Anyone's five year old on a 20 inch bike ?

[laurack]

Matilda wants a bike for Christmas. Her 14 inch bike seems too small for her for sure but I'm wondering if we should do 16 or jump right to the 20 inch to get more time out of it. I don't see 18 inch as a size really

If we do 16 inch we'll probably buy another cheapie but if it's a 20 I might consider buying her a "good" bike that would work for actual mountain biking ...

[ktstorm]

Benjamin is on a 16 inch that he got for his 4th birthday. I'm hoping he'll get another year or two out of it. I think a 20 inch would be a bit big right now, but might be ok by the spring.

[sandj82110]

Daniel has a 16 now and doesn't ride it nearly as much as he rode his 12, even on the lowest seat height it's just a little too big and he doesn't feel comfortable yet. We basically try to force him once a week or so to ride it knowing that the more he does the more comfortable he will get. He definitely wouldn't ride a 20. He's about 43 inches.

[CrazyLucky]

My DS is 7. He got his 20" last Christmas, when he was 6.5. How tall is your daughter? DS is 51" and he no longer needs the seat to be as low as possible. I think if your daughter is less than about 48", she'll have trouble with a 20" bike.
ETA: 5 year old DD has a 16 inch bike.  She is 44" tall.  When DS tries to ride her bike, he looks ridiculous.

[laurack]

Thanks guys! She's not super tall, probably 43-44 inches. Sounds like a 20 inch would be much too big.

I suppose we could also bring her to a store and have her try a couple out!

[kkfeb04]

I think the 20" would be too big for her.

[dixeedeluxe]

Adeline is still on a 14"! She did just learn to ride without training wheels, though. I think she feels safer closer to the ground. We also have a 16" and 20". She can ride the 16", but prefers the 14" right now.

[laurack]

I think we'll bring her to the local bike store and just have her sit on a 16 and a 20 but I feel almost 100% sure a 20 will be far too big. We could of course also make it a birthday present instead and then she'd be probably a couple inches taller by april ... but even then. The 14 really just seems a bit too small not freakishly small

I like the idea of it being santas gift though because it's a "big" gift so I can tell her she won't get other gifts from santa, therefore reduce the plastic invasion ...

thanks all!