Best first pedal bike…?

[Lazmo]

Ok, our grandson is three, and has a nice Norco balance bike we got him for his second birthday, which is at his home, and a cheapo Kmart balance bike for when our daughter forgets to bring his good one down to our place, when we mind him. Honesty, it doesn’t seem to matter which one he rides at home, as he tears around on either one, but if we take him to the pump track, we take the Norco, as it has real pump up tyres.

Anyway, Santa is about to do the rounds and my daughter is asking me which pedal bike to get him for Christmas. She’s cashed up, so saving money is not the focus.

To my mind, training wheels are likely pointless, as he knows how to balance already, and I wouldn’t think a back pedal rear brake would be good either.

So, I’m thinking a decent brand with 12” wheels and front and rear v brakes, is the go. I’d personally like to see the front brake on the right hand side, so he gets to transition more easily to bigger bikes later.

It’s been so long since my kids were little, I’m not sure what the current go is… so, any advice welcome.

 

[Oddjob]

If he is already on a balance bike forget about training wheels.

A second hand 12" would work a treat. We had a Specialised Riprock but anything like that would work great.

Sent from my M2012K11AG using Tapatalk

 

[SlowManiac]

Commencal make good kids bikes

 

[Labcanary]

Commencal make good kids bikes

This. But I think the newer ones now have coaster rear hubs.

 

[Labcanary]

If he is already on a balance bike forget about training wheels.

100%
Going to training wheels negates all the good work of using a balance bike.

 

[yuley95]

Ok, our grandson is three, and has a nice Norco balance bike we got him for his second birthday, which is at his home, and a cheapo Kmart balance bike for when our daughter forgets to bring his good one down to our place, when we mind him. Honesty, it doesn’t seem to matter which one he rides at home, as he tears around on either one, but if we take him to the pump track, we take the Norco, as it has real pump up tyres.

Anyway, Santa is about to do the rounds and my daughter is asking me which pedal bike to get him for Christmas. She’s cashed up, so saving money is not the focus.

To my mind, training wheels are likely pointless, as he knows how to balance already, and I wouldn’t think a back pedal rear brake would be good either.

So, I’m thinking a decent brand with 12” wheels and front and rear v brakes, is the go. I’d personally like to see the front brake on the right hand side, so he gets to transition more easily to bigger bikes later.

It’s been so long since my kids were little, I’m not sure what the current go is… so, any advice welcome.

There is a bit of hype around them but Byk are very good. i got a second hand one for my son when he was about 3 and it was obvious straight away that it worked much better for him than any other generic cheap bike we had bought or have since bought. They have there geo sorted for kids, they are reasonably light and seem to be pretty good quality.

To this day, it’s the bike he got the most out of and seemed the most confident on.

 

[fatboyonabike]

100%
Going to training wheels negates all the good work of using a balance bike.

200% agree..going from a balance bike to pedals and training wheels is a big step backwards!
get a bigger bike, but take the cranks off, that way when they get the shits from using their feet to scoot along, you will know they are ready for transmission!
I think I saw a commencal kiddies rig with disc brakes on it, this gets away from those nasty back pedal brakes and can be swapped to either side
My boys jumped up to a DBR / Big W special with back pedal brakes, I pulled the hub apart and removed the brake shoes..then drilled a hole through the seat stay divider and mounted some bmx rim brakes..worked pretty good.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

Ok, our grandson is three, and has a nice Norco balance bike we got him for his second birthday, which is at his home, and a cheapo Kmart balance bike for when our daughter forgets to bring his good one down to our place, when we mind him. Honesty, it doesn’t seem to matter which one he rides at home, as he tears around on either one, but if we take him to the pump track, we take the Norco, as it has real pump up tyres.

Anyway, Santa is about to do the rounds and my daughter is asking me which pedal bike to get him for Christmas. She’s cashed up, so saving money is not the focus.

To my mind, training wheels are likely pointless, as he knows how to balance already, and I wouldn’t think a back pedal rear brake would be good either.

So, I’m thinking a decent brand with 12” wheels and front and rear v brakes, is the go. I’d personally like to see the front brake on the right hand side, so he gets to transition more easily to bigger bikes later.

It’s been so long since my kids were little, I’m not sure what the current go is… so, any advice welcome.

At that age, it matters sod all to the kid what the bike brand is. It just has to go. Weight is almost the only differentiation and there's not much difference between a 'good' brand and anything else. And then there's the fact that you'll get almost no time out of it, regardless.

The Lad's first bike was a Giant Animator 16" that I rescued from the tip shop that I removed the cranks from and slammed the seat to make a balance bike. Later it became a pedal affair and then only lasted a few months before he went into a 24" Polygon Relic (that I should sell). That lasted three years and he's on a $150 26" carbon frame but now that he's approaching 6'1" and 14 years...I may lose a bike shortly. Or a lot of money buying him another one!

 

[rstim]

Commencal 14inch are great and don't have a coaster brake. My 3 year son who's on the small side started on a 16inch commencal so it shouldn't be too big.

 

[Slow moe]

Recently got my big boy a second hand byk for his 5th birthday (I know, I know, a bit late) on recommendations from rb. He loves it. It does have a coaster brake which caused some small issue (particularly with trying to get moving from a standstill) but it is otherwise great. It has a rear v-brake too so just encourage him to use that. L

He couldn't care less whether it is a byk or a yeti or brand new or second hand.

If the little one is fine on a balance bike, forget about training wheels. And don't bother removing the cranks. Get you running shoes on and spend 10 minutes pushing them up and down the street and they'll have it sorted.

 

[Lazmo]

Had a good chat with Mum and Dad, as in Daughter and SIL, and we all agreed. He's going great guns on the balance bikes... he just loves it, so let's capitalize on that for the time being... and I'll keep my eye out for roadside donor bike, and if and when that happens (which it will) I'll make it his next bike. But with pedals this time.

One of the three wheelers I bought him had fold in/fold out pedals, and he's now using the pedals, so everything looks good to go.

 

[Jpez]

Had a good chat with Mum and Dad, as in Daughter and SIL, and we all agreed. He's going great guns on the balance bikes... he just loves it, so let's capitalize on that for the time being... and I'll keep my eye out for roadside donor bike, and if and when that happens (which it will) I'll make it his next bike. But with pedals this time.

One of the three wheelers I bought him had fold in/fold out pedals, and he's now using the pedals, so everything looks good to go.

Sounds like a good plan but a well designed kids bike can’t be overlooked! If that roadside donor is a crappy Kmart bike that makes kids look like monkeys perched on a mini bike it will only hinder their learning.
Best thing I did when my kid graduated from balance bikes was buy a good quality well designed kids bike that isn’t just designed by a toy factory in China.
Didn't take long for confidence to build with the miniaturised long low and slack geo that we all find so useful.
Also coaster brakes. They suck. Don’t do it.

 

[caad9]

As @Jpez says, the Byk or equivalent is such better geometry than the faux bmx shape with a 200mm reach and 500mm stack.

I would avoid bikes that have MTB style tyres, they are typically very hard and add a lot of unnecessary weight.

 

[ozzybmx]

Early 2013, boys would have been 6 & 7. These 20" Kona Shreds were the bee knees back then, rock solid... the fork was also rock solid after 2 months

The bikes weighed nearly 11kg each. I'm sure the 60mm forks were 2.5kg+ alone.

They had great fun on them and rode them for a few years till 2016 when I bought them their first 27.5's.

100%, go for something lighter, no suspension fork, half decent brakes and usable gear range. IIRC these were 7spd.

Both 6ft men now, driving, working, pubs, girls and riding Large enduro bikes.

 

[russthedog]

Hey dude, pretty much in line with what everyone said - make sure you avoid a coaster brake, and look at the weight of the bike. Avoid training wheels completely. The size of the wheels will adjust with your kid and depend on their height. My kids had in order:
Balance bike 1-3yo
12" Commencal Ramones 2-4yo (this bike now has a coaster brake so no good anymore)
14" Early rider 3-6yo (this bike is absolutely amazing - I put 75mm Spank Vibrocore riser bars cut down to make it last longer)
16" Merida (this bike was heavy and I sold it - kids went back to the early rider)
20" Merida 5-7yo
20" Polygon 6yo+

My eldest is average height. My second is very tall, hence the age overlap. A good light bike will get ridden twice as much as a heavy POS - the 8yo still rides the early rider now and loves it.