MTB for 6 year old.

CiniO

My daughter will be 6 in January and she urgently needs new bike.
So far she has been riding some standard 14" wheels bike from halfords, and while at the beginning of the year it was still good size for her, now she outgrown it by much.

She is about 122cm high (4 foot).

I was thinking about getting 20" wheels bike for her now. Would that be about right size? I won't be buying locally in the shop so we won't really have a chance to try.

I was thinking about either Kona Shred 20 or Specialized HotRock 20.
Which one would you advise? Or maybe there are some other options in budget of around 300?

Thanks for advice.

check_six

My son skipped straight to a 24" wheel mtb without getting a 20" wheeler. I was sceptical but the guy in the shop encouraged him to give it a go. The bike looked a bit big at first, but after going up and down on the footpath outside the shop a couple of times my son was able to control it without any problem.

I'd say have a look at the two bikes you mentioned and then try one in the slightly larger wheel size.

Always make sure that your child can reach the brake levers. I saw one very nice MTB with grown-up sized brake levers which were inappropriate for use by kids. It was a shock as the bike was ideal in other aspects and it was from a well known brand.

CiniO

Thanks.
How old and what height was your son when you got him 24" bike?

kfod

My Daughter has the Hotrock 20, she is 8 now and has had the bike since she was 5. It was too big for her at 5 but she continued to use her smaller bike until she was comfortable on the Hotrock, by age 6 she had no problems with it, while not dwarves, no one in my family is above average height
It's a well designed bike and I'd imagine it will last her another year, maybe two, before she wants something bigger.

check_six

CiniO wrote: »

Thanks.
How old and what height was your son when you got him 24" bike?

He was 6 and a bit. I can't remember how tall he was at the time, but I'd imagine he was in the 120-130cm bracket.

I was all set to get a 20" wheel bike until I went to the shop. The 20" would probably have done him till he was 7, but he is 8 now and still motoring around on the 24" bike with plenty of room for growth left.

It's no harm giving it a whirl in the shop, you'll know after a few minutes if it looks impossible. My fellow started wobbly but got used to the bike very fast.

Ryath

Have a look at these got my 6 year old daughter one earlier this year she's about 121cm at the minute.

http://www.frogbikes.com/lightweight-kids-bikes/hybrid-bikes/frog52.aspx

They're a good 2kg lighter than a hotrock. Suspension on a kids bike is unnecessary and just adds weight. My daughter is flying on hers did a 10k family charity cycle with me last week no bother on it. Actually over took some much older boys on MTB's!

Seeing as your happy to spend a bit of money rather than buying a cheap halford or smyths bike have look at Islabike's They cost a little more than and are online only but are generally considered the best kids bikes available. I think the frogs are nearly as good and they have a good few Irish stockists now. Personally I thinks it's well worth the extra they're easier for the kid's to cycle, will last a lot longer and if looked after when they have outgrown them you will still get a good chunk of the price back second hand.

One thing I've noticed they've changed to a thumb shifter from the grip shift which is much better and something I was considering doing myself.

check_six

Haven't seen these Frog ones before. They look great.

martyc5674

I was also going to suggest the isla or Frog.
My young lad is 5 and is both slight and fairly short for his age.
He bombs around on his Isla beinn 20"... he did a 7K loop on it last night without stopping... and was tipping along nicely, the key is definitely the light weight and kids in particular dont need a front suspension as it adds so much extra weight.

The Frogs i hear are every bit as good but i havent had the 2 side by side to compare..

The resale value on bith these bikes is a selling point in itself!
Marty

Lumen

Smaller is definitely better.

My short/light 9 year old (about 130cm) uses a 20" Islabike (Beinn 20 small) for proper cycles and his sister's 16" Islabike (CNOC 16) for the skate park.

The CNOC is much better for wheelies and stuff even though it's technically way too small.

fat bloke

@Cinio - I just bought my daughter a 24' mtb so she's finished with her 20' one. It's a lovely Kona. Gorgeous little bike. I'm going to be putting up on the for sale section here as soon as I get some daylight pics of it.

About 100 quid will buy it. -It's got front suspension and 7 speeds at the back, as seems to be the norm.

cyberspi

got my 7 yr old a 20 hot rock and she's barely fitting it, the legs aren't the issue it's the reach and the span of the handlebars... def wouldn't go any bigger than a 20.

CiniO

Ryath wrote: »

Have a look at these got my 6 year old daughter one earlier this year she's about 121cm at the minute.

http://www.frogbikes.com/lightweight-kids-bikes/hybrid-bikes/frog52.aspx

They're a good 2kg lighter than a hotrock. Suspension on a kids bike is unnecessary and just adds weight. My daughter is flying on hers did a 10k family charity cycle with me last week no bother on it. Actually over took some much older boys on MTB's!

Seeing as your happy to spend a bit of money rather than buying a cheap halford or smyths bike have look at Islabike's They cost a little more than and are online only but are generally considered the best kids bikes available. I think the frogs are nearly as good and they have a good few Irish stockists now. Personally I thinks it's well worth the extra they're easier for the kid's to cycle, will last a lot longer and if looked after when they have outgrown them you will still get a good chunk of the price back second hand.

One thing I've noticed they've changed to a thumb shifter from the grip shift which is much better and something I was considering doing myself.

That's for advice.
Both Frog and Isla look good, and it's really tempting that they are so light.
However I'm wondering if front shock is really unnecessery for kids that age?
I try to ride plenty of off-road with her, and starting some MTB trails as well, so I suppose fork would be beneficial.

I'm still waiting as there's a chance I'll be able to get Kona Shred 20 at very good price, but considering they cost really big money normally, it still wouldn't be really much cheaper than Frog you showed. Isla seem a bit better and bit more expensive, but maybe it's worth it.

So now I'm really not sure what to do - go for lighter weight and get f.e. Isla, or try to get this Kona Shred 20, which will be heavier, but will have front shock + disc brakes. I still think that front shock would be beneficial on off-road trails.


Pity there isn't really any shop around here, where I could with her and try all the options.

FirstinLastout

CiniO wrote: »

However I'm wondering if front shock is really unnecessery for kids that age?
I try to ride plenty of off-road with her, and starting some MTB trails as well, so I suppose fork would be beneficial.

I'm still waiting as there's a chance I'll be able to get Kona Shred 20 at very good price, but considering they cost really big money normally, it still wouldn't be really much cheaper than Frog you showed. Isla seem a bit better and bit more expensive, but maybe it's worth it.

So now I'm really not sure what to do - go for lighter weight and get f.e. Isla, or try to get this Kona Shred 20, which will be heavier, but will have front shock + disc brakes. I still think that front shock would be beneficial on off-road trails.

Pity there isn't really any shop around here, where I could with her and try all the options.

Firstly bounce is not necessary regardless of age but certainly not for a 6 year old.
I'm sure that any trails ye cycle down will, initially at least, be gentle enough so no need for tele forks; the weight saving will be much more beneficial.

On top of that, if she was to keep the bike for a couple of years learning as she goes then riding rigid will force her to learn how to ride a mountain bike properly, learning clean, fast and safer lines and not having any mistakes masked by the sus.
Valuable skills that should be learned young rather than spend years hitting and bouncing over every obstacle, thinking that’s how it should be done.
Years later when bigger and more confident she’ll have a broader skill base, ability and knowledge to go on.

Of course, she is just 6 so maybe none of this is particularly important……. Unless you’re the dad that’ll be standing on the inside of the berm shouting “Toughen’ up princess, now hit it harder!!!”

rizzodun

I'd agree with FirstinLastout, she won't need a front shock, on cheap 20" bikes they're just a gimmick anyways, way too stiff with no damping most time they won't compress hitting a bump and if they do it'll be with only with a fraction of travel the fork should give. My son has a cheap 20" and I take him out in trails, all the fork has done is add weight. Better to teach her how to pick lines and maintain speed rather than giving her a false sense if security with a crappy front shock. You can always run the tires a bit softer to help take the edge off the bumps too.

cyberspi

The hotrock is my daughters third bike, the first two being islabikes - which were great when she was tiny and learning to cycle but find they are more beneficial when the kids are smaller, not as big a deal as they get older. We live next to ballyhoura and one of the reasons we went with the hotrock over the beinn is she is getting a lot more adventurous, we want this bike to last her until 9 or 10 and with the trails she'll be hopefully on by then we were afraid the beinn was too light and wouldn't hold up to the abuse (search a few of the UK forums and you'll see what I mean re damage etc. the bienn seems to be fantastic for kids who race to give them an edge but not so much for the rough and tumble of your average kid). She is well able to manage the hotrock, even though she only weighs 21kg herself, so the slightly heavier frame hasn't slowed her down or restricted her distance. We got the one with shocks but they also have a 'street' version with a rigid frame. It has the mount to add disks easily down the road. I do like the kona but she wanted a 'girly' bike so the pink specialized had the edge there! also helped that our LBS got it for us at 2013 sale price so only paid 300 for the new model - including a few add ons like cage etc.

JJJJNR

In the same boat, and got my hands on a frog demo, they are the biz, the only thing putting me off it was the grip gear changer, as they can be fairly stiff on other bikes we have had, but I've been reliably told that the new models have flick gear shifters which is a big plus.

I actually prefer the fixed front sus, as she'll be only on the soft park trails initially for a while.

Any prices for the frog? I was quoted about 330.

Ryath

JJJJNR wrote: »

Any prices for the frog? I was quoted about 330.

I paid €295