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Original poster

Buying a child bike

11 replies

nutcracker · 24/08/2004 21:47

Both of my dd's want bikes for their birthdays in November and December.

I have just spotted one with 10% off in Index.
It is for age 5-8 and has stabilsers and dolls seat e.t.c.

Will I be o.k buying it from them or does Dd really need to try it first. She will be 5 on her birthday.

For Dd1 who will be 7 I think I really need to get her to try a few out.

Have never brought them bikes before, so is there anything i need to know about ???
Oh and does anyone know of anywhere online or otherwise that is cheap

OP posts:
Original poster
nutcracker · 24/08/2004 21:58

The main prob is that all the others i've seen donot come with stabilsers. Neither dd can ride a bike without stabilsers yet.

Can you buy stabilsers seperatly ??

OP posts:
mez75 · 24/08/2004 22:04

Not got to the bike stage yet nutty, but Im sure you can get stabilsers seperatly from alfords and places like that.

LunarSea · 25/08/2004 09:20

Nutty - go to Halfords or Toys'r'US and look at bikes to work out which size you need (kids bikes are measured by wheel size) - and then have a look here where you'll probably find very similar bikes a lot cheaper.

moniker · 25/08/2004 09:51

I think that age 3 to 5 in 12 inch wheels, 5 to 7 is 14 inch and 16 inch is 7 to 9. I got my DS2 a brand new Raleigh bike form ebay for half the shop price as it was last year's design. The seller was great but I'm sure there are others.

Try here it's where I got mine

Hope you find something suitable!

Original poster
nutcracker · 25/08/2004 09:51

Thanks Lunarsea - I have no patience though and have oredered the one from Index for Dd2. That website is great though, and i've spotted a great one for Dd1 for 40 quid. I was thinking i was gonna have to spend twice that.

Will try and get her to a bike shop sharpish so she can try some out, and then i'll order hers from there.

OP posts:
moniker · 25/08/2004 09:58

Having looked myself again I would think you would be fine with a 14inch and a 16inch. My DS1 is just 5 and he has a 14inch and although he is quite tall the handlebars and saddle are still on the lowest settings (they are adjustable by a few inches).

The 14inch comes with stablisers (from the shop on my link) but the 16inch doesn't. You can get stablisers from Toys r Us for about £8 though and they fit quite easily. Hope that all helps!

Aero · 25/08/2004 10:14

Nutty - does it need to be for Xmas and does it need to be new - we've just bought our dd's 1st bike off ebay! (my first purchase - no longer an ebay virgin). We couldn't find one around the time of her birthday and couldn't afford a new one (mostly at least £50+), but I kept looking and one came up. The former owner had simply outgrown it and it's in lovely condition and dd is thrilled to bits with it - to the point of obsession!! It cost me £18 and more than worth every penny. I would try a few in shops first for size - ie, let them play on them, but never indicating you are thinking of buying one - have a different reason for entering the shop. Toys R Us have loads to try out and ours ride them nearly every time we're in there!

Original poster
nutcracker · 25/08/2004 11:14

Right i've cancelled the bike from index. Having seen how they were om the site you linked to Lunarsea, I couldn't justify spending the extra, plus the index one wasn't half as nice.

Aero - It is supposed to be for her birthday. The prob is that if i get it early then Dd1 will want hers early too.

Am going to have another look on that site now, and see what else there is.

I think Dd2 would be better with a 14 inch than a 16 inch as she is a bit on the short side, and has no bike riding experiance at all really.

OP posts:
beachyhead · 25/08/2004 12:02

We've bought all our kids bikes from the local paper - in fact when we see a good one in a size we don't have, we buy it and stack them in the garage. We now have bikes until they are about 14 and they were about £30 each. It seems lots of families, specially at Christmas, have to buy their kids new things so in January, the pickings in the paper are great. All my friends who come to stay now also do the rounds and go home with bikes strapped to the back of their car!!!! Big into recycling (no pun intended!!!!)

golds · 25/08/2004 12:29

I don't know what type of thing your 6 year old is into, but our situation with our 6 yr dd is we bought her a barbie bike last year (16") and that was fine, this year she seems to have grown at a fast rate and now hates barbie, it would appear at 6.5 they have a personality change and barbie just isn't cool anymore. Also, I was going to get her a new 18" one, but fortunately my niece (who is 5) let my dd ride hers, it is a 20" a little big for her, but she can ride it fine, so we bought her a 20" mountain bike.

My other neice still rides her 20" one and she is nearly 9, so I think the best thing for you to do is let her choose her own and maybe go for one thats a little bigger and that will last, you are lucky as you can pass it down to dd2 afterwards.

Also the bike helment I bought is adjustable, so she can wear it and so can I, so that was good value for money - I got both from a individual bike shop.

Aero · 26/08/2004 13:59

lol Beachyhead!

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