What size bike for 6-year-old girl?

[alarkaspree]

I'm thinking of buying a bike for dd's 6th birthday. She is 44 inches tall, pretty average height. She would need to use stabilisers at first.

From what I can see the 16-inch wheel size seems to be recommended for 4-8 years, 20-inch for 8-12 - does anyone have any other experiences?

Any other recommendations for what to look for? I actually know quite a lot about bikes for grown-ups, but am baffled by all these pink steel contraptions.

dd is 6 in summer and has a 16 inch bike. I would say to go to a decent bike shop rather than a place like Halfords, as they will actually know what they are talking about. We got dd the lightest one they had in the end as it was by far the easiest for her to ride. They also put it all together for us, as well as some nifty stabilisers.

I think it depends on the size of the child really.

I agree with justall, go to a proper bike shop and they will find the bike to fit the child.

You are right of course. I will go to a proper bike shop - I have just looked on the local bike shop's website and they have bikes made out of aluminium! They are more expensive but maybe she will enjoy riding it more.