youth bike

Question
Carl,
My 11 year old daughter is outgrowing her 20" bike. She has a Taffy model bike made by Giant.  What is the next logical size bike for her to get.  I looked at some 24 inch bikes but have heard there are bikes with a small frame and larger wheels.  I want to get the most time out of a bike I can.  We do mostly recreation riding (parks and beach vacations).  Are there any bikes that come to mind for her?
Thanks,
Nick

Answer
Hi Nick,
It抯 time to get her on a 揼rown ups?bicycle! I have friends with daughters aged 9 to 12. Some of them compete in Jr. triathlons and mountain bike events. Most companies make good bikes in smaller sizes. If you will look at bicycles on a rack you will notice that the crank housings are all the same height off the ground. This is, of course, to give room to pedal and most crank arms are the same length. Bicycle sizes are in the distance from that crank housing, vertically to a spot even with the place where the seat post slides into the seat tube. At 6??I ride a 51 cm, 20? and at 9 years and 4 foot something Christina rides 30 cm, at 12?
You wrote parks and beaches so you want to avoid skinny tire bikes. A mountain bike will take her anywhere she needs to go and will ride easier than the Taffy. You also do not need a full suspension bike, one with shocks on the back as well as front. They are called 揾ardtails?  The largest size that will fit her with the seat post and bars in a lower position will last her several years. She doesn't need to be able to reach the ground with her feet while in the saddle. She needs to be able to straddle the top tube with 1 or 2 inches clearance. Sitting on the seat with a foot on the pedal in the lowest position, if the seat post is up no more than 2 or 3 inches she will be able to put on almost a foot of height and still ride the bike.
Several companies make bicycles in 12 to 14?or maybe metric at 30 to 40 cm, and some just list them as XS. Some even make them in woman specific geometry. The cranks are shorter, the top tube is shorter in proportion to mens?bikes which gives a shorter reach to the handlebar. None of the young ladies I know ride WS bikes. Some have replaced the saddle with a WS one which has a slightly shorter extension and is a little wider.

Unless it is for a particular use, I don't like to recommend brands and/or models but since many companies don't make small bikes I will mention some.
Your own Giant makes the Boulder in 12 ??to 14? Gary Fisher (owned by Trek) Tarpon ?13? Schwinn Frontier ?XS and Trek Jack ?13?all have MSRPs?of $290 to $360, Jamis Durango 12 to 14?MSRP $600, and if you want her to really crank, the Kona Lisa HT is a WS 13 綌 disk brake wonder that comes in a wild blue and hot pink with an MSRP of $900.

I always recommend a bicycle store or a large outdoor equipment store that has a service department for their bicycle section. You can have minor adjustments done on the spot and they also know how to assemble the bikes. My daughter, bless her heart, bought my grand daughter a bike at Wal Mart and told me the wheel was hitting her feet and the bike steered funny. They had assembled it with the forks backwards. Also, most of their smaller bikes are kids bikes.

If you do want a road bike, the same applies as to sizes, but with time, you may need to change to wider handle bars to accommodate her chest width growth. The widest grip position should not be less than shoulder width.