BMX bike advice

[Kneedown]

Hi there,

My 5yr old has outgrown his 14inch bike and I am considering what to get him next. He is a confident rider, has never used training wheels and also races in kids cyclocross just for the fun of it when we are having a bash.

I am thinking of buying him a mini BMX racer (20inch) as his next bike as it seems like a light/fast multipurpose option to get through the next few years. My 7yr old daughter rides a Byk e-450 but although better than most kids bikes, it is not exactly nimble.

Anyone have experience with their kid riding a BMX racer (as opposed to a BMX cruiser/stunt bike) as a multipurpose bike?

I'm talking about something like this...

[MattyK]

I looked at these when trying to choose kids bikes. Lightness and performance are the appealing factors, but they're not exactly suited to general riding:
hard saddle that's there for regulations, not sitting on
skinny, slick tyres only suitable for hard smooth surfaces
steep steering angle gives sharp handling
typically no front brake
no coaster brake (technically illegal for kids bikes except race bikes)
typically very long cranks
typically very high gearing

In other words, to make a decent kids bike out of it, you'd probably want to change quite a few things...

[Sparx]

I've been looking at these:

http://earlyrider.com/collections/all-b ... 20-urban-3
http://earlyrider.com/collections/all-b ... 0-trail-3s

They look awesome....

[Mububban]

I've been looking at these:

http://earlyrider.com/collections/all-b ... 20-urban-3
http://earlyrider.com/collections/all-b ... 0-trail-3s

They look awesome....

For 600 euros it'd bloody well better be a good kids bike!

[Sparx]

For 600 euros it'd bloody well better be a good kids bike!

well if you compare it to the cost of my bikes.... it doesn't look too bad!!

[Kneedown]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Regrading the BMX Racer: Good points about comfort and singular focus. I guess the racers are designed for a 1min blat around a BMX track and not a 10km ride on a bike path as well as up and down inclines.

Have seen the EarlyRider before but the price is hard to justify for a kids bike, I do like the belt drive however.

ByK is the front runner at the moment by the looks. Unless I can find the EarlyRider heavily discounted somewhere...

[Kneedown]

And you thought the EarlyRider was expensive...

http://www.islabikes.com/beinn-20-pro-s ... duct-page/

[Sparx]

These are also up there...

http://lilshredder.com