What is a good bike for a 5 year old boy?

Question

We go on family bike rides and my son peddles like crazy to keep up with us. His current bike we got on sale at Walmart a year or so ago. Are there good bikes out there for children? Where would I find one? Are there 3 speeds out there? I would like to get him something that he can pedal easy. My husband and I pretty much coast the entire time while my son peddles like crazy. Any suggestions of a good bike for him? We don't want to spend A LOT of money because he will out grow it fast. I would like to keep it under $150.

Answer 1

Speed on a bike is based on 2 things-- pedaling speed and the number of gear inches you have.

gear inches are calculated by taking

(front chainring teeth / rear teeth) * circumference of rear wheel

If he can't pedal faster you can increase his speed by increasing the number of teeth on his front wheel or decreasing the number on his rear wheel or increasing the size of his tire.

I haven't bought either of my boys bikes with gears yet.  They don't need them (and most kids don't use them properly anyway).  A single speed bike is much simpler to maintain (wipe the chain every so often) and cheap shifting components don't stand up to the abuse kids are prone to put their bikes through (particularly laying the bike down on top of the delicate, expensive derailleur) or leaving the bike outside.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Get a small bike with training wheels.  It should be about $50 at Target.  Something with wheels smaller than 20"

Answer 3

My sister has a kids bike that should fit a five year old and it has 6 gears.  It is a Wal-Mart bike.