First Post - young rider bike advice

Either a 16 or 18 inch would be a good choice for a person of that soze. Most people don't run brakes these days, and I am pretty sure there are no 16 or 18 inch forks that have brake mounts so you would probably have to go custom for something like that. 1 brake should be fine though. Thr cult completes look nice, as do thr Sunday ones, but there are many other good choices out there.

Pegs can be bought aftermarket and should fit on any bike so you shouldn't have any problems with that.

Cult is the first company that comes to mind for smaller sized bikes, I believe they all have back brakes, and as mentioned pegs can be bought aftermarket

http://wethepeoplebmx.de/bikes/curse-18

Perfect! Srong, light and the perfect size

Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked at both of these bikes and they both look great.

I'm thinking he could run a 16" from 8-10 years old(grade 3-5) then an 18" from 10-13 years old(grade 5-7) then move on to a 20". Any thoughts on this? I'd love to hear from some people that have had lil guys riding on different sized bikes to offer more insights.

What do you mean no one uses brakes these days? When I was growing up racing bmx ran the rear brake only, while free style bikes ran rear, and front. What has changed since then?

BobbyBudds wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked at both of these bikes and they both look great.

I'm thinking he could run a 16" from ...more

BobbyBudds wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked at both of these bikes and they both look great.

I'm thinking he could run a 16" from 8-10 years old(grade 3-5) then an 18" from 10-13 years old(grade 5-7) then move on to a 20". Any thoughts on this? I'd love to hear from some people that have had lil guys riding on different sized bikes to offer more insights.

What do you mean no one uses brakes these days? When I was growing up racing bmx ran the rear brake only, while free style bikes ran rear, and front. What has changed since then?

...more

honestly he is only 2-3 inches off of the proper size for an 18", and it might not be a horrible idea to just start him out on a 18". I started on a 20" when i was 4-8 or so, and I never really had any problems
people dont really run brakes anymore because its just more maintenece (even though its not much more) and because it looks "cleaner"
i just dont run them because I don't want to shell out money for a brake, pads, lever, cable, and a set of removeable brake mounts

BobbyBudds wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked at both of these bikes and they both look great.

I'm thinking he could run a 16" from ...more

BobbyBudds wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked at both of these bikes and they both look great.

I'm thinking he could run a 16" from 8-10 years old(grade 3-5) then an 18" from 10-13 years old(grade 5-7) then move on to a 20". Any thoughts on this? I'd love to hear from some people that have had lil guys riding on different sized bikes to offer more insights.

What do you mean no one uses brakes these days? When I was growing up racing bmx ran the rear brake only, while free style bikes ran rear, and front. What has changed since then?

...more

You might get the kid to ride an 18 inch wheeled bike, to around 10 years old depending on what the child's friends and schoolmates are riding.
If others are ridding 20s by that time, the child will want to run a 20 also.

Shame they do not really make a 20inch complete in a mini/jr sized park/street bike with an 18inch toptub.

I will say this depending on how your kid is/ looks up-to you. If you are going to ride with the child, picking the same company for the bikes might be a good idea.

BobbyBudds wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked at both of these bikes and they both look great.

I'm thinking he could run a 16" from ...more

BobbyBudds wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked at both of these bikes and they both look great.

I'm thinking he could run a 16" from 8-10 years old(grade 3-5) then an 18" from 10-13 years old(grade 5-7) then move on to a 20". Any thoughts on this? I'd love to hear from some people that have had lil guys riding on different sized bikes to offer more insights.

What do you mean no one uses brakes these days? When I was growing up racing bmx ran the rear brake only, while free style bikes ran rear, and front. What has changed since then?

...more

Wayne S wrote:

You might get the kid to ride an 18 inch wheeled bike, to around 10 years old depending on what the child's friends and ...more

Wayne S wrote:

You might get the kid to ride an 18 inch wheeled bike, to around 10 years old depending on what the child's friends and schoolmates are riding.
If others are ridding 20s by that time, the child will want to run a 20 also.

Shame they do not really make a 20inch complete in a mini/jr sized park/street bike with an 18inch toptub.

I will say this depending on how your kid is/ looks up-to you. If you are going to ride with the child, picking the same company for the bikes might be a good idea.

...more

Thr united recruit Jr is a 18.5 top tube on a 20" wheel if I remember correctly
Other alternative is to get a used custom and get a used flatland frame with 14 mm dropouts, most of them have 18-19.5 top tubes with 20 in v wheel sizes

bmxsteve99 wrote:

Thr united recruit Jr is a 18.5 top tube on a 20" wheel if I remember correctly
Other alternative is to get a used custom and ...more

bmxsteve99 wrote:

Thr united recruit Jr is a 18.5 top tube on a 20" wheel if I remember correctly
Other alternative is to get a used custom and get a used flatland frame with 14 mm dropouts, most of them have 18-19.5 top tubes with 20 in v wheel sizes

...more

Nice find.
Something like this in my opinion is pretty much perfect specially if the bars could be cut down to at-least 26inches.
Also loving the geometry, less of a learning curve when the top tube gets to short.
http://unitedbikeco.com/products/2015-recruit-jr-complete-bike/

Get him an 18"