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What comes after push bikes?

Sandwich

Sandwich

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My 3.5yo daughter is on a strider scoot bike and is aces on it. She can keep up with me if we're both scooting. She does awesome on it, but she's getting a bit big for it, and I'd like to get her on the next run of the ladder towards bike addictions.

What comes next? She's 40" tall, but I haven't measured her inseam. Commencal has a 14" non-coaster brake model (https://www.commencalusa.com/ramones-14-turquoise-2017-c2x21027643), but I also see some early riders in 16". I'd like something she can grow into, and not grow out of too fast, but I also don't want something that's so big as to be intimidating. I don't know if it's worth getting a larger scoot bike before jumping to pedals.

What's out there that I'm overlooking?
 
slyfink

slyfink

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Sandwich said:
My 3.5yo daughter is on a strider scoot bike and is aces on it. She can keep up with me if we're both scooting. She does awesome on it, but she's getting a bit big for it, and I'd like to get her on the next run of the ladder towards bike addictions.

What comes next? She's 40" tall, but I haven't measured her inseam. Commencal has a 14" non-coaster brake model (https://www.commencalusa.com/ramones-14-turquoise-2017-c2x21027643), but I also see some early riders in 16". I'd like something she can grow into, and not grow out of too fast, but I also don't want something that's so big as to be intimidating. I don't know if it's worth getting a larger scoot bike before jumping to pedals.

What's out there that I'm overlooking?
Click to expand...
I got the 16" Ramones for my boys. My oldest went from 12" strider, to a 12" pedal bike to the 16" Ramones. He rode it for 2.5 years and is now on a 20" Specialized Hardrock. By the end of last season, he was getting a little cramped on the Commençal, but not too bad.

My youngest (4) is big enough for the Commy, but doesn't want to pedal yet, he still likes the Strider better. I'm working on him though... he wants to go mountain biking with me and I keep telling him he has to pedal if he wants to mountain bike...

All this to say, I found the 16" Ramones great for my son when he was 3-4-5.

I'm not sure how tall my boys are currently, all's I know is they are usually smack-dab in the middle of the growth charts, so pretty much exactly average.

I'd say skip 14" and go to 16". And the Commy's a great bikes. I have done no maintenance on it, and it's still running great.
 
stoney

stoney

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$70 used 16" bike. We got an old Raleigh for Haley that is in good condition. I know this bike will get hammered in learning, so I'm holding out on a real bike until she'll fit a 20". At that point, she'll probably get a Commencal.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

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slyfink said:
I got the 16" Ramones for my boys. My oldest went from 12" strider, to a 12" pedal bike to the 16" Ramones. He rode it for 2.5 years and is now on a 20" Specialized Hardrock. By the end of last season, he was getting a little cramped on the Commençal, but not too bad.

My youngest (4) is big enough for the Commy, but doesn't want to pedal yet, he still likes the Strider better. I'm working on him though... he wants to go mountain biking with me and I keep telling him he has to pedal if he wants to mountain bike...

All this to say, I found the 16" Ramones great for my son when he was 3-4-5.

I'm not sure how tall my boys are currently, all's I know is they are usually smack-dab in the middle of the growth charts, so pretty much exactly average.

I'd say skip 14" and go to 16". And the Commy's a great bikes. I have done no maintenance on it, and it's still running great.
Click to expand...

how tall was he when he started on the 16? sounds like you went from strider to 12" pedal to 16" pedal, is that correct? I want to skip coaster brakes, I think they are stupid and I think my kids can learn how to brake appropriately from the start now that the option exists.
 
Jim Mac

Jim Mac

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As I said on the book of faces:

12" pedal bike worked for us as he has to learn how to, well, pedal and brake:


16" was good when hit hit base line height at 4.5:


Eventually, you could also do a micro (18") or mini:



...and yes, we have WAY too many bikes now....
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

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I'm in a similar boat with lil Man. He could easy fit a 12", but it will be done next year. I think I will go low 16" and might start with the pedals off, no training wheels.

But that SE Racing Quadangle...



I can't wait to go micro/mini racer for him.
 
Jim Mac

Jim Mac

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Sandwich said:
how tall was he when he started on the 16? sounds like you went from strider to 12" pedal to 16" pedal, is that correct? I want to skip coaster brakes, I think they are stupid and I think my kids can learn how to brake appropriately from the start now that the option exists.
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Many hand brakes for kids stink. Maybe it's better from a kid specific bike (isla bikes, etc), but I found that nothing really worked for my kid until he got on his mini with v brakes and a small lever.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

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I hear that. There are several brands for kids now that seem to do kid specific hand brakes. I just don't see the point of doing a coaster for 1 year and then getting a real bike shortly after. I'd rather just skip the coaster, and teach her how to brake appropriately with the hands from the start.

I'm wondering if the 14" commencal would be the right mix of a 12" pedal bike with a coaster and a 16" pedal bike with hand brakes...
 
slyfink

slyfink

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Sep 16, 2008
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Sandwich said:
how tall was he when he started on the 16? sounds like you went from strider to 12" pedal to 16" pedal, is that correct? I want to skip coaster brakes, I think they are stupid and I think my kids can learn how to brake appropriately from the start now that the option exists.
Click to expand...
I think I might have been misleading you: I just went through my photos and found that I gave it to him in May 2015. He would have been 4 years and 5 months then. Here's a picture of him on it. The seat post is not slammed all the way down, but in retrospect, 16" might be a bit big for a 3.5 year old, unless she's tall.

upload_2017-4-13_15-0-34.png


I agree with you about coaster brakes: they're dumb. ^^^ He learned on a bike with a hand brake on the front and a coaster brake on the rear. He never used the coaster brake, and had a couple of really bad wipeouts hitting the front brake coming down a hill with gravel and sand on them. Busted helmets and road rash on the face resulted; it was no bueno.+

edited to add: the brake levers on that bike are shorter. and they can be adjusted (via a grub scew) closer to the bar to accomodate smaller hands.
 
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Montana rider

Montana rider

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Kids bikes are either expensive or heavy, and my little ones were small for their ages and I'm frugal.

So I got the 16" and 24" model from these guys last summer and have been pleasantly surprised by the price:weight ratio

https://us.woombikes.com/

Definitely not as sturdy as the Hardrock 16 re: trails and abuse but for around town and bike path cruising they work great.

The company also does trade-ups at 40% when you're ready to move up in size
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

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wow, those wooms are very light. They're more expensive than the equivalent sized commencal. I like the anti-flop around device on the fork though. I'll take a closer look.

I would rather spend the relatively small amount of money on the bike so that the kid enjoys the sport and continues to feel comfortable riding than save a few bucks on a shitty walmart bike. One of the worst disservices my parents did for me was to buy equipment that was 2-3 sizes too big for me in hopes that I would grow into it, or because it was a good deal. I had size 13 rollerblades (I still have size 11 feet), I rode a DR200 at 13 years old and 5'7, and I never got into those sports as a result. Plus, I can hand one bike down to the next kid as long as it isn't ultra pink.
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

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Sandwich said:
Plus, I can hand one bike down to the next kid as long as it isn't ultra pink.
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Well, lil Man is likely a one-off, so pass down isn't an option, but ebay is. The Woom is more than a WeThePeople and the Lil Ripper. It does look like a quality ride, but I think I will limit the next one to $100.

The Paw Patrol is Marshall, too. While it might be a trash bike, it would score HUGE points with the lil Man.
 
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49%

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Feb 8, 2015
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Sandwich said:
My 3.5yo daughter is on a strider scoot bike and is aces on it...
Click to expand...

What is best in life?
Watching your kids ride bikes. :D

My kids have gone through a horde of bikes, most of which were meticulously picked by me with progression in mind.

My daughter's favorite? The cheap pink girls bike with basket and tassles she picked out herself. The tires are now bald, it no longer fits, and the tassles are stubs. But she loves it because it's hers, and everyday she asks to ride it.

Though she still prefers her old push-bike on the BMX track. (Which is fine by me as the Strider category goes up to 5).

As for coaster vs. hand brake, as far as I've seen it takes kids 2 blinks to adjust to hand brakes...

Which generally suck btw, and take a lot of tweaking before their little hands can generate enough power to stop as well as they do with their full weight on a coaster brake.

Trouble I've found with coasters isn't the stopping power or getting used to them, it's the drag they produce and not being able to adjust crank position while turning on a track...
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

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MikeD said:
www.clearybikes.com
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Any firsthand experience? Cleary has a 12" in stock and a 16" oos but they both share really long chainstays and I don't know whether that will help or hurt a kids bike.

There's also stampede bikes, but my question is mostly what is the most natural progression? Scoot to 12"? Scoot to 16"? Scoot to larger scoot? What do I do when kid 1 outgrows the strider?
 
Da Peach

Da Peach

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Spawn cycles are cool. They make all wheel sizes... Ben has already outgrown his 14"



He's on a 16" now I found used on Craigslist... man, they sure hold their value...
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

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My daughter never had a strider, didn't care for her bike with training wheels and went from trailing bike to 16. I think it depends on size and personal progression. Marshall is a big kid, but isn't huge. At 4, I fear the 16 is too big, so I will test a 14" this weekend. I fear a 12 would be a one year bike, but i the 16 is too big, then what?

Damn you, not sure if this has helped or not. :rofl:
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

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The Spawn is as much as the SE Racing and We the People. Here's the 12, it's $350 on Dans Comp



Stolen 12 with hand brake is $220

 
MikeD

MikeD

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Sandwich said:
Any firsthand experience? Cleary has a 12" in stock and a 16" oos but they both share really long chainstays and I don't know whether that will help or hurt a kids bike.
Click to expand...

We have the 16" (Hedgehog). Had it since she was 4 or so, and let her scoot around on it without pedals at first. The long reach and what I think is a relatively steep head angle seemed to work against her, but now that she's 6 and seemingly at the near limits for height on the bike, I think she'll have an easier time. Long chainstays I think can only help with stability and keeping the front end planted at a time when she doesn't need snappy handling or to loft it over obstacles.

The international moving she's been dealing with throughout her life (along with pretty poor places to learn to ride) haven't worked in our favor for getting her riding, so I can't give a super-solid opinion on anything, as I don't have much of a norm to compare it to.

This summer, now that we're in the US and she's grown into the bike more fully, I am hoping to see some results.

Ed: Brother's boy (3ish) has the 12" wheel model and loves it...tearing around all over.
 
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ICEBALL585

ICEBALL585

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My son has fun riding/pedaling trikes at daycare but was never really into the stryder type bike at home. I'm guessing we'll have to do the training wheels thing in order to get him up to speed but whatever. As long as he starts riding bikes then I'm not in any major hurry (he's almost 5).
 
Jim Mac

Jim Mac

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ICEBALL585 said:
My son has fun riding/pedaling trikes at daycare but was never really into the stryder type bike at home. I'm guessing we'll have to do the training wheels thing in order to get him up to speed but whatever. As long as he starts riding bikes then I'm not in any major hurry (he's almost 5).
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Same here - every kid is different.

#1 kid was on balance bike by 2, racing BMX by 5, and was on MTB by 8 and will be going on 1st DH trip at 10.

#2 kid barely touches his balance bike at 3 - he is actually a bit 'balance challenged', but is slowly warming up to it as his big bro rides, and #2 now wants to do everything #1 is doing.
 
ICEBALL585

ICEBALL585

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Jim Mac said:
Same here - every kid is different.

#1 kid was on balance bike by 2, racing BMX by 5, and was on MTB by 8 and will be going on 1st DH trip at 10.

#2 kid barely touches his balance bike at 3 - he is actually a bit 'balance challenged', but is slowly warming up to it as his big bro rides, and #2 now wants to do everything #1 is doing.
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Yeah, "balance challenged" is a decent description of my son. He can run fast, throw a ball, and semi-accurately use a baseball bat but isnt exactly an expert at staying on his feet. Although he's also taller than most kids his age (I'm 6'0" as are all of the guys in my family).
 
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Jeremy R

Jeremy R

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For sure go from a Stryder to a 16". Once they start going faster those 12" wheels wobble like crazy. Rowan was going so fast down our long driveway, I don't know how she kept that Stryder in line. Also, I would not spend a lot on a 16 bike. That bike will be used for them to learn to pedal and get used to braking etc... You can spend a little more on a 20" when the time comes, because that is when they can really hit some trails, and you don't want a boat anchor for that.
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

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MadDog was balance challenged until she played the tight rope game on the Wii using the fit board. :rofl:

Seriously, she went from hating her bike to rolling down the street. She never liked the training wheels and couldn't figure out the balance point on her bike. She loved riding on the trailer bike, be she relied on me for line choice and brakes.
 
stoney

stoney

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We got in 5 miles of riding with Haley on Saturday and she now wants hand brakes. Guess we're going to have to upgrade...
 
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