Questions about children’s bikes!

[Anonymous]

Hi! My daughter is 6 1/2. I want to get her a bike. She is 47 inches. I was told by someone in a bike shop that she will probably need a 20 inch bike. She has a scooter she loves but has never had a bike. She is growing so fast that I am considering either 1) renting a bike 2) buying a used bike.

I am in Bethesda. I have a car and willing to drive for a good rental deal or used bike.

Any recommendations? Griffin and Big Wheels did not have s great selection of new/used bikes (only 1 used bike between the 2 stores.) I did not ask if they did rentals. Anyone know? Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

I have three kids and have had great luck buying nice used bikes off of Craigslist and FB Marketplace.

[Anonymous]

Check Craigslist. Most actual bike shops are currently running on back orders for at least a month and many Amazon options are out of stock. But you’re right, 20” should work. Hi

[Anonymous]

Great suggestions! Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Yes a 20inch bike. Just an FYI, the bike we bought DD was $150 at REI but $100 on Amazon. Exact same bike. So if you do go new, shop around for pricing. We got the Diamondback Viper. It’s much lighter and easier to manouver than a cheap bike from Walmart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes a 20inch bike. Just an FYI, the bike we bought DD was $150 at REI but $100 on Amazon. Exact same bike. So if you do go new, shop around for pricing. We got the Diamondback Viper. It’s much lighter and easier to manouver than a cheap bike from Walmart.

Another good tip!
—-OP

[Anonymous]

Also check offer up.

[Anonymous]

OP - do you have a neighborhood list serve? We've gotten all our bikes as hand me downs from neighbors.

[Anonymous]

All great suggestions. Thanks!! I will follow up with all of them.

[Anonymous]

Is it her first bike? If so, you might want to choose one without gears. We found a lot of the 20-inch bikes had gears, so it narrowed our selection. Still totally possible to get a great used one, but it may be a bit harder to find the right bike. Also, it may pay to just mention to people that you are looking for a used bike. Right after I got my son's bike, I just mentioned in front of a few friends, and 4 of them said they had bikes they would have given me if they'd known I was looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it her first bike? If so, you might want to choose one without gears. We found a lot of the 20-inch bikes had gears, so it narrowed our selection. Still totally possible to get a great used one, but it may be a bit harder to find the right bike. Also, it may pay to just mention to people that you are looking for a used bike. Right after I got my son's bike, I just mentioned in front of a few friends, and 4 of them said they had bikes they would have given me if they'd known I was looking.

yes, first bike

[Anonymous]

Woom bikes hold up well for hand me downs

[Anonymous]

We found a 20 inch kids' bike without gears used at a local bike store (but this was before the pandemic). It was nice to get something bike store quality, but for cheaper.