My DD is 4. She’s super excited to learn how to ride a bike, so I’d really like to get her one with training wheels. She’s tall for her age (almost 100 percentile). Should I get her a 14” or 16”? Any recommendations on brand? Thanks!
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Definitely 16. We just got one for DS for his 4th bday 96%for height. Fits him well.
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We got my DD, who was around 40th percentile for height, a 14” bike for her 4th birthday and it fit her well. She proceeded to grow a ton (now 60th percentile) and was at the tip-top of the seat height around the time she turned 5. So I think a 14” would be way too small for your DD!
Check out twowheelingtots.com for bike reviews and recommendations. A lot of the highly recommended ones are expensive but they do have some good budget options. We got DD a Frog as her first pedal bike (she started on a balance bike at 2 and never had training wheels) which is super, but I think her next bike will be a Pella. It really depends on how much you’re willing to spend, though.
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16 inch. We’ve been happy with the Schwinn we bought my daughter. I debated a fancier bike but decided to go with less expensive and if it became her thing we would upgrade for the next size. She likes it but she’s fairly risk adverse and so it’s taking a long time to transition away from training wheels (yes, despite my insistence about a balance bike she needed training wheels). We don’t get much opportunity to ride on pavement which is kind of necessary for training wheels so it’s been a slow start
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We had a Woom bike when my DS was that age. We would have upgraded to the next size when he was about 6 if we hadn’t moved to a place where we can’t really bike. But it held most of its value at resale, which was great. The main thing is to get something lightweight so it’s easier to pedal and maneuver.
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We also had our 97% kid start on a 16” woom 3. Even my 3’4” DD1 who is 4 is on that woom 3 now.
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@Silva: my daughter is the same- I researched the heck out balance bikes and planned to skip training wheels. She never took the balance bike and would just kind of March with it instead of balancing. We picked up a free basic training wheels bike, not even sure what size, and even on that she gets freaked out if she gets any momentum going. Hoping it clicks this spring/ summer. Luckily we are on a cul de sac for practicing purposes.
So, no advice since we decided to go the free route for her first bike.
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@CatchAFallingStar: 16 inch DD says her old 14 inch hurts her legs she is 4 yrs old
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My 4 year old is avg but we're planning on getting a 16"... I feel like they grow so fast and would outgrow 14" sooner than later!
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I am so glad this was asked, because I was wondering the same thing for my nearly 4 year old.
@Foodnerd81: @Silva: Same! I was so stoked for my son to get a balance bike, but it just never "clicked." I figure that I learned how to ride a bike with training wheels, so it still does the job.
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My son was actually pretty good with a balance bike, he could glide for a surprisingly long time, turn, etc. He still insisted on training wheels and won’t let us take them off.
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My very tall just turned 4 year old has a woom 3 which is a 14" bike. Its much easier to learn to ride on a smaller bike. He moved from a balance bike to the woom without training wheels and learned in 2 hours. It was amazing.
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We just bought my 6-year-old a Woom 3 and he LOVES it. My 3-year-old is using a 12" Frog balance bike which is also good. DS2 showed no interest in the balance bike ("It keeps falling down, Mom!") until I took the older one to try out bikes a couple weeks ago and then DS2 started playing with a balance bike and now he's totally mastered it!
The Woom is so ridiculously expensive but considering the use we've already gotten out of it in just a couple weeks, I think it's worth it. We'd previously bought him used bikes that were cheap and heavy, and he liked them but they always had problems.
ETA I would highly recommend going somewhere and trying out different ones with the help of a professional. We totally would've gotten the wrong size if I'd just gone by the measurements.
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We started my daughter off at 4 with a woom 2 and had to upgrade to a Woom 3 when she turned 5. My son is now learning on the Woom 2. They’re expensive but for learning they are great. So lightweight. If you can find one used that would be the way to go.
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I’d go for a sixteen inch but try find one with a more compact frame (when we were looking for our 4yo some of the “girl” bikes had quite wide handlebars so she fit better on a bmx-style frame).
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My DD is 99th %ile for height but I measured her inseam because a 16” was too big for her. It was hard to find a 14” so we got a 12” glide balance bike with pedal assembly and XL seat post and it’s been great, though I’m hoping she’ll be ready for a 16” this summer. I wish we had gotten the strider 14X but it was more expensive.
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