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Bike recommendations for 3-4 yo kids? ByK?
What do you reckon given below? I like the look of the ByK E-350, which amazingly has 18 inch wheels despite being designed for 4-6 year olds, so as well as being light and hopefully more enjoyable, I reckon it will last my daughter longer than a 12 inch saving money in the long run.
http://www.bykbikes.com/kids-bike-range/e350-kid...
My daughter is nearly 4 but short for her age, maybe 95cm if she'd ever let us measure her properly. I got her a Specialized Hotwalk balance bike when she was 3 but she doesn't like how it falls over when she tries to turn around in a tight space. She's since tried a couple of 12 inch pedal bikes from Spesh and Malvern Star and was pedalling within minutes with the stabilisers fitted. She was able to ride a 16 inch as well, but the bars were adjusted back extremely and she didn't find it as comfortable.
Cheers.
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.....to get one with gears. I just bought my son (just turned 6....but short) a 2nd hand Avanti Black Thunder 20i. Having looked at the geometry it was one of the smallest 20 inch bikes I could find. It has an internally geared 3 speed hub with a gripshift, and the difference that having the gears has made is huge. He is now able to ride up hills that he walked previously, and on the flats or slight downhills he is able to pedal much faster as his little legs are not spinning out. I think this is an important "future-proofing" factor to look into. Clearly it will be too big for her, but perhaps they do something smaller.....but regardless, get a bike with gears!
http://www.avantiplus.com.au/products/av440a317/...
My kids have a Giant MTX125 and MTX150. Supposedly aluminium frame but still seems heavy to me for such a small bike. http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-au/bikes/model/... Not sure if it would fit a 4yr old (20" wheels) but 6 should be ok.
These were one of the very few bikes I found that did NOT have that "Do Not Use Off Road" sticker. If your kids only plan to ride foot paths then not much of an issue. However my son likes riding single tract with me and I wanted something that would last him a while.
Both come with 6 gears but to help him get up the hills I put on a Shimano Megarange cassette. http://harriscyclery.net/product/shimano-14-34-t...
Hope that helps
Shane
Hi Jeronimo,
I had a similar thread a while ago and had a few very helpful comments on it, hope the link works for you as the threat is now "Withdrawn" so is there for archive purposes only...
http://perthmtb.asn.au/node/40761
I went to have a look at what the specialized range had to offer and was impressed with the weight but decided to wait and see what the second hand market had to offer since I wasn't in a rush.
My reasoning being that young kids grow fast at that age and a good quality bikes should stay in good nick until they just get too small (unlike some of the heavy cheaper makes that end up on verge pickup). I also thought a second hand bike might take away the fear of "scratching a brand new bike" when learning.
After keeping an eye on a second hand website a bargain came up so I jumped on it (be warned a few duds came up and the temptation of being other unrequired crap is strong..).
Ended up with a Giant XTC150 for $60.00 in immaculate condition. In my opinion much more bang for your buck than the same cash spent in a big department store...
Hope that helps.
Lionel
PS: William loves "his new sweet ride", the deal was that he could ride it as soon as he felt comfortable on the "verge pickup" bike he had without the training wheels, didn't take longer than 2 weeks.
Personally, i would keep her on the balance bike until she is confident on it. Pedal bikes also fall over turning in a tight space but the speed is higher. I also recommend going from balance bike to no stabilisers. At my local park with a bike track its always the kids on stabilisers who have the crashes because they lean on the stabilisers rather than riding naturally.
I've found the Specialized bikes to be the lightest of the big brands - i didn't look at BYK though. My son is about 103cm and just fits a 16" specialized. it may even be a fraction big for him but he is a confident rider (he started with a 12"). A good bike shop will tell you the correct size. i would also get a right sized bike rather than trying to save the money. if you get a bike too big they wont enjoy it as much.
I agree the giant 150's are a bit on the heavy side Shane, I might have to try the Megarange cassette. Did you need to change the gear shifter, rear derailer & Chain as well? The XTC150 only comes with 6 gears standard (so did the MTX I think).
cheers
Lionel
I just had a look at the Orbea Grow and the kid sized MTB. Both have 7 speed mega-range and the MTB was quite reasonable weight wise.
Everything kept the same though I did add in two extra chain links. But then one day the chain broke mid ride and I had to remove two and rejoin to get us back home. Never got around to adding the links back in. The rear deraileur does look a bit stretched but everything still works fine and he hasn't complained so i'm just leaving it for now.
btw I ordered it from TBE in case you want to buy local.
Thanks for the suggestions. Any thoughts on the ByK?
Unfortunately my daughter rarely uses her balance bike and hasn't scooted fast enough to balance yet, so the no stabilisers plan hasn't really panned out. I may attempt to get her going on the new bike without stabilisers first, but realistically she probably just won't use it, and if that happened she wouldn't be learning anything at all so stabilisers may be the lesser of two evils.
I'm looking for a bike for her to learn to ride at 4. I don't think she needs gears at this stage, she needs to learn the basics first. Gears seem to kick in on 16" bikes for 6 yo, which I'm more than happy to buy when the need arises.
My youngest had a ByK E 350 ( I think....) and loved it.
He had it from mid 4 until early 7 ( by which time it was way too small )
It was lighter than everything else, had a longish wheelbase making it really stable and seemed to be a real kids bike rather than a shrunk grown up's bike. He was on a balance bike for a while which was fabulous, his balance and handling are still better than his older brother who was on stabilisers ( before the balance bikes came on the scene ). When he moved to the ByK, I took the pedals off for a couple of weeks so he used it as a balance bike to get used to it. When I put the pedals back on, he was off and running within an hour. He spent a while not riding much but got back into it towards the end of last year when he turned 7. While the bike was clearly too small for him, he still loved riding it and had great fun doing circuits of Narrabeen lake on it. We finally got him a new bike ( Giant XTC kids.... ) around Christmas. While it took him a while to get used to gears etc., he is now officially a ' serious mountain biker ' who quickly graduated to Terrey Hills fire trails and then onto the singletrack at Wingello and Awaba.
I hear what you are saying about your daughters balance bike but I'd suggest persevering with it a little. As an alternative, I'd thorougly recommend the ByK ( maybe without the pedals for a while.... )
CB
Thanks CB, that's encouraging to hear a review that doesn't come from the ByK website.
Toyworld in Freo have the range in stock so I'll be taking my daughter along to see how well she gets along with it. Hopefully it will be pink enough that she won't still want the Malvern Star 12" with ponies on it!
I thought I'd mention the stock point for people in WA because I was assuming I'd have to take a punt on ordering one from the eastern states without a test fit. I also spoke to the ByK owner in confirming a stockist and they have a new WA distributor who is just about to head out to the bike shops.
Can recommend the byk. My daughter is 6 and has been on hers since she was 4. At the time it was far and away the lightest bike I could find, well made and she loves riding it on paths and fire trail and groomed single track. Even rode it in the kids race at capital punishment this year. It is starting to look a bit small now though as she is 7 in July (though small for her age). Have been impressed with it, everything else feels heavier than my 29er!
Both my boys have started on 16 inch after being on balance bikes and made the transition quickly, the step up in size was not extreme and gave them confidence to get straight into it. A friend put his boy straight to 20 inch and he took a long time to ride with any confidence, my boys still ride rings around him and have taken to BMX racing and love it.
My tip, unless you want something kiddie and girlie for her is go and find a 16 inch BMX, kiddie bikes have a weird design, high handle bars and low seat, which makes the riding position all wrong once they grow a bit and makes the standing pedal position less natural. The other thing is don't get gears, single speed keeps everything simple and builds strength in those little legs.
Oh and buy quality, you gets what you pay for.
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/west-perth/bicycl...
Giant MTX 250
Might be a bit big though...