12" Kids Bike

Jesterarts

Jesterarts

Likes Dirt
So my little girl turns 2 at the end of this month.

She's been quite interested in a balance bike we got her a while ago. Only just converted to 2 wheels from 3 but she is keen on it. Trying, falling, getting up and trying again.

With this in mind, I want to explore getting her a proper bike. A 12"er.

I've been doing some reading, and one of the best bikes seems to be the Cleary Bikes 12" Gecko.

More or less, the key reasons are covered in this article:
https://www.twowheelingtots.com/why-you-should-never-buy-a-12-inch-bike/

However, I can't seem to find them here in OZ.

So, does anyone have any recommendations for a good alternative?

Cheers.
 
C

creaky

XMAS Plumper
Mate,

Two is pretty early for a pedal bike and you may be forced into using training wheels, which i'd avoid.

My boy hammered on a balance bike from 18 months until 3 years, Got a 16" riprock for his 3rd birthday and was off by himself without training wheels within 20 metres. He's 5 now and still loves ripping around on the balance bike under the house even though he's way too big for it.

My girl is 2yo + 2 months and is a complete gumby on the balance bike. Every kid's different.

My advice would be to let her get really good on the balance bike for a bit longer rather than trying to push a 12" pedal bike onto her when she's just turned 2yo. Dads do get excited though ...
 
John U

John U

MTB Precision
Any bike will do if you can find a large flat area with a gentle slope (like your local school, netball courts, or something similar). Give her some space to get a grasp of pedalling and turning into the bike falling to bring it back upright. And the fact that speed keeps it upright, and going slow is hard.

More weight in the frame will mean she’ll need a bit more help from (gentle) slope.

I tried to get my son pedalling in the back yard. The bike was a heavy giant 12”, the slope was perfect, only problem was running out of space.
 
P

puffmoike

Likes Dirt
That’s a great, in-depth article.

But don’t lose sight of the overall recommendation. Let your daughter stick with the balance bike until she’s really mastered it before putting her anywhere near a pedal bike.
 
S

schred

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Same as above, I was one year ahead for my kid, had balance bike ready at one, pedal bike at two, and reality was a year behind both. Def doubted getting the 12in for a long time as it's a heavy pos (7.5kg riprock), but he rides it now which is good. His legs are too short for a taller bike in any case. The cruzee balance bike is a harsh ride, consider adding low pressure tubes and tyres for some cush if ride height allows for it.

His cousin of same age got given a 12in for his birthday at age 3 (last month) to sort of keep up, but the differences in his parents not taking as keen an interest were more pronounced with the pedal bike, and sadly they didn't invest even a few hours in the kids transition to pedals. So they put him onto training wheels that he struggles with, after being the most freewheeling ripper on the balance bike for a year.
 
foxpuppet

foxpuppet

Eats Squid
I noticed in my LBS the other day that strider now does a 14” balance bike with pedals. The whole BB and cranks are removable. With a pretty simple setup. My daughter loved her Cruzee though from 2 and only just moved up to a 16” spawn with the cranks removed at age 5. I was deadset on her pedaling by 2.5 but it never eventuates. I missed a whole lot of time there but she has plenty of fun on the big Balance bike. She said to me the other day “Dad, I’m so ready for pedals”. So after the school holidays I’ll put them back on for her.




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born-again-biker

born-again-biker

Is looking for a 16" bar
Jesterarts said:
So my little girl turns 2 at the end of this month.

She's been quite interested in a balance bike we got her a while ago. Only just converted to 2 wheels from 3 but she is keen on it. Trying, falling, getting up and trying again.

With this in mind, I want to explore getting her a proper bike. A 12"er.

I've been doing some reading, and one of the best bikes seems to be the Cleary Bikes 12" Gecko.

More or less, the key reasons are covered in this article:
https://www.twowheelingtots.com/why-you-should-never-buy-a-12-inch-bike/

However, I can't seem to find them here in OZ.

So, does anyone have any recommendations for a good alternative?

Cheers.
Click to expand...
Good topic Jester - I learned more about kids bikes from your link than anything previous.
It all makes more sense now!
I have been grinding my teeth lately about what to do for my 4 y.o. daughter.
We were given a shitty 12" bike from a friend. It's heavy & has weird geo & she really doesn't like riding it much.
She's also significantly taller than most 4 year olds, so I dunno if I should upsize yet....even though I know she's not ready.
I haven't been able to get her past training wheels either.

I think I'm gonna take the cranks out & the training wheels off & see if she takes to it as a balance bike again....
 
P

puffmoike

Likes Dirt
born-again-biker said:
I have been grinding my teeth lately about what to do for my 4 y.o. daughter.
We were given a shitty 12" bike from a friend. It's heavy & has weird geo & she really doesn't like riding it much.
She's also significantly taller than most 4 year olds, so I dunno if I should upsize yet....even though I know she's not ready.
I haven't been able to get her past training wheels either.

I think I'm gonna take the cranks out & the training wheels off & see if she takes to it as a balance bike again....
Click to expand...
The owner of my favourite cheap LBS of twenty-odd years ago is the founder of ByK bikes. He was pushing long reach, low standover, big wheels and slack angles ten years ago. For kids bikes.

He also strongly advocated balance bikes, and told me if you can’t afford one (or more accurately hoped to save on a perceived short term purchase) then to just remove the pedals, or the cranks if you were more mechanically inclined. No rush to get kids pedalling. Just get them having fun and balanced. They’ll take to pedalling quickly soon enough if they’ve got the fundamentals in place first, and are much more likely to enjoy (and thus persist) if it’s fun. Which riding with training wheels is not.

In the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne (where ByK are based) balance bikes and ByK bikes are ubiquitous, and the kids love them.
 
born-again-biker

born-again-biker

Is looking for a 16" bar
^So your mate was pushing Full Enduro Bro before grown ups thought it was cool
I'll check out the ByK www for sure.

TBH she is so disinterested I think it could be a few years before she rides a bike by herself.

(sorry about thread hijack!)

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