What size bike does your 6-7 year old have?

[BethB]

We went to the park to ride bikes and it was obvious that the kids have outgrown their bikes but I am not sure what size to get next? They are six and both pretty tall. I thought the 16'' was the obvious next step but looking online it is looking like they say age 4-7. I don't want to buy new bikes that they will outgrow before next summer. They both still have their training wheels on, if that makes a difference. We are going to try taking them off this weekend, but I don't know if it will be harder or easier on the too small bikes or on bigger ones. Thanks for any insight!

[virga]

Bain's is 16"

[Brina]

they will learn to ride easier on smaller bikes.

For their next bike you definitely should skip the 16". Assuming that, you have two choices, both of which have 20" wheels.

The first is called a transition bike. It has 20" wheels, no speeds, coaster brakes and one hand brake. It was a relatively low stand-over height for a bike with 20" wheels. Having both the coaster brake and the one hand brake gives kids a chance to learn to use handbrakes without them having to fully rely on this new skill and have no backup.

You can also get a kids mountain bike with 20" wheels. These are generally 7 speeds (front derailler only) and have handbrakes only. The standover height tends to be a little bit higher than a transition bike and the handbrakes are the only option to make the bike stop.


Here are links to the tansition and the mountain bikes made by Specialized for boys:

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22125
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22126


Here are links to the tansition and the mountain bikes made by Trek for boys:

http://www2.trekbikes.com/bikes/bike...d=1576000&f=34
http://www2.trekbikes.com/bikes/bike...d=1578600&f=34

In the links for the Trek brand bikes you can especially see the difference in Geometry. It is much more obvious than on the Specialized models. In my opinion, if I had two kids, both 48" tall, one a 5 year old and one a 7 year old, I would get the 5-year-old the transition bike and the 7-year-old the moutain bike. It is mainly a developmental issue. Not sure what I would do with a 6-year-old. Most good bike shops will allow you to test ride a bike. Probably a good idea to determine if your children are comfortable with and can handle using handbrakes. You can check out reviews of many manufactures at this site:

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/kids/

[HeatherMA]

My DD is really tall.. She just turned 7 this week. We bought a 20 inch transition bike.. She is not off training wheels yet.. When we put her on the 20 inch w/out the training wheels, she freaked! Said the bike was enormous.. We tried her on her 16 inch w/out training wheels and she didn't seem as freaked, but it is really small for her.. If anything I could have gone over a 20 inch possibly, but where she is tall and lanky and doesn't have an abundance of upper body strength, we opted to get the 20, figuring that will be a task enough!

Good luck!

HeatherMA

[3monkeys]

Kelsey was a really tall 7 yr old, we bought a 20" bike - it lasted 2 yrs she is too big for it now.

[RobinL]

Duncan got his 2-wheeler last year when he was 5yrs. After debating, we got the 18in. It was slightly big last year, this years it's perfect and next year will be too small. Here's a great way to learn to ride w/o training wheels, worked perfectly. http://www.ibike.org/education/teaching-kids.htm

[Kylie]

I bought Kara a 20 inch bike for her birthday and it was a tad too big (her 16 inch bike seemed so small!), she could ride it but had troubles balancing getting on and off, and stopping. So a week later I bought her an 18 inch bike. Wouldn't you know it, a week later she was tooling around on the 20 inch that we had passed along to Jillian! Kara rides without training wheels. I would go to TRU and have them try out the different sizes.

[Kimberly]

Hey Beth -

We have Jacob in a 20 inch bike, and I don't think he is close to growing out of it. He is just now able to manage it. I don't think you will have any problem with it lasting them a couple of years. We got it from Target last year for his birthday, and I think it was only $39!

[Littlechum]

My 6 1/2 year old is riding his 16" but he's almost ready for the 20". We are waiting for his birthday in November to buy it.

[Daje]

B learned to ride without training wheels on his toddler bike but his bike now is an 18" and he is almost 7.