What girls bike? (Yes, it's their birthday)

Get em Raleighs..

..I do recommend looking for bikes with A-Headsets as they are usually a jump up in quality from bikes with quills.

Make your mind up:

😀

Lol @ Islabrats. Not sure if that’s a reference to the kids or the parents though.

Oi! I resemble that remark. 😀

At 6 the will definitely need a 20″ wheel. Pointless buying anything smaller.

Make your mind up:

I was trying to steer him away from that Raleigh… 😉
You have to really shop around and strike lucky to find something for £100. Bike after the red beast was a Haro, that I seem to recall was linked from here. Fab bike for around £130 that was.

Less tubes, must be lighter!
Bizarre little thing

toppers3933 – Member
At 6 the will definitely need a 20″ wheel. Pointless buying anything smaller.
POSTED 4 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

Surely the bike size should be relative to their height and inside leg, not their age…

Obviously their height is a factor. But kids generally grow at roughly the same rate which means that sizing kids bikes can usually done by their age. And in general a 20″ bike is from 5 yrs old. Unless they are below average height on which case they still wouldn’t be far off. The op never mentioned that they were small for their age and I’ve sold enough kids bikes in my time to know that they will almost certainly be tall enough for a 20″ wheel. I would be amazed if they weren’t. My 5yr old who is pretty much average height got a 20″ wheel bike for his 5th birthday.

Most kids bike companies publish handy sizing charts, usually based on inside leg:
e.g. http://www.islabikes.co.uk/sizing-advice

There is a fair bit of overlap on the 16 and 20 on that range.

OP did say that they were small for their age so 16 seems pretty reasonable. My 5yo is pretty tall for her age and still has plenty of growth left on her Cnoc. I see a lot of kids struggling with bikes that are too big for them, it does them no favours.

Well that advice doesn’t really fit with anything I have read….

http://www.billybilslandcycles.co.uk/bike-sizing

http://www.bikes2udirect.com/size.html

And surely getting a bike that is too big will only serve to put them off riding if they struggle with it?

Edit: Beaten to it

OP did say that they were small for their age so 16 seems pretty reasonable.

Considering how slow a 26inch bike is compared to a 29er, I can’t even imagine how slow a 16 is compared to a 20.

At 6 I would expect 20″ and gears even for a small 6 year old.

Islabikes sizing is a good guide to where you’d expect them to be.

My tall 5 year old looks ridiculous on a 16″ now. Mind you she looks even more ridiculous when she plays on the balance bike.

The cheaper 20″ Orbeas look good.

The Islas though win on all points. Weight/resale/brakes/smallest gear ratio. I’ve just looked at every option for the youngest who has demonstrated he can ride and use his sisters. Normal sized 4YO. Mind you he’ll still be getting towed on the 16″ as I’m not attaching the Trailgator to a new one.

A quick ebay scan a 20″ Beinn in the newer colours (not the latest ones) resell for £250 PLUS postage at least. So that’s currently an £80 loss per bike after 2 to 3 years.

We found the Dawes blowfish to be a good compromise between weight/bling and price at this age. Moved on to an Isla now though at 24″ wheels (Frog was the only other thing close). If your children enjoy cycling any bike will be a good bike, if they are unsure then a lighter bike wins every time.

At 6 I would expect 20″ and gears even for a small 6 year old.

How can you say that? All the advice online contradicts it!

I’ve got the thick end of 20yrs experience selling kids bikes and it’s always served me fine. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

Really?

Look at the Isla Size chart. Granted if your below the sizing on there then they aren’t going to fit on it but that’s quite small. Their typical 6 year old is based on the large 20″ Beinin.

Big problem with singlespeeds is the gear is quite often too big or when it’s not it’s too small and they spin out very very quickly which can cause stability issues as they keep on trying to pedal it.
You don’t have to use the gears but at least you can preselect before use for offroad/onroad or uphill.

Personal experience and my own children and friends all well under 6 fitting well on 20″ Islas. All were probably confident riders though beforehand but none were over 5 when they got them.

Can’t recall if it’s been asked but what are they riding now?
14″ wheels or smaller?

I’ve got the thick end of 20yrs experience selling kids bikes and it’s always served me fine. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

But as I said way back up there, they are a little small for their age – and for example, this online guide says 7+ for a 20 inch. We have just measured them and they have 19” inside legs so at a push we should consider 18 inch.

https://www.bikesdirect365.com/pages/Size-Guides.html

I would say some other bike companies may make their 20″ wheel bikes bigger than a Islabike so you may need to be larger.

Frog agree with Isla
https://www.frogbikes.com/how-to-choose-a-childs-bike.aspx

Also I do Frog a disservice their gear ratio goes to 32:32 like the Isla.
Bit heavier but cheaper.

Can you get them to go and sit on some bikes?
Or ride friends bikes?

UKBikestore have the Ridgeback Melody for £130
http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/product/349/rgb_melody/ridgeback-melody-16-inch-girls-bike.html
Sweet 🙂

Fair enough if they’re small. I didn’t see that part. And the key is for them to try a bike for size. But even a small 6 I would expect to fit on a 20″ wheel bike. Not every time I’ll grant you. Which is why trying one is the best bet.
By and large, practical experience has led me to not agree with that size chart.

two pics taken about 3 months apart, 1st one is the first ride without stabilisers on a 16″ Hotrock, the saddle is on the max mark.
[/url]IMG_20150118_115900 by mike_gee32[/url], on Flickr[/img]
the second was taken this week and Emily is on a 20″ Hotrock and we rode about 7 miles, she was 6 2 weeks ago.

[/url]DSC_0090 by mike_gee32[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Ok kidspam

4yo on 16″
League 2000 150518 by Tom Levell[/url], on Flickr

Couple of weeks later
20150525_133043 by Tom Levell[/url], on Flickr
Yes it’s too big for him (seat at lowest point) but he’s desperate for gears to go faster at race nights but he can ride it, use the brakes and change gear.

5 and half but granted she is tall
League 2000 150518 by Tom Levell[/url], on Flickr

Just measured up my daughter in the name of science 🙂

She is 115cm tall, so that’s 91st percentile, tall for her age (just turned 5).
Inside leg (using the Islabikes book+socks method) is 49cm.

She rides a Cnoc 16 very comfortably which fits with what their size chart says (42 to 52cm inside leg). She could go to a Beinn 20 Small (47cm to 58cm) but no rush yet.

Plenty left on the seatpost. We actually run the saddle a bit low so she can easily reach the ground while seated (slowly creeping it up as she gets more confidence).

The Frog link says 52cm for a 20” – they are 48.5cm so the 20” is *WAY* too big.

Its fairly obvious that you think a 20″ wheel will be too big, without seeing your girls sitting on the bikes you are buying no one can say for sure if you’re right.
Personally I think its a waste of money buying new 16″ wheel bikes that will be outgrown by next year, I would either look for a smaller 20″, every manufacturer sizes their bikes slightly differently, or get good used 16″ for this summer then new bikes once they’ve grown an inch.
I’ve refused to give bikes as birthday or Xmas presents because of the chance of being between sizes, the girls get new bikes when they grow out of their old ones.
If you’re anywhere near Leicester you’re welcome to come and try our 16 and 20 bikes for size with no pressure of a shop telling you the one in stock is the right size 🙂 (I spent 15 years selling bikes, and often told parents to wait a few months rather than make a sale on the day)

I agree with MikeG. And am also, coincidentally, in Leicester. 🙂

What are they currently riding and are you going to gain anything moving up to 16″?

We had both 14 and 16 because needed to move youngest onto pedals. The 16 only lasted the eldest 9 months but bumped the other onto it a bit early as we had it and it was better for him.

Frog 20″ was more about the age range than leg range agreement with Isla.

Frogs also available in plenty of shops.

Personally I think its a waste of money buying new 16″ wheel bikes that will be outgrown by next year

That I agree with, but the OP has his reasons for wanting to buy new.

They are riding 12” ones at the moment (still on stabilizers) but I wouldn’t say they are too big for them yet, but the bikes are just heavy and unwieldy.

I’ve measured him.
420mm ish inside leg and 1030mm ish tall.

He is frankly too small for the 20″ but can get on it and ride it but generally falls off getting off it. Still I’ll be ordering a one next week as it’ll get use from now through 2-3 years + can and still will use the 16″. According to the Isla chart he’s just big enough for the 16″ which he’s been riding for 8 months with no issue.

I’ll pin the elder when she gets back.

16″ would be a vast improvement on a 12″ but I still think you’d be wasting your money as you will get next to nothing back on a £100 bike and be left needing to spend more next year on a 20″.

Can you push them on riding without stabilisers as that’s going to be a big sticking point whatever new bike you get assuming your not going to have stabilisers?

The other one is about 520mm inside leg and seat is up a reasonable amount.
Hopefully it’ll last this year and next then onto 24″ MTB/road bike.

Well it’s done – I ended up buying two of the Raleigh Starz bikes with 18” wheels.

Looking forward to getting them riding them next weekend 🙂

Cool! Looking forward to a suitably proud dad post when you get them riding.

A new bike is a good opportunity to start them stabiliser-free. There is some good advice about getting them away from stabilisers here.

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/change-your-travel/children-and-families/cycling-kids/lose-stabilisers
http://www.ctc.org.uk/guide/teach-child-ride-bike

Worth looking out for local Sustrans “No Stabiliser” sessions too. They are free and have Bikeability instructors on hand in a safe car-free environment to help teach kids to ride. Worked really well for a mate of mine who was struggling to get his kid to ride without stabilisers.

Those links are great thanks – some good tips there that I hadn’t considered 🙂

Goodo.

Youngest wouldn’t listen to me about setting off on his own.
2 sessions at the local road circuit with club coaches on a youth session and he did it no problem. 2nd time I’d failed to tell the coach he couldn’t so he just had to get on with it :0)

Right – girls now have bikes and are very happy.

But I am so relieved I didn’t listen to anyone on here and get the 20” ones – they can only just touch the ground in tip-toes with the 18” wheels – I need to cut an inch off the seat post (it won’t go fully in due to it hitting something internally) and flip over the seat brackets to get the seat as low as possible as it is.

But I have to say I am very impressed with them – lighter than their old bikes, well-made, very good brakes. Great value for money 🙂

Excellent.

Of course most of us suggested trying to get them onto a bike rather than buying blind due to your concerns.

The more expensive end of the spectrum, Isla, which I appreciate was more than you wanted to spend would have accommodated their leg length. No idea on the cheaper end as the info from those manufactures is not really available online.

Which reminds me I need to order one Ta.

Great stuff. Glad the girls aren’t stomping around demanding “Islabikes!!” 🙂

Great stuff. Glad the girls aren’t stomping around demanding “Islabikes!!”

I think you’ll find that’s the parents.

/ahem/
/shuffles feet/