My eldest is a tall 6 year old who need s anew bike, have considered 20inch Frogs / Isla bikes and Ridgebacks but hes learning to wheelie & jump and he is saying he wants a BMX which is fine by me.
Looking at Alans etc there seems to be a few 18inch models, are these generally for younger kids? There seems to be a few 20inch bikes with shorter TT but not many.

My almost 8 year old has a 16 inch mafiabike BMX. You also get Cult 16″ and a few others.

He is also tall for his age but I will probably keep him on a 16″ until he is 9 or 10 then move up to 18″. The mafiabike 16″ says age 5 to 10

Is it for use on a proper racetrack or just general mucking around?
If the latter I’d say 18 inch wheels would be right.
The problem with these kids BMXs is they are always steel and so heavy. The alternatives from the MTB companies (e.g. specialized, ridgeback) are usually aluminium and actually much better suited to young kids. But they look more like mountain bikes than BMXs so your son probably won’t be impressed!

My son is coming up to 6 and quite tall and I think his 16″ wheel BMX will be too small for him in a years time…

He’ll be riding DJ and Park ! 😛

Hell just be riding , singletrack with me, skatepark, playing jumps whatever. Thing is with kids MTBs is, apart from Islabikes most of them have cheap suspension forks which negate any weight savings, and the aluminium is usually unbutted MEGA or something so they aint light.

There is a good BMX scene locally and I’ll buy him anything to steeer him away from the scooter blight.

Sounds like he needs a real BMX then 🙂

I think you need to decide which wheel size you want to go for and take it from there. Personally I would say 20 inch is probably too big.

I think I would just look at all the 18 inch BMX bikes on the market and go for the lightest one (although finding out accurate weights for them might be difficult).

I’ve just gone through this with my little lad – he’s got a genetic condition that causes him to grow too quickly but his strength doesn’t develop at the same rate. This means he struggles with most kids bikes that are the correct size. After a lot of looking around I came upon the Cuda Fluxus:

http://urbanair.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=69_84&product_id=361

It’s a great price for a proper race bike, but it’s also robust enough to ‘play out’ on too. I did consider an Islabike but to be honest I can’t justify twice the price. The brakes, cranks, bars etc are all the correct length/size for his shape and size – everything’s light and easy to use. Here’s a pic:

The seat goes up quite a bit from this pic.

And his 1st time on a track:

(I was very very proud).

To give you some sort of perspective – this is a 20″ wheeled bike – the 18″ was ok but he would’ve outgrown it within months. The dimensions are ok for general riding too – a couple of days before this was taken he did a 10 mile ride with me around Hartington.

Have a look at the Orbea mx20 dirt. I’ve just got one for my lad who turns 6 in July. He’s not ridden it yet as it’s a birthday present but it looks a great bit of kit light well made and has rigid forks. It also has a nice big cog on the back for uphills.

http://www.orbea.com/gb-en/bicycles/mx-20-dirt/

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/55788/Orbea_MX20_Dirt_20Inch_2013_Bike

If you want an MTB that is!!

This is my son when he’s just turned 7 on his 16″ BMX

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haqmQjFKMPU[/video]

Nice and small to throw around (the BMX not the boy, he’s a bit heavy now…).

Eventually gone for an 18inch Saracen just ordered from the LBS. There were a few cheaper 20inch with short toptubes but went for a (bit)lighter 18.

Pics when it comes please! My 9 year old is still happy on his 16″ GT for messing about and a bit of park stuff, but he won’t fit it for a lot longer, so I need to start keeping an eye out.

Got it yesterday, seemed a bit too big initially (hes 130cm) but hes riding it fine and wont let me cut the bars down. Glad I didnt go 20inch.