5ft 1” child - hybrid bike to buy?

[Martinsnos]

Hi,
My daughter is only 10 and 5’ 1” tall. Still too short for a Ribble adult bike.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a ‘large’ child’s bike - hybrid type?
Say £300 budget.
Many thanks,
Martin

 

[vickster]

5’1 should be ok for an Xs ladies bike and allow a bit of growth as needed. You don’t have to buy from Ribble Do you?

At Halfords, this is available in small, if it’s the 14”, it should be fine https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybrid-bikes/carrera-subway-1-womens-hybrid-bike---small-641739.html

maybe look for something used?

or perhaps a 26” Wiggens Chartres, well in budget (if available), but maybe too small
https://www.halfords.com/bikes/kids...hybrid-bike---26in-wheel---purple-190654.html

You could look at the Frog or Islabike kids offers too, although more than £300 new
https://www.frogbikes.co.uk/bikes/hybrid-bikes
or Ridgeback
https://www.ridgeback.co.uk/bike/dimension-26-purple-2020

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Carrera Subway 26 or Wiggins Chartres would be my choice. My 9 year old has just moved up to a Trek Wahoo from a Carrera Saruna (which is the same as the Subway pretty much), I'd have happily got her another larger Carrera if they had the stock but they were all out.
The Trek is fabulous by the way, it's just a bit dearer than I wanted to pay.

 

[Martinsnos]

5’1 should be ok for an Xs ladies bike and allow a bit of growth as needed. You don’t have to buy from Ribble Do you?

At Halfords, this is available in small, if it’s the 14”, it should be fine https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybrid-bikes/carrera-subway-1-womens-hybrid-bike---small-641739.html

maybe look for something used?

or perhaps a 26” Wiggens Chartres, well in budget (if available), but maybe too small
https://www.halfords.com/bikes/kids...hybrid-bike---26in-wheel---purple-190654.html

You could look at the Frog or Islabike kids offers too, although more than £300 new
https://www.frogbikes.co.uk/bikes/hybrid-bikes
or Ridgeback
https://www.ridgeback.co.uk/bike/dimension-26-purple-2020

Many thanks - no, doesn’t have to be Ribble, any make at all - thanks again.

 

[Martinsnos]

Carrera Subway 26 or Wiggins Chartres would be my choice. My 9 year old has just moved up to a Trek Wahoo from a Carrera Saruna (which is the same as the Subway pretty much), I'd have happily got her another larger Carrera if they had the stock but they were all out.
The Trek is fabulous by the way, it's just a bit dearer than I wanted to pay.

I can flex my budget - would you recommend a particular website for me to buy the Trek from (or indeed the other bikes)?
Many thanks.

 

[Cycleops]

These days you buy from any retailer that actually has them.

 

[vickster]

I can flex my budget - would you recommend a particular website for me to buy the Trek from (or indeed the other bikes)?
Many thanks.

Trek sell directly through their own website at the moment (pre Covid you had to buy from a shop)

 

[MichaelW2]

At that size, stick to 26" mtb size wheels. 700c are way too big for this frame size and 650 are not worf the bother of finding the right tyre in shops.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

I can flex my budget - would you recommend a particular website for me to buy the Trek from (or indeed the other bikes)?
Many thanks.

As Cyclops hints at, buy from wherever has the stock, there's fairly little choice just now. I gather Halfords are struggling to meet demand for Carrera.

I bought the Trek from a dealer (Pedalworks in Dunstable) but that's very local to me, it was a bit of a happy accident that they could get one in the all-important desired colour. You can order online still, I'd try that if the Wahoo ends up being what you go for.

 

[Martinsnos]

To add to my own post, just realised my daughter can get a small adult hybrid bike with 4” of growing room - so that is definitely the way to go (out of stock on their website at mo).

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

At that age, I was riding a 19 1/2" frame Raleigh racer with 26" wheels, but by the time I was 14/15 I had grown enough to need a 23" frame. OK, I'm not a girl and boys tend to end up taller, but the point remains that kids grow a lot over those few years so unless you want to be replacing bikes every five minutes whatever you choose needs some growing room built into it.

 

[HMS_Dave]

I remember my first bike, the shop had to change the saddle and move the reflector so they could lower the seat so i could get on it. My dad insisted i have that bike so it lasted me years and it did. The frame was going rusty by the time i had a new un!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Your dad made sure he got his money's worth out of the purchase then!