Boys 20 inch bike recommendation

[pacifica]

We are researching bikes for our twin boys that are 6 years old. They're ready for 20" bikes, but there are several and this is a pricey purchase, so if any of you have experience or recommendations on a freestyle boys bike, please share! We are looking in our local bike stores. Thanks!

[LuckyMommaToo]

We love my son's Specialized bike. It's so light -- when his friends ride it, they always say, "I want THIS bike!"
-e

[pacifica]

thanks! that's one of the brands we are checking out. Does he use the gears a lot? My dh doesn't think our boys need gears..

[LuckyMommaToo]

He has the 20" without gears. I agree -- I don't think they need gears at this age. Around age 8 or 9, when they get a 24", that's when I'd get gears.
-e

[TiredX2]

DS has gears, but I think that it would have been better to wait. We just found a great 20" bike for him and it had gears, AND we were riding on a pretty major road, so there you go.

That said, in my opinion, the most important thing is good working breaks that DS can actually work. I see too many bikes at that stage with hand brakes that the child can't actually work (because their hands are too small, they are too hard to squeeze, whatever). We ended up with this bike because I just didn't feel safe with DS' previous bike. I just looked and it is a Diamondback.

[pacifica]

We took the kids to the bike shop to try out some bikes and the20" ones were huge on them!! And my boys are the biggest in their classrooms. They also had 18" bikes that fit them very well, but that's another set of bikes to buy. Ugh, I just don't know what to buy them.

[Autumn Breeze]

Wow, so I was excited to see this thread, but those Specialized bikes are uber out of our price range!

Anyone have a "Less than $80" bike rec? I'm more than convinced that my ds needs a 20 inch before he will learn how to ride his bike, dh...not so much. So I'm trying to find an inexpensive bike to maybe help get dh on to my side.

[LuckyMommaToo]

We took the kids to the bike shop to try out some bikes and the20" ones were huge on them!! And my boys are the biggest in their classrooms. They also had 18" bikes that fit them very well, but that's another set of bikes to buy. Ugh, I just don't know what to buy them.

Hmmm. That is a bummer. Are they good riders already? Did they actually get a chance to try them or just try to sit on them in the store?

Either way, though, they'd probably move to 24" next. So they'd have these bikes for two or three years and then go to 24. There's no way I'd buy 18, 20, 24.

If you look at this site:
http://www.whycycle.co.uk/bike_sizing_advice/
It might reassure you a little.
-e

[pacifica]

Thanks LuckyMamaToo. I'll check out the site. I am all for getting the 20", even if it's a little uncomfortable at first, so we can save money. We have a cheap 16" bike from Walmart and a 16" Gary Fisher for our twins right now. The kids are always fighting over the Gary Fisher because it's so much easier to ride and more comfortable. The walmart bike has terrible brakes and takes a lot more energy to pedal. We are going to another bike shop today to look at GT bikes for kids.

[BAU3]

Do any of the bike shops you visited deal in used bikes?.. I know one around us does, and althought ey don't always have a huge selection, you may get lucky.. a used bike to bridge that gap from the 18 to the 20 inch would be economical....

PS.. my ds is 6 and this is his second year on a 20" bike.. he is on the small size, the bike is definitley big.. but he is very comfortable on it and handles it fine.