Going to get my daughter her 1st bike for her 5th birthday.

Any recommendations?

She is pretty tall for her age so I could maybe go for something suitable for a 6-7 yr old. Ideally I would like to take her round the fire roads at Swinley!

…oh and it has to be pink.

I got my eldest a Ridgeback Melody 16″ for her 5th. Solid bikes if a little on the heavy side. Picked it up for not a lot of money second hand from my lbs.

2 years later, it’s been handed down to her little sister who has now just turned 5. Apart from a couple of additional scratches it’s still as good as it was when we got it.

Just picked up a Ridgeback Harmony for my now 7 year old and I’m expecting this to last as well as the Harmony it replaced.

And they are both in pink too.

Take a look in Decathlon if you have one nearby, good value for money bikes for kids and some in pink too 🙂

just got my 5 year old a specialized hotrock 20″ nice bikes that hold there money very well when you come to resell.

Islabikes cnoc 14 or beinn 2, not the cheapest by any means, but fantastic quality & very high resale values which will offset the initial high price. The purple might be close enough to pink? Though they used to sell blue boy & pink girl decals (can’t see the option now). I know in the past ppl recommend going up for the fitting day

Thanks for all your comments,

spent today looking at bikes in Halfords, Decathlon, Toys R us, Evans and a LBS.

Originally thought I could get her a 20″ bike – something like the Giant Areva that Wiggle have on offer, however now I think that may be too big, probably a 16 or 18″ wheel bike would be better, however hard to tell as they seem to go on wheel size rather than frame size.

Motox2k – How did your 5yr old get on with a 20″ hotrock, my daughter is 115cm and the 20″ Carrera Luna I looked at in Halfords seemed a bit too big.

The 16/18″ bikes don’t appear to have gears so a 20″ would be preferable, but I don’t want to get her something too big that might put her off.

my daughter is 130cm (she is tall like me) and its just on the verge of being to big but its ok for her just about (I have taken about 1″ off the seat tube).

where are you located?

my daughter is 130cm (she is tall like me) and its just on the verge of being to big but its ok for her just about (I have taken about 1″ off the seat tube).

Thanks, sounds like the 20″ will definitely be too big if your daughter is 130cm and it only just fits.

where are you located?

Near Reading

Cnoc 14/16.

ok, if you had been near me you could have tried them out, I have a 20″ and 16″.

+1 for the Spesh Hardrock. There’s normally a few on Ebay, they’re dead solid, have a backpedal brake as well as levers and there’s girly ones if she likes that kinda stuff. My daughter likes hers because she thinks it’s a small version of what I ride, which seems to help.

Mudmuncher
I will be selling a Specialized Hotrock 20 inch wheel very soon – will be looking for £110ono as it’s in VGC. I’m based close to you (Wokingham). If you wanted to have a look and see if it fits size wise, please e-mail me (address in profile).

If it helps, my daughter was riding it when she was about 115cm tall (before that she was on the 16 inch wheel specialized).

Thanks for the offer jms, but I already bought an Islabikes Beinn 20.

Islabike

Expensive but you’ll easily be able to sell it on once she grows.

My daughter got the COC 16 for her 5th birthday. She nearly 6 now.

Untitled by Matthewjb, on Flickr

My daughter was 5 in December and is 112cm tall. I was persuaded into getting the Beinn 20 (short) over the CNOC 16 by the very nice people at Isla bike. They are awesome bikes and the geometry is spoton for youngsters.

Life is to short to ride a crap bike – get her what’s she deserves.

Matthew – that looks way too small.

My 5 year old has just changed from a Ridgeback 16 to a Cube 20 – and she’s not that tall…and more comfortable on the Cube by far