Bike for a Four Year Old

Kintarō Hattori · 04-06-2021 12:21pm #1

Hey Folks,

I was all set to get my four year old lady a bike from the local shop. Long story short is I paid in full, planned to collect it two weeks later, they didn't have it. Looking around I'm happy to buy online and was nearly going to buy a Schwinn Elm from Amazon but a quick look has shown that it's actually quite a heavy bike, so I'm here for advice.
When it came to getting her a scooter we did a bit of research and found out that the Micro brand was the one to get (might sound obvious now but at the time we hadn't heard of them). Can anyone recommend a brand or model of bike to get? Ideally something that's not too heavy as my little lady would struggle a bit with it. The local shop measured her as needing a 16", I was thinking about going to see this with her on Saturday:

https://www.halfords.ie/bikes/kids-bikes/carrera-cosmos-kids-bike---16%22-wheel---purple-606229.html

She's only learning to ride so it'd need to support stabilisers.

These seem to get decent reviews:

https://www.decathlon.ie/bikes-3-6-years/168912-44748-4-6-years-16-inch-aluminium-racing-bike-900-red.html#/demodelsize-254no_size/demodelcolor-8501166

I did a little research online but a lot of what I found was for the US and what UK information I found, I couldn't find the bikes within budget here.

Budget would be about €250.

Many thanks.

Macy0161 · 04-06-2021 12:35pm

Mine only wanted the sparkly covered in crap bikes at that age. If you have flat routes, it maybe best something they want to go.

I went with something they wanted, and something not so expensive we had to be too security conscious about (so they had better access) and also how quickly they feckin grow out of the bikes.

positron · 04-06-2021 8:24pm

Buy a used Islabike Cnoc 16 or Frog etc. Islabikes are really fantastic little things and kids take them to like ducks to water. Check out adverts.

Ps: Full disclosure, I am just after selling an Islabike on adverts and second one is already offer accepted.

magicbastarder · 04-06-2021 8:54pm

unfortunately, little big bikes, which are designed to last from toddler to about 7yo, seem to be out of stock for the next month or two;

https://www.littlebigbikes.com/

appledrop · 04-06-2021 9:01pm

Just wondering is she actually able to cycle a bike yet?

Of not I keep her on the balance bike for longer, rather than a bike with stabilisers.

Stabilisers can actually be a hindrance because they get out of the habit of balancing like they did on balance bike.

Our 4 year old has just learned to ride a bike but still hard at times to stop and start and he still prefers balance bike if we are going for long walk/ cycle.

iwillhtfu · 04-06-2021 9:09pm

I have one of those cosmos bikes for the young lad and it was as light if not lighter than his sisters Frog bike.

Quigs Snr · 04-06-2021 11:05pm

I bought a Woom 3 for my 4 year old from Donnybrook bikes a couple of months ago.. probably the lightest bike in its class. 360 euros or thereabouts but worth it. He did 25km with me on the Waterford Greenway on it last Sunday.

The difference a high quality bike makes is noticeable I reckon. And of course the resale on the Woom, Islabike and Frog bikes makes it less of an outlay in the long term than you expect.

ForestFire · 04-06-2021 11:16pm

We kept out little girl on her balance bike for as long as possible (I even got a seat and front handle bar extenders).

This allowed is to go straight to a small bike almost directly, took 1 day to get her going with pedals (in a straight line at least)

We got the Carrera from Halfords and last year got the same bike (Luna) in the bigger size.

We find the Carrera very good quality, and light enough, that it's not an issue.

May not be the lightest you can get if you spend more, but compared to most of the "trendy" bikes from Smyth's and the like, it's as light as a feather.

Cee-Jay-Cee · 05-06-2021 12:54am

I bought cheap bikes on Facebook (€25) and stripped them off pedals brakes etc and made them into balance bikes. They were on them for about 6/8 months. We bought their proper bikes in Smyths and it took less than 5 min to have them cycling properly.

Kids grow quickly and so don’t spend a lot on their first bikes as they’ll get next to no time out of them. Buy second hand and sell them on when finished with them. €250 is a ridiculous amount to spend on a bike for a 4yr old IMO.

iwillhtfu · 05-06-2021 8:02am

Quigs Snr wrote: »

I bought a Woom 3 for my 4 year old from Donnybrook bikes a couple of months ago.. probably the lightest bike in its class. 360 euros or thereabouts but worth it. He did 25km with me on the Waterford Greenway on it last Sunday.

The difference a high quality bike makes is noticeable I reckon. And of course the resale on the Woom, Islabike and Frog bikes makes it less of an outlay in the long term than you expect.

I'd honestly argue the difference at least from personal experience with frog and the cosmos bike linked.

pajosjunkbox · 05-06-2021 8:27am

Hi. I did the same research as you when my girl was four. Looked at Isla bikes etc and all are really excellent bikes but they are expensive. A little cheaper is the wiggins range of bikes that Halfords sell specially designed for kids.

They are light, easy to cycle and long lasting. We have two now (different sizes) as the first was handed on to her brother . Only downside is that supply is an issue at the moment as I wanted to buy a third as my daughter is now 9. Check them out on done deal

Kintarō Hattori · 05-06-2021 6:24pm

I rang around a number of places on Friday and supply as mentioned above seems to be a real issue. Popped into Halfords today and they measured her up as needing a 14" as opposed to a 16" which was suggested by the local bike shop. Stock availability was a real issue. She chose 3 different bikes and each was sold out with no ETA. Her fourth choice was the below:

https://www.halfords.ie/bikes/kids-bikes/apollo-monsterz-kids-bike---14%22-wheel-194214.html

It might not be ideal but it'll get her going. She can cycle a bike but her control isn't ideal, we really need to work on that. What I saved in not being a bigger more expenisve bike, I may get her a balance bike to help her along. Good, bad idea?

okane1 · 05-06-2021 8:30pm

We got our 4yr old the Early Rider Belter 16. It's a fantastic bike with real bike components. He went from 1yr on a balance bike to riding this bike after 5mins been on it. Recommend getting a good quality bike.

ForestFire · 05-06-2021 9:07pm

Look I've never seen this monster bike you've linked, so what I say below could be completely wrong, and this bike might be different.

A friend gave us a free "Disney Cars" bike that looked very similar to that.

My advice is to stay well clear, we didn't use it once, as it was a heavy piece of metal junk, that was sold by using a kids brand only, to appeal to young kids.

We offered them to collect it a few times, after a few months of hiding the dam thing, so as not to offend them.

They never collected, so eventually I traded it in on a new carerra bike when Halfords ran a deal. So at least got some use from it.

When we where in between like this, I bought the Handlebar extenders and a new seat with longer post for the balance bike, to extend its use. (Will add let now that I used if I can find them, but if this is an option for you, you'll need to check the right diameters you need)

ForestFire · 05-06-2021 9:12pm

Seat post example

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B001AISYXG?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Handlebar extender

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0039Z6ANO/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ferris · 05-06-2021 11:22pm

Quigs Snr wrote: »

I bought a Woom 3 for my 4 year old from Donnybrook bikes a couple of months ago.. probably the lightest bike in its class. 360 euros or thereabouts but worth it. He did 25km with me on the Waterford Greenway on it last Sunday.

The difference a high quality bike makes is noticeable I reckon. And of course the resale on the Woom, Islabike and Frog bikes makes it less of an outlay in the long term than you expect.

This. Get a Woom (or Frog or Islabike), take off the pedals and get her to just use it as a balance bike. Forget stabilisers, fools errand, to much chance of getting dependent on them. My 3yr old loves her woom 2, still using as a balance bike but I reckon she’d be cycling if I put more effort in. Lovely little bike, light but really well put together. I only wish I’d done the same with her older sister but I got her a crap, heavy Halfords bike with stabilisers and it just doesn’t work for her and she hates it. Woom 5 is on its way. Incidentally, Donnybrook cycles seem to always have stock. I like the following cycle training vid btw.

https://youtu.be/p6SNCvIN4EI

appledrop · 05-06-2021 11:48pm

As the others have said forget about a bike with stabilisers.

When we were buying the bike guy in cycle shop was asking us did he have a balance bike and we said he did and he said oh brilliant, get those stabilisers off quick so he doesn't rely on them. We just left them on for 1 or 2 goes so he knew how to pedal.

The hardest part of cycling a bike is balancing and that's why our son was able to take to bike quickly as he had the practice of that with balance bike.

I'd also be careful about 14in over 16in.

We got 16in and don't get me wrong a tiny bit big at beginning but 6mths later he has taken a stretch and 14in would already be too small.

morefoolme · 12-06-2021 9:03am

Have a litle-used Halfords Bike with stabilisers if needed for half that price that if you're interested

Bike for a Four Year Old

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