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Daughters 4th birthday in August and I am looking to get her a pedal bike. She is currently rocking a bright yellow Hornit which she loves.
Was looking at the Trek Precaliber 16s which seem decent for the money. Any other suggestions? We will be riding around flatish woods and forestry paths, not really around parks and pavements. (MUST be pink...so I've been told)
Looked at the second hand market around here but not much going on (Devon and don't have Facebook for market place)
Budget is around 250-300. (I know the Frog is a tad up from there)
Thanks in advance!
I'm a big fan of Frog bikes, both of my kids have had Frog 44s. Whilst they are a bit over your budget, they do hold their second hand value really well. If you know someone with Facebook, there is a really good group on there that people list their 2nd hand bikes on. I have sold about 6 Frog bikes on Facebook, they usually aren't listed for long before they are bought.
Ideally you want the lightest bike you can get, as that will really make the difference.
Gears or singlespeed is the question IME. FWIW we had an Early Rider Belter (with belt not chain) and it was probably the best bike we got for our kid(s) all things considered.
Isn't the answer an Islabike in the correct size (Beinn 20?) from eBay?
Another vote for early rider belter. I think the bigger tyres are the winner on that bike - I’d always underestimated how rough the forest paths would be for smaller wheels and the tyres really help.
Mine both learnt on early rider seeker 14s.
I bought a pre 2019 belter on Facebook for 200, I found this model would take a larger volume tyre up front for comfort but not out back so it's running a bontrager tr1 and a schwalbe black jack. A mini mullet.
The early riders have a decent resale value . The seeker 14 that did both my boys was sold on for £200 so fairly cheap when you work out the price per child.
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We got my daughter a second-hand Ridgeback Dimension 16. They seem to be often over-looked, but are lightweight and have all the kid-friendly features of the more premium brands; small Tektro brake levers, short cranks etc.
Looks like they are out-of-stock on the Ridgeback page at the moment, but they also do an MX range which might be more suitable as it had a dropped top-tube. It's a bit cheaper, so perhaps heavier? Looks to have a quill stem, which the Dimension doesn't have.
Orbea do some good kids bikes. She's now on an Orbea MX20.
Surprised no one has said this: https://www.hopeacademyuk.com/bikes
As a bike snob my child has had the 12inch prevelo and is now on the 16 early rider, not only do the bikes look lovely with the parts, the disc brakes work (almost too well) means I dont mind going out with the child on wet days thinking he may die on a hill with rim brakes!
In my mind the cost of the monthly payments was the depreciation of getting something nice & new, anything nice never seemed to come up locally and always snapped up quick!
Isn't the answer an Islabike in the correct size (Beinn 20?) from eBay?
I went for this for my son.
There was some resistance at swapping from the balance bike to pedals, but once he had a bit of practice he loved it.
My daughter went from Islabike Rothan to Islabike CNOC 14" to Frog ? 16" in 5 weeks.
So, be careful on sizes and don't spend too much!
She was pretty much big enough to be on a Cannondale Cujo 20 by 4.5...
Pink was a problem when you get to "proper" bikes. The first 2 were red, which her ladyship deemed ok.
Some less mainstream bikes we had that are worth searching for are Black Mountain and Puky LS Pro 16. Held their value ok as those that cycle will recognise the good design choices and component quality.
Overall I've just kept an open mind and not been too focused on a particular model. Not using FB marketplace means you are probably missing out on the best local bargains though.