Advice requested: First bike for 4 year old girl

DualFrontDiscs

Hi,

Any recommendations for a first bike for a 4 year old girl?

Birthday coming up soon.

We've had a Like-A-Bike for a year now, but she's shown little interest in it, particularly after the dog ate the saddle.

I've the Senior Inner Circle discount at Wiggle, so........

Thanks in advance.

DFD*

*Dad'sFirstDaughter

Limestone1

You can fit stabilisers on the any of the 5 or 6 series Trek Madones - and she will be the envy of all the Freds in her class .....

serendip

Take her to Halfords and buy her whatever she wants.

I'd suggest a pink one.

Dizraeligears

I got my 6 year old an Islabike for Xmas.Its an outstanding little machine
check out http://www.islabikes.co.uk/

Bluefoam

Get her a fixed gear. Bob Jackson do nice frames...

ashleey

On a serious note, watch out for the weight of kids bikes. Too heavy and she'll get fed up. My 2 eldest daughters aged 7 and 6 have the Halfords Apollo things, which aren't the worst or the best and they both go well enough. I wish I'd bought lighter bikes now I end up loading them in or onto the car. There must be a market for a full carbon frame (only joking)

Caroline_ie

this one in pink looks great

Dizraeligears

Thats why I got the Islabike for my fella-noticably lighter than anything in the shops-most kids bikes are made of steel-they might look nice,but kids are often lugging around yokes that are half their own bodyweight,and more.
Adult equivalent - 70 kilo adult,35 kilo bike!!!

ashleey

Completely agree. It's not fair if my bike is lighter than theirs. There is obviously a price/weight ratio though. I wouldn't get gears for a child that young though.

Lumen

My four year old is on a Specialized Hotrock 12 from Cycleways.

Pretty light and he's now doing decent distances on it (8.7km last Saturday, woohoo!).

The only minor grip is the bottom bracket design which makes it tricky to get the right pressure on the bearings.

He's been riding it since he was three, the last eight months without stabilisers.

In retrospect I would have started him on a balance bike, but you've done that already.

DualFrontDiscs

Thanks everyone.

@Lumen, so that's a 12" wheel? Do you think you'll get much more usage from it? Growing kids and all that.....

DFD.

Lumen

DualFrontDiscs wrote: »

@Lumen, so that's a 12" wheel? Do you think you'll get much more usage from it? Growing kids and all that.....

Difficult to say. He spins out a bit, I have considered changing the gearing but I think it helps him on the hills. He has loads of seatpost left to go, and the riser bars are quite high.

On the Saturday ride we averaged 6.5kph, but mostly were cycling around 8.5kph - lots of stopping to fix hat, scratch arse etc.

Am aiming to pass it down to the three year old girl in a couple of months and get a 14" or 16" for him.

Gavin

Pop some aero bars on and you might get a bit more longevity out of it

DualFrontDiscs

Gavin wrote: »

Pop some aero bars on and you might get a bit more longevity out of it

Given her father's propensities, I imagine she'll have a trailer before she has aero bars

DFD

Lumen

DualFrontDiscs wrote: »

Given her father's propensities, I imagine she'll have a trailer before she has aero bars

I bet you put mirrors on it. Poor girl!

DualFrontDiscs

Lumen wrote: »

I bet you put mirrors on it. Poor girl!

And a safety flag. Don't worry, I'll explain that carbon one trick ponies are 'real' bikes too

DFD.

manwithaplan

That's impressive for a four year old. In fact it's impressive that he can cycle without stabilisers.

I have discovered that I have been retarding my five year old son's cycling development. I took his stabilisers off over the weekend and arrived home from work last night to find him speeding around the garden. I imagine he would have managed it earlier had I given him the opportunity.

BostonB

ashleey wrote: »

On a serious note, watch out for the weight of kids bikes. Too heavy and she'll get fed up. My 2 eldest daughters aged 7 and 6 have the Halfords Apollo things, which aren't the worst or the best and they both go well enough. I wish I'd bought lighter bikes now I end up loading them in or onto the car. There must be a market for a full carbon frame (only joking)

I didn't really know what to buy my 6yr old, and bought what I thought was sturdy. But only recently realised it weighs almost the same as my MTB. All steel. Love to change it for something lighter for him.

peterako

I can HIGHLY recommed this from Imaginarium (in Dublin):

http://www.imaginarium.ie/46712/ecommerce_1/46712

With pedals.

It's light.

My youngest was 4 and a few days old when he got his and was up and riding (without stabilzers and with pedals) within the week.

He has since passed it on to his 4 year old friend and he too is cycling without stabilizers now.

Peter

Lumen

That Bike In Progress is 8kg claimed for 14" wheel size. Interesting approach with the removable drivetrain.

Apparently the Hotrock 12" is 6.95kg. That's still heavier than my road bike

peterako

But still (both) a LOT lighter than most other kids bikes....

Even my 11 year old's road bike (whick she got when she was 8) is heavier than my road bike.

Most of the weight is in the components....

DualFrontDiscs

'We' decided to go with this bike:



It's the 16" model. The 12" was a perfect size with the saddle raised. This one is perfect with the saddle down. So I reckon we'll get more than a summer out of it.

I'll post in Images of Beauty when I get a chance.

DFD*

*DaddyFundingDaughter.

tomasrojo

manwithaplan wrote: »

That's impressive for a four year old. In fact it's impressive that he can cycle without stabilisers.

I have discovered that I have been retarding my five year old son's cycling development. I took his stabilisers off over the weekend and arrived home from work last night to find him speeding around the garden. I imagine he would have managed it earlier had I given him the opportunity.

I've read in a few books that you're better off just lowering the saddle right down, taking off the pedals and letting them use the bike as a hobby horse. Then when they've got the hang of that, put back on the pedals. When they're happy with that, raise the saddle.

The theory is, as far as I recall, that the important thing is getting them learn to balance, not learning to pedal.

DualFrontDiscs

tomasrojo wrote: »

The theory is, as far as I recall, that the important thing is getting them learn to balance, not learning to pedal.

+1 on that. DFDette wanted pedals though. She never liked the Like-A-Bike balance bike too much. May have had something to with the dog chewing the saddle and handlebar grips off!

DFDude got on the Like-A-Bike straight away this afternoon when he saw his sister on her new bike.

As I type, the bike is locked up with a Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit. Right now, it's the most valuable bike in the house.

DFD.