# trail bike for my 5 year old?



## meSSican (Aug 8, 2010)

Hey all, looking around for a decent mountain bike for my little girl, inseam is 19.5". Right now i think 16" would be what she can handle. I have looked around and have not seen much with suspension forks. By the way are the forks on the smaller bikes functional? I was at the local sports store and saw a diamond back 20" kids bike with a suspension fork and i could barely compress it so it made me wonder if they even would benefit from one. Any suggestions would be great, thanks.


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## GMF (Jan 10, 2004)

Your main question seems to be whether or not a suspension fork is of value on a 16" wheeled bike. My experience is: no. 

I bought a Marin MDX 50 (? I think that was the model) because it looked cool and other suspension like dads bike. My son does dig on that similarity, and does enjoy making it go squish, but fact is that it is a POS fork that barely works. Skip it and go with a rigid fork. 

Were I to do it again, I would focus almost exclusively on a light weight bike and one they think looks cool to make riding easy and appealing.


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## meSSican (Aug 8, 2010)

Yeah, that was what i was thinking. I figured i could run a low psi in the tires and that should give her more cush than those forks. Finding a lighter weight bike would be the next problem. I noticed that the 20" models are running around 26+ lbs so i hoping that the 16" ones are going to be a bit lighter. Think i may just start her using a hand brake and get her used to some easy trails. I am sure it will be a few years until she is a DH racer so i will wait to drop serious coin . Any suggestions on a light weigh 16" MTB bike would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

Both my kids had Specialized for a 16 inch. I added the handbrake so they'd be used to it when they moved up to a 20 freewheel.


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## GMF (Jan 10, 2004)

I wish I had a recommendation for a light weight 16" bike, but all the ones I've seen are just disturbingly heavy. As for the hand brake, definitely. My daughter, who is currently on a 12" bike has one that is her primary brake. My son who is graduating to a 20" geared bike is very comfortable with 2 hand brake control and prefers those over the pedal brake on his bike for everything other than making his back tire smooth.


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## zealousdp (Dec 18, 2011)

Hi, I recently bought a Ridgeback MX16 16" for my 5yr old boy after him having a heavy steel one with stabbliers. Bike weighs in at 20lbs so not too bad.


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## SimpleJon (Mar 28, 2011)

When my daughter was 5 she went straight from the walmart $30 bike with training wheels to a GF Precaliber 20 her feet could touch the ground - her inseam was around the same. If your kid is reasonably confident I would go straight for a 20" much more choices and will last a lot longer - she will outgrow a 16" very quick and you'll be buying another bike within the year. My kid is now 8 and I've just got her 13" Girls Hotrock 24" wheels.


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