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Bike for a 5 y/o

TN

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
A post I never thought would make.
I've been asked to pick out a bike for my girlfriends 5 year old.
Was just gonna grab a 16" that looks ok since she will maybe get 2 summers on it, but since this is a bike site and 90% of yall have been down this road before, I wanted to ask for suggestions.
 
Toshi

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
39,434
8,519
Depends on how tall she is. My 5 year old is on a 16". Stoney's slightly older spawn is on a 20".
 
TN

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
Toshi said:
Depends on how tall she is. My 5 year old is on a 16". Stoney's slightly older spawn is on a 20".
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pretty sure a 20" is gonna be too big. the thing is, we live in the boonies & on the side of the canyon so there is really no good place to ride.
-_-
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,645
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borcester rhymes
14" fits for a 4-5 tall girl. Bought a stampede bikes. No complaints. Not cheap but my daughter was riding without training wheels at 4.
 
rockofullr

rockofullr

confused
Jun 11, 2009
7,342
924
East Bay, Cali
TN said:
suggestions
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Just call around to all the family type bike shops in your area. One of them will have a little tiny strider style bike they are trying to get rid of. Got one for my girlfriend's nephew for $20 recently. It's not new, but he was stoked to ride it (got him some stickers and helped him customize it too) and he'll grow out of it soon enough. If they make it to 12 or so and are still into bikes that's when you get something new.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,961
7,809
Colorado
Haley flips between her 16 and 20. She still prefers her 16, but it is pushing too small at this point. Spawn makes some fucking awesome kids bikes, but they are pricey. Haley has the girl's Raleigh below and she loves it. It's basically the same bike but heavier, while still aluminum. All of these are freewheel.

https://spawncycles.com/yoji-16

https://www.raleighusa.com/rowdy-16-141

https://www.clearybikes.com/collections/cleary-bikes-boys-and-girls-collection/products/hedgehog-16-single-speed?variant=3558223044
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
88,118
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stoney said:
Haley flips between her 16 and 20. She still prefers her 16, but it is pushing too small at this point. Spawn makes some fucking awesome kids bikes, but they are pricey. Haley has the girl's Raleigh below and she loves it. It's basically the same bike but heavier, while still aluminum. All of these are freewheel.

https://spawncycles.com/yoji-16

https://www.raleighusa.com/rowdy-16-141

https://www.clearybikes.com/collections/cleary-bikes-boys-and-girls-collection/products/hedgehog-16-single-speed?variant=3558223044
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that spawn looks rad but IMO way too much money for a kids bike. Unless your the duggars.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
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borcester rhymes
jonKranked said:
stampede is apparently OOB.
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that's sad. That being said, they were just generic chinese bikes (albeit well designed and relatively affordable). They seemed to always have trouble keeping things in stock- maybe trying to run lean (not a lot of stock) but overselling?

That being said, there are other bikes I would also consider, like the Commencal, that offer very similar features for a very similar price.
 
junkyard

junkyard

You might feel a little prick.
Sep 1, 2015
2,606
2,326
San Diego
I got my 5 year old the Fuji rookie. Came in purple but faded to a nice blue. She rides it in the dirt a lot. Was a hundred bucks or so with a discount and is fairly light.

I should add it has a coaster brake and she does awesome skids.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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Sandwich said:
that's sad. That being said, they were just generic chinese bikes (albeit well designed and relatively affordable). They seemed to always have trouble keeping things in stock- maybe trying to run lean (not a lot of stock) but overselling?

That being said, there are other bikes I would also consider, like the Commencal, that offer very similar features for a very similar price.
Click to expand...
i've seen the commencal stuff in person (albeit at the last Windham WC) and it was good quality.
 
TN

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
HardtailHack said:
You'd have to budget for an angleset with the Spawn, 72deg is a bit oldschool.

You can also get a mini mountain bike with disc brakes, 30mm stem, super on trend 2.6" tyres and 69deg HA, it's awesome! But no doubt way over budget.
https://www.commencalusa.com/ramones-20-burgundy-2019-c2x26304787
View attachment 131348
Or the smaller Ramones 16 single speed-
https://www.commencalusa.com/ramones-16-burgundy-2019-c2x26304786
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oh, if i had a monocle that would be it!
 
TN

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
So kids learn on rim brakes nowadays?
coaster brakes are fun but this seems like the better way to learn.
 
Toshi

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
39,434
8,519
TN said:
So kids learn on rim brakes nowadays?
coaster brakes are fun but this seems like the better way to learn.
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My 5 year old had a much easier time figuring out hand brakes. She was never consistent with the coaster.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
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no sense in trying to train your kid how to brake with a coaster when they won't use it in another year. my daughter has handbrakes down after a year on the stampede
 
kazlx

kazlx

Patches O'Houlihan
Aug 7, 2006
6,985
1,958
Tustin, CA
My 5 YO is on a Spawn and loves it. It's an awesome bike. I guess a little pricey for a kids bike, but I have a younger kid as well. Amortized no big thing I guess. He was super stoked on it and I spend 10x that amount on my bikes, sooooo. You figure the weight and general crappiness of a bike is amplified for someone that only weighs 40 lbs.

 
WestCoastHucker

WestCoastHucker

RETSUBDUHT
Oct 23, 2003
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716
daydreaming about a new rhythm line.....
kazlx said:
My 5 YO is on a Spawn and loves it....I spend 10x that amount on my bikes, sooooo....
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this always boggles my mind (i have a small mind, so it's kind of understandable), we never even bat an eye about throwing $400 parts at our bike that we dislike and just toss into the garage only to be forgotten about forever, but most of the same people wouldn't spend it on a bike for their kid. it really makes no sense.
sure you can argue that you resell your parts, but you can resell the bike too...
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
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borcester rhymes
too true. My daughter's bike was like $220 and it's nicer than literally every bike I grew up with. Hopefully she will learn to love cycling and I'll have somebody to ride with.
 
Flo33

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,130
1,364
Styria
I've posted a pic of my daughter on her Woom 2 in the little monkeys thread. They are quite good quality and relatively light weight. There is a US distribution so it should be easy to get them.

https://us.woombikes.com
 
kazlx

kazlx

Patches O'Houlihan
Aug 7, 2006
6,985
1,958
Tustin, CA
WestCoastHucker said:
this always boggles my mind (i have a small mind, so it's kind of understandable), we never even bat an eye about throwing $400 parts at our bike that we dislike and just toss into the garage only to be forgotten about forever, but most of the same people wouldn't spend it on a bike for their kid. it really makes no sense.
sure you can argue that you resell your parts, but you can resell the bike too...
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Totally agree. There’s plenty of crap people blow $4-500 on for their own stuff. I’d easily spend twice that or more for my kids. My oldest has already had his for over a year and still has a ways to go on it. I have a younger one that will get it, just like we did with the strider so it evens out a little more but I’d buy him his own if he needed it.

I enjoy taking my kids even just around the block right now and have gone to the dirt a few times just to get them out there. I get that if you’re digging change out of your seat cushions to pay for gas, a fancy kids bike isn’t for you, but I’m pretty sure you’d be better off getting your kid a bike that doesn’t weigh 40lbs rather than a new Strava connected heart rate monitor watch...

In TNs situation it’s not his kid either so I get that, but even used ones are out there.
 
WestCoastHucker

WestCoastHucker

RETSUBDUHT
Oct 23, 2003
3,564
716
daydreaming about a new rhythm line.....
kazlx said:
..In TNs situation it’s not his kid either so I get that, but even used ones are out there.
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understood. i just find it amusing that almost every one of us has a rear shock or two kicking around(not to mention the hoards of other stuff) that will never see use by us again, that could easily cover said purchase, but still wouldn't buy the bike in fear of it being a "waste" of money...
 
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