Kids bikes

get on your bike

Have a five year old but he is growing out of the bike he has. Seen a nice one in that shop in tallaght beside smyths, name escapes me, but was pricey

Think it was a giant one with five gears or something on it. Anybody get one of these or similar and if so was it worth the cash.

Anybody any other suggestions for something half decent

Cheers

reallyunique

At 5 it's all about fun, make it simple, comfortable and safe. Don't spend too much. After a year or two at most you'll need a new bike. Try second hand (adverts.ie or donedeal.ie), I got an almost new bike (tyres weren't even dirty) for my 6.5 year old for 75Euro.

Gears are good but it can be hard for small hands to twist or push the mechanism even at six or seven years old. Simple is best. Get another bike in 12 months if he needs it.

Lighter is better. Get your son to try pulling the bike up some steps (they usually have to do this at kerbs or going into houses etc). If it's too heavy to lift then you'll end up doing it or it'll get left on the street.

Suspension is useless (generally) and on kids bikes in particular. It does no good, makes the bike heavier, harder to ride and more prone to breakdowns. Look for one without.

Look for the biggest wheels your boy can comfortably manage (probably, 16"-18"). Bigger wheels (not just fatter tyres) can make bumps/kerbs etc easier to manage and you'll get (slightly) fewer crashes.

In the end, fit is probably the most important thing. If your boy isn't comfortable on the bike it'll cause accidents and it won't get used as much. Make sure he can reach everything without stretching and can grip the brakes. Colour can be important too, if he thinks it's not cool it'll just rust

Hope this helps.

get on your bike

Good advice. Cheers

Lumen

My 5 y/old is on a CNOC 16. Expensive but brilliant.

I'll probably upgrade him to a Beinn 20 this summer as he's moaning about not having any gears. I'm sure he'll change his mind once I get him on jockey-wheel cleaning duties.

quenching

Lumen wrote: »

My 5 y/old is on a CNOC 16. Expensive but brilliant.

I'll probably upgrade him to a Beinn 20 this summer as he's moaning about not having any gears. I'm sure he'll change his mind once I get him on jockey-wheel cleaning duties.

Have to agree with Lumen, the Islabikes range are by far the best kids bikes I've seen. We've got a Cnoc 14 and a Cnoc 16 and will move on to Benin 20 soon too. They may have an apparently high purchase price but you'll also sell it easily for a a decent price when you're done with it, and it'll still be in excellent working order if you don't abuse it. Anything from Smyths, or in fact most bike shops, aimed at young kids is really only fit for a skip!

I'd be inclined to stay away from gears for a while yet, apart from being difficult to use you really don't want a 5 year old gaining too much speed, they're not known for they're spatial awareness :eek: