Bike for a Four Year Old

Kintarō Hattori

Hey Folks,

I was all set to get my four year old lady a bike from the local shop. Long story short is I paid in full, planned to collect it two weeks later, they didn't have it. Looking around I'm happy to buy online and was nearly going to buy a Schwinn Elm from Amazon but a quick look has shown that it's actually quite a heavy bike, so I'm here for advice.
When it came to getting her a scooter we did a bit of research and found out that Micro was the one to get (might sound obvious now but at the time we hadn't heard of them). Can anyone recommend a brand or model of bike to get? Ideally something that's not too heavy as my little lady would struggle a bit with it.

Many thanks.

fits

Interested here too. One of our four year olds is cycling a bike we picked up for nothing but it’s wicked heavy.

ratracer

Frog seem to be the go to bike for kids, but you will get more advice if you post this in the cycling forum.

Kintarō Hattori

fits wrote: »

Interested here too. One of our four year olds is cycling a bike we picked up for nothing but it’s wicked heavy.

That's our situation too. Our neighbour gave her a bike for nothing and I'm grateful as it got her onto a bike and cycling but it is really heavy.

I'll ask in the cycling forum and report back.

Tombo2001

Islabike. Frog. Puky. Ridgeback.

Issac

We got ours balance bikes. Brilliant purchase. Our 2 and 4 year olds love them. They absolutely fly it on them and it'll be no bother to them to move onto pedal bikes without stabilisers when the time comes.

Kintarō Hattori

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Islabike. Frog. Puky. Ridgeback.

Islabike would be a dream but at £399, well outside of budget. Frog I can see some listed reasonably locally so I'll look into that but on a whole they seem to be north of €400. Ridgeback seem to be in stock in several places and are lightweight so will look into that.

Thank you.

Turtle001

IMHO kids bikes are heavy for a reason - they bang and crash them a bit so they need to be more durable. Also, as a first bike, stabilizers will be used also. Lastly, kids aren't generally cycling up big hills (well without a push anyway).

I wouldn't overthink it tbh. If lifting it in and out of a car is a factor then fair enough but aside from that it's just about getting up and 'running'

Sausage dog

We got a Frog balance bike first & now a Frog bike with pedals. Both were bought second hand & in great condition so it's worth keeping an eye out for them. Brakes, even on the balance bike are really important as they can pick up speed very easily & it's good to introduce them to braking properly early on. Highly recommend the Frog bikes.

spuddy

Weight matters Whether that's for the kid when they roll into the grass and need to get themselves back on track, or for the parent who ends up carrying the bike when said 4 year old decides they've had enough cycling!

We bought a BTWIN aluminium bike from Decathlon for our then 4 year old, amazing value.

Kintarō Hattori

I tried getting a Frog bike but everywhere seems to be sold out. I ended up going to Halfords and getting an own brand bike as there seemed to be nothing around. It's lighter than the old heavy bike she had which my neighbour is going to turn into a balance bike for her.

Thanks for all the suggestions. If I see any of the recommended bikes come up on Adverts for a decent price, I may opt for one of those.

DavyD_83

Frog, keep an eye on adverts.
They're expensive, bit hooks their value quite well and can be sold on