This is my first post and hopefully this forum is the correct place for this question.
I have a son who will be 5 next month. He has outgrown his current bike and I'm looking to get a new one for him. At this age we do our family cycling on dedicated non traffic cycle routes, which are usually pretty flat , but some have a few hills.
Many of the bikes made for young kids are quite heavy and at his size, seem to still be single speed. My question is does anyone know if there are light(er) weight bikes available for young kids and is it possible to add gears to them?
I was in the same situation looking for a bike for my 7 year old. I wanted light weight and gearing. I went with a Trek MT220 because it has the adjustable crank arm length (as does Gary Fisher bikes). That's two holes in the arms to get either 120 or 140 mm arm depending where you put the pedal.
For a 5 year old, I'd suggest the Trek MT60 (or it's Gary Fisher counterpart). It has gears, 20" tires, adjustable crank arms, and an aluminum frame. It isn't a coaster brake so your son will have to adapt to hand brakes.
My son was scared of the brakes for only the first couple of rides. Now I can't keep him off of the bike!
Thanks - its a real help, the bike looks great. My only worry is that it might be a little on the large size for a 5 yr old. It is certainly a lot bigger than his current one.
I guess its just a case of trying one out - if he's struggling to get both feet down and/or looks too stretched when seated I'll probably have to try something smaller.
