Which kids bike

[Shebeen]

23 hours ago, Nishapcn said:

I am getting my little girl a bike for her birthday. It will just be for her to ride in the yard and maybe the park, so I don't want to get something expensive.

I do want it to last a decent amount of time as it is a 16" and as she is quite small, this should last at least 2 years.

I have found the Totem Princess and an Avalanche Zoid in our area. Which would be better for our purposes? Or is there any other in that price range (under R2000) that I should be looking for in the Durban area?

Thanks for any advise.

How good are you with basic bike maintenance?

these bikes are all quite generic and heavy/bullet proof, but avalanche/titan/muna all in the bang for buck category. If you buy second hand you will sell for not much less than what you paid. if you go supermarket bikes you can get something shiny for cheap, but it won't last.

Keeping the brakes working, the BB in place and tyres pumped up is important if you want her to use it. if you send it off for servicing every six months you'll pay more in labour than the bike after 2 years.

as it's just round the block stuff I would keep it simple and stick with a single speed option (they normally only come on the 20").

 

finally, take the trainer wheels off

 

 

[Ispeed_V]

A bit of a hijack. At what age did hubbers migrate their kids from 24" to 26/27.5/29"?

My son is turning 11 and is already outgrowing his 24".

 

[The Ouzo]

9 minutes ago, FondTF2 said:

A bit of a hijack. At what age did hubbers migrate their kids from 24" to 26/27.5/29"?

My son is turning 11 and is already outgrowing his 24".

 

my eldest daughter is 11 turning 12, we thought about going 24" , but then got her to ride my wifes 650b 26" frame and decided 26" will probably suit her better.

She never rode her 20" much, and this will go to her sister, but that does leave us a hand me down hole as her sister will more than likely need a 24" when she outgrows the 20 as she rides a heck of alot more.

[Richard tiplady]

My Grandson is 11 and his Norco 24 is on the hub he now rides a small Norco charger.

[Rolf Hansen]

1 hour ago, FondTF2 said:

A bit of a hijack. At what age did hubbers migrate their kids from 24" to 26/27.5/29"?

My son is turning 11 and is already outgrowing his 24".

 

My sons are both of relative small stature but around average height.

My 12yo has a Small 26"

My 9yo has a XS 26" but ladies frame as the step-over height is a bit of an issue on most older 26" frames with dated geometry.

When my 9yo had a 24" he struggled keeping up but since I built him the 26" he has no problem.

I have found that on most of the 24" bikes, my son had a Titan Hades 24D, the parts weigh just shy of a metric tonne. His new, much larger bike is much lighter as the frame is lighter and I could fit a much nicer(ligter) fork and wheels.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Rolf Hansen

[Rolf Hansen]

Duplicate

Edited January 27, 2022 by Rolf Hansen
Duplicate Post

[Pure Savage]

If you can find them, Frog and Isla bikes are probably the best kids bikes to get. You just have to watch the second hand sites for them. 

Proper kids sized cranks, grips and brakes.

No stupid shocks for a 23kg child, so bike is light and kids can ride.

Went on holiday this year with the boys cousins, she has a titan - apparently does not like cycling. That was until she got on Kittel's Isla bike, could not get her off it. 

The eldest  at 6 can do around 15/20km no issues and the 4 year old about 7/8km no issues. They do also ride 3km to school each day.

[Pure Savage]

2 hours ago, FondTF2 said:

A bit of a hijack. At what age did hubbers migrate their kids from 24" to 26/27.5/29"?

My son is turning 11 and is already outgrowing his 24".

 

I am trying to get my 6 almost 7 year old onto a 26" gravel bike, he is almost there!

[Beesrib]

2 hours ago, FondTF2 said:

A bit of a hijack. At what age did hubbers migrate their kids from 24" to 26/27.5/29"?

My son is turning 11 and is already outgrowing his 24".

 

My daugther (turning 10 next month) went from her 24 to my wifes small 29 late last year and now refuses to ride her own bike.  She is a bit taller than her mates.  My son (7 next month) has since last year taken turns on sisters 24 without much issues.

[droo]

17 minutes ago, Pure Savage said:

If you can find them, Frog and Isla bikes are probably the best kids bikes to get. You just have to watch the second hand sites for them. 

Proper kids sized cranks, grips and brakes.

No stupid shocks for a 23kg child, so bike is light and kids can ride.

Went on holiday this year with the boys cousins, she has a titan - apparently does not like cycling. That was until she got on Kittel's Isla bike, could not get her off it. 

The eldest  at 6 can do around 15/20km no issues and the 4 year old about 7/8km no issues. They do also ride 3km to school each day.

Also look at the Early Rider range. Properly made, light, and the SS ones are belt drive for reduced risk of calf tattoos, chainring stabbings etc.

 

Not cheap, but there are a few second hand ones around and you'll be able to sell it later for not much less than you paid for it.

[Stoffel76]

On 1/26/2022 at 10:26 AM, Nishapcn said:

I am getting my little girl a bike for her birthday. It will just be for her to ride in the yard and maybe the park, so I don't want to get something expensive.

I do want it to last a decent amount of time as it is a 16" and as she is quite small, this should last at least 2 years.

I have found the Totem Princess and an Avalanche Zoid in our area. Which would be better for our purposes? Or is there any other in that price range (under R2000) that I should be looking for in the Durban area?

Thanks for any advise.

Definitely look at the Muna range.  Decent quality and you can pick them up second hand quite reasonably. My son loved his Muna. Has a nice geometry that he was really comfortable on.

But he's just outgrown that and can now ride his sisters 20" Silverback, which has gears and he would ride up and down the road going up and down the gears (just because he could), so the Muna has been forgotten! 😄  

But now the hunt is on for a 24" bike for his sister...

 

[Headshot]

The biggest issues with kids bikes are the weight and stiff and oversize controls. Its ridiculous what we expect our kids to make do with while we cruise around on fancy bikes that weigh the same or less and have super easy to use controls. That said I saw a friends kid on an Icon kids bike. The thing was super light for a kids bike - rigid fork and microshift gears with brake levers that were actually designed for small hands. Bike Addict seem to sell them...

[Rolf Hansen]

1 hour ago, Headshot said:

The biggest issues with kids bikes are the weight and stiff and oversize controls. Its ridiculous what we expect our kids to make do with while we cruise around on fancy bikes that weigh the same or less and have super easy to use controls. That said I saw a friends kid on an Icon kids bike. The thing was super light for a kids bike - rigid fork and microshift gears with brake levers that were actually designed for small hands. Bike Addict seem to sell them...

So many of the kids bikes come with the Shimano Gripshift. I cannot even change the damn gears easily with those. I think there was an oversupply of these as no adults wanted them on their bikes anymore.

This is the 26" that I built for my youngest - XS Pacific GTR frame. The Reba fork, American Classic Wheels and Avid brakes are my old components.

 

[Shebeen]

3 hours ago, Headshot said:

The biggest issues with kids bikes are the weight and stiff and oversize controls. Its ridiculous what we expect our kids to make do with while we cruise around on fancy bikes that weigh the same or less and have super easy to use controls. That said I saw a friends kid on an Icon kids bike. The thing was super light for a kids bike - rigid fork and microshift gears with brake levers that were actually designed for small hands. Bike Addict seem to sell them...

Totally. But it's hard getting kids to appreciate and care for fancy bike stuff.

Has anyone broken an adult bike frame here? Has anyone ever seen a kids bike frame cracked?

[Jewbacca]

On a serious note, how do you outgrow a 20" bike?

I know a Guy who is a vet, 1.75cm tall and rides 20" bikes comfortably..... How big are your kids?! 😉

[ChrisF]

8 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

On a serious note, how do you outgrow a 20" bike?

I know a Guy who is a vet, 1.75cm tall and rides 20" bikes comfortably..... How big are your kids?! 😉

 

As soon as they can properly steer a 24'' ....

 

The difference of handling between 20" and 24" on a trail is significant.

 

 

Even from 24" to 26" there was an improvement, though not as drastic.

 

 

 

The "danger" is the parents wanting skip a size and putting the kids on an oversized bike that they cant steer ....

 

 

 

PS - on the road I like the nimble feeling of a smaller bike

Edited January 27, 2022 by ChrisF