bikes

I am looking to get my almost 5yr DD a bike. Does anyone know which brands are good? The man at the bike store said he has "bicycle quality" ruuning at about $180 as opposed to Toys R US/Target, which is where I planned on going to look unitl someone mentioned the bike store ones to me. I dont know about spending that much on a bike that she will probably outgrow soon. Any expereince or thoughts? Thanks.

Re: bikes

While not an expert, I am pretty knowledgeable about bikes (my good bike was well over $1000 when I bought it). For the type of riding that DC do, and the fact that they outgrow the bikes, I'm not planning on spending $$ on a bike until he's a teen. He's not doing hard-core off-roading where he needs a lot of frame strength, shocks, and light weight. He's also not riding 100 mile trips where weight is super important. He's riding on flat, mostly paved areas, for short periods of time, and is still growing pretty fast.

Re: bikes

I wouldn't get too crazy for a 5 year-old. They outgrow them so fast -- you'll be lucky if you get a year or 2 out of it and that's it.

Re: bikes

My son got a 20 inch speed bike for 250. But we ride a lot, long distances. And boys ride their 20 inch bikes for quite a while. I often see teenage boys still riding their 20 inch bikes.

When we picked out a 16 inch bike that we knew he would outgrow soon, we bought a 50 dollar one from toys r us. The pedals kept falling off which can be dangerous, but it did the job for a yr.

(He got a 16 inch bike when he was nearly 5, when he turned 6 he got a 20 inch bike with speeds. He is a big kid.) For my dd I might spend a little less, since I know that by 9 or 10 she will probably want a 24 inch bike.

Re: bikes

At that age, I would be fine getting one from Target and/or TRU. As other posters said, they are going to out grow it very quickly.