son happy no mattter which way you go.
Have fun, happy shopping.

Robo · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:48 am

Yep, you just want to be the guy picking it up from Sloth's garage sale for the $10!

But as I mentioned, craigslist can save you a chunk of change. Here's my son's exact bike with the extra training wheels - even a helmet! Not exactly $10 or even $40, but it's a good bike.

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/bik/1313390962.html

EBasil · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:52 pm

I suggest the cheapest coaster brake bike you can find, subject to your tolerance for weight. This bike will be for learning to pedal, learning to turn and having some fun, not hammering out mileage with Dad. Air it down, strip off any superfluous junk and he will be stoked.

Oh, nard guards, top tube and bar pads are key.

If you weren't all the way up there in the Beverly Hills/OC chapter, I'd have one for you to use, but you'll find something!

katonk · **Posted:** Fri Aug 14, 2009 8:23 pm

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I actually went to go buy a cheap bike at a big box store and just couldn't bring myself to do it.

I ended up getting him this bike:

http://www.diamondbackbmx.com/bikes/str ... /grind-16/

Yeah, it's a Diamondback... but all the stickers are over the clear coat. :twisted:

Stand over was an issue with the 18 and 20 inch bikes.

Recommend a bike for my 5 year old.

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