I have a tall soon to be 4yr old who has outgrown her trike. I will of course take her to test the bikes 1st but was wondering what others thought about the sizes and is it dumb to get it a little bigger for room to grow or do you get it the exact size they need. This is her 1st big girl bike. Also, if any 1 has purchsed a really good or really terrible 1 let me know. I was really excited about the Huffy that has the baby doll seat but it received terrible reviews on the Toy R Us site.
Thanks moms...we are excited to go try out some new bikes and we will keep all your suggestion in mind. We will 4sure have a sales person help us out too.
Thanks
My son is a tall 4 year old too... and we got him the 16" bike with training wheels.
It is perfect. It fits him and per his height.
It is a Huffy, from Costco. The Buzz Lightyear design.
He loves it.
I purchased the 16 inch bike and have the training wheels on. The 12 inch worked perfect when we tried our daughter on it two months before her 4th birthday (she isn't overly tall but is on the taller side for girls her age). Since we were giving it to her for her birthday and that was early Dec (which meant a lot of riding time wouldn't happen until spring), I knew she could outgrow it too fast. She liked the Disney princess one but they only had purple for the 12 in and the 16 in was pink. She wanted a purple bike so we ended up getting a fairies bike (not Disney) so it would not seem to babyish as she was growing with the bike.
Take her to the stores to measure how they fit her. A good bike shop should be able to help you. It isn't always the size of the tires... the seat height adjustment matters too. She should be able to stand while straddling the bike, with both feet flat on the ground. (not usually a problem for girls). But there is also a certain amount of bend that is optimal for her knee when the pedal is at it's peak and she is seated.
As she grows, you can usually adjust the height of the seat enough to get a good year out of the bike, depending on when she hits her growth spurts. Maybe 2 summers.
Please go with what fits her now and not what you expect her to grow into. My husband bought his daughter a bike that was too big for her when she was 4 or 5 and it was such a miserable experience for her that she didn't really learn to ride until she was 10. Our other kids started out at the right size and they were able to enjoy biking from day one.
I would guess a 14 inch will be good for her. My oldest daughter is average height and she got a 14 inch last summer right after turning 5. The 12 inch is really small, my 3 year old can ride it. The 16 inch however will most likely be too big for your daughter. I found a helpful sales person at Toys R Us that helped us choose the right size. It's an exciting purchase, have fun!
I have a 4 year old boy and I just bought yesterday a 12" bike and we actually had to lower the seat and he is not small for his age. We wanted him to be able to put his feet down if needed. He seems to fit it good and has a little room to grow.
We actually got our daughter a 10 inch when she was about 3. We've not put the pedals or the training wheels on it so it is a balance bike. For a balance bike they need to be able to put both feet flat on the ground while sitting on the bike.
I would guess you would get a 12 inch, maybe 14 inch depending on your daughter's height. When you look at bikes, make sure the seat is adjusted low, that would leave room to raise it as she grows.
Go with the 14 or 16 she'll outgrow the 12 before you know it. Have her sit on them and try them out, we went with a 16 for my son who is 5 and of average height. The guy at the bike shop checked his reach as well as the seat height make sure he could control the reach on the handlebars, something I never would have though about. I'd go with a Schwinn or Mongoose vs. a Huffy they're better made and are sturdier. Also make sure the training wheels are a good fit, my father in law bought the bike and the spokes are cool on my son's bike but the axle on the wheel is wide and it was tough to get the training wheels on.
Since this is her 1st big girl bike I would not purchase bigger so she can grow into it. I would go with a 12 inch bike. You want her to be able to touch the ground with her feet this way she can catch herself better if she starts to fall over. Most have training wheels, but some how my kids always managed to cut the corners short and fall over. I bet she will be so excited about her big girl bike!
The first bike is the most importantant one for being the correct size. It'll probably be a 12", but not all 12" are the same size. They may have the same size tires, but the distance from the seat to the handle bars can be different. Shop stores with her and find the best fit!!
