# Buying a bike for 2-year-old nephew



## djork (Nov 8, 2004)

I have a nephew who already knows what a bike is and always wants to put on my helmet and gloves when he sees me coming back from a bike ride. His mother got him a Disney Cars helmet, but he won't wear that, always wants to wear my helmets (I don't mind at all).

He has a Disney Cars plastic tricycle, but he rarely rides it, as he still can't reach the pedals. I'm think of getting him a 12" bike but am not sure if I should get a department store character bike (Cars, Spider-man, or the male version of Dora the Explorer--forget his name atm) or a quality kids bike that bike stores sell. Some guy is selling a Trek 12" kids bike and I really want it. I'm waiting to hear back from him about rust issues. I'd prefer a quality kids bike, but they can be pretty expensive whereas the dept. store bikes are faily cheap, with a Huffy 12" costing $40. Is there any real difference in quality and durability between cheap dept. store bikes and name-brand kids bikes? They seem to be all made of steel.


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## J_Westy (Jan 7, 2009)

djork said:


> I'd prefer a quality kids bike, but they can be pretty expensive whereas the dept. store bikes are faily cheap, with a Huffy 12" costing $40. Is there any real difference in quality and durability between cheap dept. store bikes and name-brand kids bikes? They seem to be all made of steel.


Have you considered the balance bike route: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=512502

I sort of went halfway with my girls. Grandma and Grandpa got them a 12" Toys-R-Us tank, I pulled the cranks and had the girls coast until they could balance, then put the cranks back in.

Maybe I'm too cheap, but I wouldn't spend serious money on a 12" bike - - the nephew won't care as long as he has a cool helmet


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## gopriest31 (Sep 17, 2004)

The balance bike deal worked great for our daughter. She started balancing on a strider then the training wheels came off her regular bike and she was ready to go. 

We have friends who have a little guy who started on a strider at 2 and was on a 2 wheeler by 3

Theyre great!


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## sunnyracegirl (Apr 11, 2004)

I agree the balance-type bike is the way to go. No training wheels ever.

But to answer your question:
A quality bike will often be made of aluminum and checked over by a mechanic, whereas a Wal-Mart bike is made of steel and likely built by a stock boy. The lighter Al bike is easier to handle, steer and pick up when it falls over. The nephew will be on it for a year and a half to two years before graduating to a larger bike. 

Get the boy a quality bike.


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## sanjuro (Sep 29, 2004)

yeah I would get a Specialized Hotwalk. The real name is draisienne.


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## essjss (Aug 16, 2008)

sunnyracegirl said:


> A quality bike will often be made of aluminum and checked over by a mechanic, whereas a Wal-Mart bike is made of steel and likely built by a stock boy. The lighter Al bike is easier to handle, steer and pick up when it falls over. The nephew will be on it for a year and a half to two years before graduating to a larger bike.
> 
> Get the boy a quality bike.


This man speaks the truth. My twin girls can toss their Hotwalks around much easier than any dept store bike. They can pick them up and turn them around with ease, I think this was a big factor in the level of comfort they had on the bikes (they weren't getting thrown around by the weight).

The balance bike is a great way to go, we influenced 4-5 other families to go that way for their younger ones.


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## kntr (Jan 25, 2004)

Strider hands down.


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## Funrover (Oct 4, 2006)

kntr said:


> Strider hands down.


That's what I am thinking for my nephew. :thumbsup:


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## luckylarue (Oct 15, 2008)

Another vote tor the Like-A-Bike. A bit spendy but very well made & well worth it, imo.
Here's my then-three-year-old cruisin' the trails.


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## kabayan (Oct 25, 2004)

From the walmart of bike stores  not that there's anything wrong with that

http://www.performancebike.com/bikes//Product_10052_10551_1062101_-1___


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## tuonor (Sep 17, 2009)

Does anyone have experience with the Adams Run Bike (http://www.amazon.com/Adams-Run-Bike-Boys-Blue/dp/B0018GF0N2)?

Deciding between this versus the Strider given my inseam challenged 2-year old. The Adams has almost the same min seat height (12" vs. 11"), a real headset and just overall seems to be better quality. But hard to say without seeing it...

One other plus is its available in this version from Haro: http://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/haro/30188 (for some reason I like the idea of my kids bike not looking so much like a kids bike).


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## NS-NV (Aug 15, 2006)

You won't go wrong with the Adams. From the age of 18 mo till he was 3 he rip'd on it. Skatepark, little dirt jumps and airing off curbs. At 3 years it took him about 6 hours to transition to a 14" bmx. No training wheels.


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## djork (Nov 8, 2004)

Woohoo! Today I got a Craigslist's special! Red Specialized Hotrocks 12" w/ training wheels for $35--had to drive about 55 miles to get it though. There are some scuff marks and scratches but other than that the bike is solid and looks in very good condition. From the Specialized website I think it's a 2005 model. 

I'm gonna clean it up a bit (pretty clean to begin with) and relube the chain. It looks clean but just wanna start fresh. I was wondering if it's okay to use the cleaner/shiner for auto tires on bike tires. I want to make it look all nice and shiny for my nephew. Tomorrow I'm going to get a bell, as the freebie one that came with the bike is broken :|

Immediate upgrades: STICKERS! I have some bike stickers that I'll strategically place over scratches, mainly on fork legs.

I was wondering if there is any other upgrades I can do on kid's 12 bike. I was thinking pedals and lock-on grips. ODI has 90mm grips. I know they cost a bit but worth it? Don't plan to do it now but something to think about.

Pics soon!


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## tuonor (Sep 17, 2009)

NS-NV said:


> You won't go wrong with the Adams. From the age of 18 mo till he was 3 he rip'd on it. Skatepark, little dirt jumps and airing off curbs. At 3 years it took him about 6 hours to transition to a 14" bmx. No training wheels.


Thanks! We ordered the Haro Z10 (Adams copy) from a Bike Attack in Santa Monica. Its great--seat height is almost as low as the strider (11.75") and it seems to have real bearings in the wheels and headset at the same cost as a strider.


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## arielDB (Sep 17, 2009)

*What to get for a 3 year old????*

So my son is turning 3 in a month, I will like to get him a bike but I don't know if to get him one of the balance bikes or a regular bike with pedals, & if to go with a regular bike with pedals what size to get him a 12 or a 16???


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## essjss (Aug 16, 2008)

arielDB said:


> So my son is turning 3 in a month, I will like to get him a bike but I don't know if to get him one of the balance bikes or a regular bike with pedals, & if to go with a regular bike with pedals what size to get him a 12 or a 16???


If he is close to fitting on a 16" bike I would recommend a good 16" pedal bike with the pedals removed until he gets his balance down. If the 16 is too big then I'd bite the bullet and get a 12" balance bike.

My girls ride both their 12" balance and 16" pedal bikes these days. They are too big for the 12's (4.5 yrs old) but they love those balance bikes.


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