Buying a 20"... Got a nice one for sale?

[dlc]

Fixing to purchase a 20" mt bike for my 5 year old. A lot of nice modded bikes on here. Anyone have one they want to sale before I purchase a new one. Looking at a scott voltage.

[hozzerr1]

yeap, in simi valley, ca. I got a spec 20 hotrock mtb. changed the gears to make it more climbing friendly. hmu

[jimPacNW]

For my daughter I just watched craigslist for a while, using 'hotrock' as a searchword. Hotrocks are pretty light and nice to begin with (the alum frame models), and 1x6 / 1x7 is a good place to start with gears. The bars and seatpost are steel, but those are easy and cheap to change out for a nice weight drop. My daughter will be 6 in two months, she just started riding the Hotrock20 last week (from her 16" hotrock singlespeed bmx type), she loves the bike and the gears, and it is pink. She's average height, maybe a little tall for her age.
The one I got has a shock, there's also a Hotrock Street with a rigid fork, probably quite a bit lighter. I don't think shocks are necessary for most 5&6 year olds.

[panamamike]

Don't you guys thinks a 16" could be ridden for a longer period of time?
Seems 5 is pretty young for a 20". Wouldn't it be easier to move the seat post up
on the 16"

Mike

[jimPacNW]

A 16" with gears and v-brakes would be fine too but I haven't found one of those, the bmx style bike was fine since my daughter was more into sidewalks and going to the park to play. Yes, a 16" would likely be a better fit for most 5 year olds or smaller 6 year old. We did one trail ride on the 16" bmx type, but it was clear that hand brakes would be better for keeping the brakes on while feet can be on the ground in the tricky spots. My daughter will be 6 in august and just started on the 20" a few weeks ago. I imagine we'll get no more than two years out of it before she needs the 24", which is already hanging in the basement.

[panamamike]

You can find 16 inch bikes with a v-brake. The tricky part is adding gears. I've heard of people talking about doing something like this with a 3-speed hub, but haven't seen any real examples. I guess the cost is also an issue.

I'm also assuming that kids this age will be tackling relatively simple paths as opposed to paths that really require gears.

Mike

[jimPacNW]

She really likes changing gears, and the big challenge for her right now is shifting to "1" and riding across the lawn. Yeah, I don't want to spend a lot of money on a 2 year bike.
There's 6/7/8 year old kids on 20s that mtb race and do cx around here, I'm guessing they push up a lot of the harder hills. I haven't brought my kids to the hard winter and spring races, but I see a couple small under age 10 kids on 20s finishing a lap on the courses the grownups race on, it's very impressive. My son did cx last year when he was 8 on his 3x7 24, but cx courses are generally a lot easier than mtb courses.

[panamamike]

It really does really depend on the kids, if they are tall/strong/dexterous for their age, they'll certainly need a larger bike sooner. You can't simply choose a bike based on their age.

I found this kid's bike sizing chart to be reasonable.

Children: Choosing A Bike / Buying a Bike

Regards,

Mike