# Child's bikes and gearing



## Longshot (30 Oct 2012)

Does anyone know if gearing is pretty standard across kid's bikes? My (just) 6 year old seems to struggle with getting his bike going and grinds to a halt on hills (family trait!).

I'm trying to work out if it's him or whether his bike is geared a bit heavily.

Any ideas?


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## Andy_R (30 Oct 2012)

What's he riding?


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## Longshot (30 Oct 2012)

A Raleigh Spooky!


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## Tomba (31 Oct 2012)

Si, we just took our 7 year old daughter to a shop to get her on a bike for the proper size and yes it comes with 8 speed gears.
She is the same after a couple of miles and struggles on hills and after explaining to her what gears do she wanted a new bike 

It has 20" wheels and she is small for her age so if your wee man is of average size then he could fit some 20" bikes. I _think _most bikes with gears start at 20".

We went for a Cuda Mayhem http://www.cudabikes.co.uk/products/mayhem-girls.php
It's an alloy frame so is lighter than the steel equivalent and no suspension, plus it has shimano gearing and a number indicator on the grip shift.

Just saw the Spooky is 14", that's the same size as our daughters bike so he might be big enough to change up. Get him to a shop to sit on a few cos not all 20" bikes have the same geometry. We tried a couple in Decathlon but the reach was too much and a Raleigh 20" but she struggled to get her feet to touch the ground.


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## Andy_R (31 Oct 2012)

ok...just a brief thought....gripshift gear shift is sh!te.....my son when learning to use gears used to have "phantom" gear shifts..the reason was beacause he was holding the gripshift bit of the grips when turning.....as he rotated the bars, he shifted without realising. Swapped shifters for SRAM X4 trigger shifters and hey ho.............Gripshift is the work of the Devil......


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## Longshot (31 Oct 2012)

Tomba said:


> Si, we just took our 7 year old daughter to a shop to get her on a bike for the proper size and yes it comes with 8 speed gears.
> She is the same after a couple of miles and struggles on hills and after explaining to her what gears do she wanted a new bike
> 
> It has 20" wheels and she is small for her age so if your wee man is of average size then he could fit some 20" bikes. I _think _most bikes with gears start at 20".
> ...


 
Cheers Tam - I'll do that


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## XC26 (31 Oct 2012)

My 6 year old rides a 20" wheel Dawes aluminium frame hardtail. It has a Shimano derailleur, 6 speed freewheel with a Shimano twist shifter. She struggled a lot a first with the gears, the bike nearly stopping each time she tried to change gear. Stopping in top gear at every give-way was another favourite which made urban cycling a very slow process. The bike was a hand-me-down from an older sibling who also struggled with derailleur gears. The older one now rides a 3 speed hub machine and finds it a breeze - hills are no problem either, she just goes for it. Sadly, they don't seem to make hub gear bikes for kids these days in the UK.


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## Boris Bajic (1 Nov 2012)

Many parents have wondered why a 6-year-old child struggles on hills.

I venture that it is not the gearing or the weight of the frame or the tyre pressures...

6-year-old children struggle on hills when cycling. It has always been so and always will.

Most of today's adult who cycle rode on single-speed machines when they were six. The hills were the same size and gradients were the same.

If your offspring has a multi-geared bike and it is kept lubed, clean and nicely fettled, it will get them where they need to go. It's good if the bike fits. That aside, little is important.

I may be the only one to think this, but gearing and weight (within certain limits) are rarely the issue with 6-year-old children on bicycles.


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## Longshot (1 Nov 2012)

Boris Bajic said:


> Many parents have wondered why a 6-year-old child struggles on hills.
> 
> I venture that it is not the gearing or the weight of the frame or the tyre pressures...
> 
> ...


 

Thank you - that was pretty much the point of my question.

However, let me clarify - the bike has a single gear. My son, who is small for his age, struggles to get the bike started and as soon as he hits any kind of gradient struggles to keep it going.

I was wondering if there was an unofficial gear ratio generally adopted by manufacturers for small kids' bikes or whether they all varied. I can't tell if the problem is strength or equipment. If equipment, I can change it.


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## summerdays (1 Nov 2012)

As far as I can tell with my in-expert eye, there is no recommended range, hence why you see on some BMX bikes for young children they have a very large front ring which they then struggle with when they are learning and could do with a lower gear instead.


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## Dilbert (1 Nov 2012)

Is his saddle adjusted properly?. We used to get a lot of kids come to the club with saddles down so they could put their feet down while sat on the saddle, which meant the were not getting the correct leverage on the pedals, and they grow more quickly than you realise, I have been caught out a few times with mine like that where I have looked one day and realised daughters knees are up in her chest. She never says anything as she likes the security of being able to touch the ground. Also watch for correct foot position on the pedals.

Or perhaps he needs some of this  :


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