She's started riding by herself tonight and I am totally made up. Now the bike she has will probably see her through part of the summer but won't last long. What should I be thinking of - I thought a BMX - pretty bombproof, not too heavy, and no cheap gears/suspension that don't really work to go wrong.
Anybody have any ideas - oh and I don't want to spend a fortune.
Where will you ride? Does she enjoy riding, or just a bit of fun round park?
My 7 year old just grew out of his Ridgeback MX16, but they do an MX20 for around £200. Nice bike.
He loved it, but has inherited his older brother's red 20" Gary Fisher.
Have you looked 2nd hand?
I've got a mate selling the ridgeback harmony for £80 s/h.... It's a great bike
My 8 year old has a cheap second hand BMX and a cheap second hand 24" wheel BMX (well 2 actually).
I've pad less than £100 for the three and he has loads of fun riding the different bikes.
Look on Gumtree/eBay and there'll be something that catches your eye.
EDIT: Check sizing, because unless she is small, 20" wheels may be a bit small (except on a BMX of course).
At about that age my kids had the 20" wheel Gary Fisher. Great bike. Really well put together.
Just don't get anything too heavy! I bought my 7 year old a gas pipe special from an online dealer which turned out to be heavier than my bikes! Seriously it was over 25lbs! He hardly rode it. Eventually the wife* noticed how heavy it was and asked if we could get something lighter. Got him an Islabike which we can't get him off!
Alternatively you could buy the gas pipe special from me 🙂
*The same wife who said it's not worth spending on an Islabike as he'll grow out of it! I eventually won that argument but the expensive way!
Another vote for the 20" Gary Fisher Precaliber, light and quite long top tube and good clearance, my lad is coming up for 9 so is literally on the cusp of a 24" sadly I don't think GF make them anymore, ebay is a good idea, decent new kids bikes are stupid expensive, especially Isla, Cube are worth a look.
Islabikes are relatively expensive, but they are the best out there, and you'll get 70-80% of the purchase price back on eBay if you look after them.
DoctorRad - 70-80% back, you've got to be kidding, I was looking for a 2nd hand Beinn 20 recently and they were going for about £10 less than new!!!
Having had two of them I would say Islabike all the way yes they are initially a big outlay but marketed correctly you can get most of that back, works out much cheaper than some supermarket special that's only fit for the skip when it starts to fall apart.