Our kid needs a new bike – he’s turning 6 and has outgrown his current one (16 inch wheels).
Are gears worth it at this age? He knows if he wants to get as strong as Dad then he only needs one gear, but he’s asked about them a few times so they might be a fun addition. [He loves cycling, rides to school, at the weekend etc].

Both my girls got 20″ geared bikes at 7 years and you will be surprised how useful they are. However make sure they can operate the gear lever – one has a Spesh Hotrock which has a lovely light action 6 speed twist grip but the other has a Mongoose Rocadile which is a great bike but has totally stiff unuseable 7 speed gripshift which I had to change

Got my lad a geared islabike for his 5th birthday. Didn’t take long to establish he’s not strong enough to change the gears so it stays in 2nd. Means he can get up most hills and more importantly cant ride faster than I can run!
He seems to understand what the gears do and occasionally asks for me to put it in 1st on a steep climb but is happy to leave them for now and concentrate on learning to wheelie 🙂

Mine all moved to gears as soon as they could ride a 20″ wheel (even if it was a bit 29er style).

They soon figure out how to use them, and they really extend the range and speed of your rides once they have them down. Our 5 year old (he’s tall for age) still hasn’t quite got the shifting down (uses about 3 sprockets in one direction, then forgets to change down) BUT – remember they don’t have to use them. Just the ability to select them a gear appropriate to the majority of the ride is a big bonus.

Five & Islabike here too.

He could change gears about 6 months later.

However it’s taken 3 years before he’s started to see the value in changing gears.

Edit: Brassneck is about right.

Oh, bike came with stupidly strong sram gripshift. Tried a suntour thumbshifter, settled for revoshift grip shifter and an old xt mech which has the lightest action nut he still cant do it.

Miss Beaker has just started riding a bike with gears (21 of them!) and has no problems. She has only used gears 1 to 7 so far but it has opened up her eyes to getting out further on a bike. The shimano Revoshift shifter she uses has such a light action. I hope to get her up to Swinley this week!

Thks – It sounds like a good idea, he’d enjoy steaming along in a big gear. Saying that, I can barely maintain the drivetrain on my own mountain bike, so I’ll need to get him a decent set-up.

20″ wheel, preferably gripshift as it is easier to change gear. Trek MT60 or the like, with good V brakes, alloy levers and a light frame.

“Twist forward to go faster”