[Closed] 14in bike for a 4 year old

Maybe 16”.

My boy had a commencal ramone 16 for a while, great bike.

He's too short for a 16in, just out growing his 12in balance bike so a 14in bike is next

The 14in Commencal Ramones could be a contender too

We had one of these four our lad but he has already outgrown it at four and a half (probably quite a tall four and a half though). It was a good bike though, just with we had gone for the 16” version.

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/kids-bikes/carrera-cosmos-kids-bike---14in-wheel---white-606153.html

Isla or early rider. My almost by 4 yo went from the Isla rothan balance bike to the 14" Isla pedal bike and was riding (no stabilisers) in minutes back in Feb/march. Her older sister, almost 5, use less physical but went straight from the rothan to a 16" early rider with pedals removed, back in December and got pedaling after a month.

Of the two, the early rider is the best bike but more expensive. I think the eldest may need a 20" by the end of the year or next spring, and am considering frog next.
All those brands do good light kids bikes

Early Rider Belter, or Giant ARX16.

Cheers for the replies

That Carrera hurts my eyes!

The Isla bikes are not very good looking

The Early rider looks good but i don't want V brakes or a belt drive really

He wants a bike like mine so the Commencal Ramone and the Kink Pump are winning so far

https://www.commencal-store.co.uk/ramones-14-chrome-c2x31379378

https://www.sourcebmx.com/products/kink-pump-14-bmx-bike-2021?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyPi8j7uO6wIVCbrtCh27ZQEnEAAYASAAEgJCnvD_BwE&loc=gb&lang=en&currency=gbp

The Early rider Hellion looks perfect, just a shame it starts in 16in

https://earlyrider.com/collections/bike-park-bikes/products/hellion-16?variant=31167265570903

Discs on a bike that size are just extra weight and faff. Belt is cleaner and maintenance free (didn't touch the one on mine for the four years or so of use it had).

Thanks but id rather have discs than V brakes, got plenty of disc brake spares, never been a fan of V brakes, as for the belt drive i can see the advantages but id rather just have a chain

One thing i have noticed whilst looking at quite a few different kids bikes is a lot of them still use old tech like V brakes, 1in quill stems, coaster brakes, 1 piece cranks, seats which have traditional seat guts, guessing this is down to price but some of this tech is 20+ years old and much better parts are available but only a small minority of bikes are coming with the newer tech parts

He basically wants smaller versions of my bikes (god knows how im gonna find a 14in Colnago road bike!) and he is a fussy bastard like me which doesn't help!

Kids that age don't need discs, at all. And you'll be lucky to wear anything out at that age. The only reason people spec discs on bikes that size is to impress other parents.

My daughter had a Dawes Academy 14, same as the equivalent Squish model, difference is BMX or MTB bars. As light as an Isla and well built, I'd advise a second hand one if you don't want a massive depreciation hit though.

Why not go the whole hog?

Kids bikes should be light, reasonably priced, simple and light. They'll be on it for a couple of years at most. Suspension and discs are just wasted weight for that age.

Still, your choice and all that!

Agree, been very impressed by the belt so far, quiet, clean, light, seems brilliant

They'll outgrow a 14" quick, so spending 300+ on that will be a bit of a waste, might be worth looking at better priced ones locally if going the 14" route?

Vitus 14

We got one for our four year old. It's ace.

Cheers for all the replies

Cost doesn't bother me as my quarterly bonus easily covers the cost of the bike and i get a good discount from a friends shop

Why not go the whole hog?

Now that is nice! once he's a bit older ill get him a Transition Ripcord

Looks like its a Kink Pump bmx for Christmas and then the Commencal Ramone for his birthday!

Bit odd to rule out the Early Rider for those reasons. It’s a 4 year old so you won’t be needing your box of disc spares, and v’s are more than powerful enough. The belt will just live there u touched for the length of time you own the bike, with no downsides (again, as it’s a 4 year old).

iirc the Commencal is far heavier, for no benefit (as you’ll be after the Early Rider Seeker rather than Belter if it’s for mostly off road use)

7.6kg. that's heavier than my 8year olds islabike FFS. Totally crazy.

Get them a decent bike for their size and strength not some inappropriate tat designed to look like daddy's bike.

V brakes kind of worked for me a few times as a 75kg adult at Cwmcarn when I got into mtb. Plus we all used to be amazed with the power of v brakes when they first came out.

Your 4 year old doesn’t need discs - it’s just adding a load of weight to the bike for no benefit imo.

My 3.5 year old is probably going to get an Isla Cnoc 14 for Christmas - just need to find one - although I think shelll hang onto her current balance bike too for a while as she loves it. Especially skidding with the v brake on the back of it 😝

Belt drives are probably a good idea... as all chains are the same spacing that makes every part of a drive chain way oversized for kids.

Don't obsess over wheel size.... smaller frames can have larger wheels... so its more a 29er vs 27.5 type thing.

I'd buy used...Jnr got a 20 for his 5th Birthday ... he was on a small framed 24" 9months later!

we got the boy a frog 40. Its very light, comfortable. comes with both road and off road tyres. he rides it at pump tracks and some flat ish trail centres (Ashton Court / Leigh woods). its a great first bike. nothing too complicated (single speed), light if he needs to push it or you need to carry it, and the contact points, reach etc seem to be really sorted. Plus frog bikes have really solid resale values.....after a couple of years use they still go for about 75% of their RRP

14" is a bit of a dead end. Go 12-16-20-24 and save your money.

EDIT - having seen that he's outgrown a 12" balance bike, I'd go used for as little as possible for experience of pedals. Three is old enough for two wheels, but don't worry about disks and spending a lot. Balance is actually a small part of the equation. Starting stopping and pedaling need to be learnt.

My first started on a vintage 12" with detachable stabilizers then no stabilizers at 2 1/2. He's DH'ing in the Forest of Dean today with is girlfriend. We went the above route.

7+ kg is a great way to get a kid that age to hate cycling. My daughter tried to ride some Trek monstrosity that was almost as heavy as my bike (no joke) and hated it.

The bike is for your kid, not you.

TiRed
Subscriber

14″ is a bit of a dead end. Go 12-16-20-24 and save your money.

I've read that a few times and i'm struggling to buy it. I've got a 3 year old who's ready to pedal, but too short for any 16" that i've found (ignoring that Specialized with the coaster brake). OTOH a Cnoc 14 or Belter/Seeker will do the job perfectly, then go to his brother, then get punted on. Of course a 16" would last longer but he cant ride it now (or i could try and force it with potential negative results) and could do with a bike more capable than his balance bike. 14" it is

My daughter went from a hotwalk to a commencal ramones 14 on her third birthday. she absolutely rips on it. Although she has almost grown out of it, which has only taken 6 months. So a 16 inch wheel bike will be on the cards for crimbo.

The commencal is a decent bit of kit. The disc brakes might not be essential, but they certainly look cool! and it should hold a chunk of value 2nd hand.

mashr

I’ve read that a few times and i’m struggling to buy it. I’ve got a 3 year old who’s ready to pedal, but too short for any 16″ that i’ve found (ignoring that Specialized with the coaster brake).

Yep.
Our daughter had a 12" balance bike, but is small for her age and was more than ready to transition to a pedal bike.
I spent ages looking around and posted on here for advice regarding a 14" bike option.
I do think that a decent bike new is slightly bonkers, although if you choose a more premium brand you probably get a lot of it back when selling it on.

I was lucky and managed to get a Carrera Star second hand from eBay for £45. I think it's an older version of the Carrera Cosmos and is decently light with tektro kids brakes, Kenda tyres etc.
The same guy was selling a Ridgeback Dimension 16 so we got that at the same time for £99 and have shoved it in the loft. There's no way the Ridgeback would fit her at the moment, but she'll probably be on it by this time next yr.

I agree that 14" wheeled bike are a bit of a stop-gap but if we hadn't bought one my daughter would still be on her balance bike (although she does still use that for whizzing round the garden).

Our 16" Ramones was probably the best bike I've ever purchased. Managed to survive being treated like crap by 2 kids over a 5 year period only needing new tubes / tyres and brake pads. It was *so* much better than the specialized Hotrock that my eldest replaced it with. Defo reccomended.

Ridgeback MX14.

Disks lol.