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Bike for five year old boy?

johnbryanpeters

johnbryanpeters

Hero
Sep 27, 2001
36,800
18,354
Making moss sad in New Haven, Vermont
:monkey:s:

A few of us in my office want to buy a bike for a five year old boy - this is one of those blind gifts through a charity organization, so the best description we have is that the kid's "average" size. I'm looking for some sizing help.

What size wheels?
Training wheels or not?
Brand, type? We don't want a Wally bike.

Thanks, John
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
67,785
14,145
In a van.... down by the river
5yo..... hmmmm........ Probably a 16"? My 3 & 4 year olds are on 12" bikes, but a 16" would probably put a 5 yo kid in good stead for several years.

Training wheels - I'd include a pair.

Brand? I'd say pretty much any brand will be alright - just make sure you go over the build. Make sure nothing is loose, etc.
 
airwalkrob

airwalkrob

Monkey
Jul 20, 2005
263
0
Greenville EASTSIDE
My 5 year old has a 16" jeep fully 2" squish i think ,
and a 16" redline (very nice bmx) graumx or grunt not sure.
they come with pegs,fr. & rr. brakes , & a giro, & hookworm tires.
 
rigidhack

rigidhack

Turbo Monkey
Aug 16, 2004
1,206
1
In a Van(couver) down by the river
Definitely 16", including training wheels.

Keep it simple. Single speed, BMX style. Gears will confuse a kid. Handbrakes are dangerous to learn on. I have yet to meet a 5 year old that would really benefit from suspension. Most 5 year olds are not going to beat on a bike the way an adult will, so brand is somewhat irrelevant. (I will not buy a Sprawl-Mart bike on principle alone.)

My son has a 16" Raleigh MXR Mini that is all chrome and weighs a ton. He loves it. He got it when he was 4 and he is 7 now. Aside from scratches on the bars, it is still in perfect shape. His little bro will get it. Cost me all of $75 at the LBS. This time of year, depending where you are, you can probably find one even cheaper.

Looks like this without the silly fender:
http://www.raleighusa.com/items.asp?deptid=9&itemid=316&childid=484
 
bmxr

bmxr

Monkey
Jan 29, 2004
195
0
Marietta, GA
My son got a 16" "dirt jumping" bike when he was four. It has a rear hand brake, and a freewheel; just like my S&M only small. Just after he turned five I bought him a Haro mini bmx race bike (1 3/8" tires). Unless the kid is already into bikes and is going to get a lot of help from his mom/dad/parental unit learning, I would suggest a simple 16" bmx bike with training wheels. There will be less to go wrong (maintenance cost) and plenty of room to learn and grow.

This is the 20" bike and the (just-turned) five-year-old:
 
I

ito

Mr. Schwinn Effing Armstrong
Oct 3, 2003
1,709
0
Avoiding the nine to five
TreeSaw said:
I would say 16" is probably a good bet and definitely include training wheels and a helmet! Awesome gift for this lucky little guy :thumb:
Click to expand...
Inlcude a helmet for sure.

I'd say a bike from any of the big three would be great. Trek is what I sell and they do a very good job with safety tests and all that.

Great idea.

The Ito
 
manimal

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,213
22
Blindly running into cactus
stinkyboy said:
Little Manimal's competition?
Click to expand...

wow! bmxr...ur kid is huge! my son is still dwarfed by his 16" and he'll be 6 in april. i think he finally broke the 35 pound mark :thumb:


go for a 16" anything really. at that level, paying the extra $$ for a name brand bike isn't really worth it, especially if the kid isn't going to be the next chase or something.
 
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