The Chainlink

Wanted: Kid's Bikes

I want buy my 4 year old niece and 6 year l nephew bikes tomorrow.   Nothing fancy, am fine buying used. My niece is pretty tall for her age.

 

Anyone have any bikes for sale or shops they carry a decent selection?

 

Also Do you put kids that age on regular bikes or training wheels?

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Permalink Reply by Melanie K on July 2, 2011 at 11:44pm
I think it was Gin (or someone at the Bike Winter Swap) that gave us some good advice on training kids to ride a bike by just taking the training wheels and pedals off the bike, lower the seat so they can put their feet down, and letting them use it by scooting it along and balancing on it- kind of like a balance bike, but using a regular bicycle. Our 7 year old went from relying on the training wheels to mastering balancing within a few hours- and she told us she wanted pedals after about an hour or two and no more training wheels- she pedals like a pro now.  Sorry I can't help you with finding one, though.
Permalink Reply by Jennifer Mach on November 25, 2011 at 9:49pm

Just a bump to this thread-- I am looking for a good, used bike for my tall 7-year-old.  She would be cool with a boy's bike or not-too-girly girls' bike.  

As the OP posted, does anyone have any bikes for sale or shops that carry a decent selection?  Anyone's kid grow out of his/her bike this year?  On a related note, I would be willing to sell/swap her smaller bike-- Julie, does your 4-year-old still need a bike?

Permalink Reply by jennifer james on November 25, 2011 at 11:28pm

Hi-

I'd try working bikes, the recyclery or west town to start. The season for looking at the co-ops is winding down and sometimes there are great ones to be found.  We found most of ours at Working Bikes.

 

as an aside We have a little post on turning a kid's bike into a balance bike on chicargobike- it's an old post but pretty clear. 

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Mach on November 26, 2011 at 6:35am

Thanks jennifer, I will check those places out and report back!

Jen

Permalink Reply by Bikefreeek on November 26, 2011 at 10:27am

West Town Bikes/Ciclo Urbano has a nice selection of kids bikes for sale right now.

2459 W. Division. Open 11-6pm

Permalink Reply by jennifer james on November 26, 2011 at 10:33am

Yea! Thanks 

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on November 28, 2011 at 10:48am

I can vouch for the scoot/balance bike method. There are six kids in our building http://atoms.net/HAB37 and the two oldest were both riding pedal bikes by the age of three. The parents started them both on a balance bike and they were pedaling within a few months of that. It is pretty great to see the boys riding in the park at the age of three, whizzing past five, six and seven year olds tottering along with training wheels.

 

uh, not that we are competitive or anything.

 

Julie and Jennifer,

It would be fun to hear about what bikes you found and where you got them and how the kids are liking them. 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Mach on November 28, 2011 at 10:59am

Thanks Tony, I think we will be going shopping this weekend.  I'll definitely post back!

 

As an alternative to balance bikes, we also did not do training wheels-- I ran alongside my daughter and held her by the back of the neck-- just enough to stabilize her.  That is how my dad taught me.  Luckily I am at a good height for that-- it didn't work for my taller husband-- and it's good exercise for mom.  Holding her but not holding the bike allowed her to ride on her own-- I just provided enough assurance that she wouldn't crash.  My daughter is somewhat cautious-- she only allowed me to let go this summer, after my hand got gross and sweaty.  Now she is a speed demon.  

 

I'm looking forward to getting her a better, bigger bike.  Thanks everyone for the input!

 

Jen

Tony Adams said:

I can vouch for the scoot/balance bike method. There are six kids in our building http://atoms.net/HAB37 and the two oldest were both riding pedal bikes by the age of three. The parents started them both on a balance bike and they were pedaling within a few months of that. It is pretty great to see the boys riding in the park at the age of three, whizzing past five, six and seven year olds tottering along with training wheels.

 

uh, not that we are competitive or anything.

 

Julie and Jennifer,

It would be fun to hear about what bikes you found and where you got them and how the kids are liking them. 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Mach on December 4, 2011 at 3:44pm

Stopped by Ciclo Urbano today and scored an awesome bike for the kid.  Great prices, super-friendly and helpful staff-- I highly recommend the store.  Thanks for the recommendations, everyone!

They said it was a good time to bike shop, as they have a lot of inventory.  This bike is a Trek "Mountain Lion", with the tag phrase "Designed for the animal in you" on the chain guard.  Love the motto!

Kid loves the bike-- couldn't wait to get home and go for a ride!

P.S. Full disclosure, we actually got two bikes-- they also had a sweet little Gary Fisher "Short Cut", which is a little big for her now, but should be perfect next summer.  5-speeds, totally speedy, red.  Heck, Mom and Dad each have multiple bikes, why should she have only one!

My husband almost bought a Schwinn SuperSport frame too-- dangerous shop!

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on December 4, 2011 at 3:51pm

Yeah!!!  Looking forward to seeing Clara on her new wheels.

Jennifer Mach said:

Stopped by Ciclo Urbano today and scored an awesome bike for the kid.  Great prices, super-friendly and helpful staff-- I highly recommend the store.  Thanks for the recommendations, everyone!

They said it was a good time to bike shop, as they have a lot of inventory.  This bike is a Trek "Mountain Lion", with the tag phrase "Designed for the animal in you" on the chain guard.  Love the motto!

Kid loves the bike-- couldn't wait to get home and go for a ride!

P.S. Full disclosure, we actually got two bikes-- they also had a sweet little Gary Fisher "Short Cut", which is a little big for her now, but should be perfect next summer.  5-speeds, totally speedy, red.  Heck, Mom and Dad each have multiple bikes, why should she have only one!

My husband almost bought a Schwinn SuperSport frame too-- dangerous shop!

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Mach on November 19, 2012 at 11:09am

Bumping this thread to add an additional request-- my daughter is now getting tall enough that she could probably fit on a short women's bike. Also, we went biking in Argonne yesterday and her bike (Gary Fisher kids bike) was so heavy we had to cut the ride short.

So, my new request is:

Wanted: kids bike that is not heavier than my grown-up bike (a steel-framed Raleigh). Anyone have a good line on bikes for short folks/ tall kids? I was looking at the Novara Pulse at REI, but I am reluctant to spend $500 on a bike she will outgrow in a couple of years.


Happy Biking!

Jen

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on November 19, 2012 at 12:59pm

I'm reluctant to spend $500 on a bike that I'll use forever. :) 

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