I have a five year old that is about 4 1/2 feet tall. He really loves to ride his bikes, but I was thinking about trying to find a geared, road bike for him… Any suggestions? How much growing room / adjustability do they have?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I thought I had seen threads about this in the past, but was unable to find them.
Woah, that seems really tall for a 5 yr old. I know Felt and Specialized make nice kid bikes. At that height and age, I would probably consider an entry level Trek 47 cm WSD. The WSD are women’s bikes but the colors are usually a light blue. My wife is 5 foot and she fits the 47 good.
Yeah, that would be really tall. I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote that in. He is about 45 inches, so just shy of 4 feet.
Thanks for the response… I’ll look into the Treks and see what their smallest sizes are like.
You could try a Felt.
I was told by a friend that they make kids road bikes,He suggested that I put a flat bar on with gripshifters like a kids MTB. That way my daughter would beable to shift easier the STI are a little difficult for kids.
Good Luck
I just got my 4 &1/2 year old Grandson a Trek fixed gear MT-16. It was the only 16 inch little kid’s bike that looked like a road bike. All the other brands had a mountain bike look to them. Don’t know how tall he is, but seems to be about average in his pre-school class. I think that the Trek MT-16 and MT-20 share the same frame (I have not measured this) so if he grows rapidly, I might be able to put 20 inch wheels on the same frame. If not his 22 month brother will get the MT-15 for his 4th birthday. Not even going to think about gear shifting until he is 7.
I have a cannodale caad 4 that is a 40 cm bike on 650’s You could try c-dale
Kevin
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I just bought a Fuji 43cm with 7X3 STI shifting off of craigslist. Javelin is still selling their Dolce for $299.99. It has 650C wheels and downtube shifters. Pro-Lite has both a 24" and a 650C kids road bike for $300 and $350. (Dealer Pricing)
When my oldest daughter turned 6, I got her a 7 speed mtn bike w/ 20" wheels. It was a very smooth transition from her single speed 16" w/ coaster brakes. Though pretty heavy, the mtn bike served her well even on long rides (30-40 miles). I got some smooth tires off the internet and threw them on her bike for the several triathlons she’s done and she routinely turned out the best bike splits in her age group (by far usually).
Last year when she was about 8 1/2, I found a used kids Trek road bike with 650 wheels and STI shifters. She loves it, but it’s taken her the better part of a year to get really comfortable on it due to the different riding position, shifting, etc. She only raced the road bike once last year and her split was no better than on the mtn bike. I suspect that will change this year as her confidence and handling improve, but it’s worth noting. There are some 24" road bikes on the market (Fuji, Felt, etc.) but they seem kind of expensive (to me) for a bike she’d only ride for a couple of years.
My youngest daughter will soon turn 6 and has recently transitioned to big sister’s 7 spd mtn bike and loves it. She’s 48" tall.
So in my experience, the 7 spd mountain bike (there are several on the market) has been a great fit for my family before moving to the road bike. The gears give kids the leverage to conquer hills they couldn’t before, and the fat tires lets them ride more varied terrain (e.g., traffic free gravel paths and roads).
Good luck.
Best would be a Redline conquest kids bike: 24" wheels (650c or 26" would be too big) or just get a nice MTN bike now (Fisher has a nice 24" with SRAM 3.0) as the Redline is pretty pricey (about $650) but versatile.