Kids 20" Bike - Best Second Hand Models

leyton01 on 13/12/2022 - 14:55
Last edited 13/12/2022 - 15:09

We are looking at getting 2 bikes for our 6 year old boy/girl twins (both about 120cm tall) and I am happy to get a decent brand second hand as they will outgrow them soon enough.

I am definitely after something lightweight and have been suggested a few bikes (eg byk e450) but it is amazingly hard to find the actual weight of bike even on the manufacturers website.

Can anyone suggest specific models to look for which are lightweight, suitable for children and commonly available? It is hard enough to wade through all the ads to find one, let alone 2 bikes of similar quality in boy/girl colours and designs. (Prefer specific models - brands like Specialized have many models in the 20" range - Riprock, Hotrock, Polygon, Jett etc and not all would be suitable.)

I have so far:
byk e450
Apollo neo 20
Merida j20 lite (don't like this one as no chain guard)

Sports & Outdoors Bicycle

Comments

  • bobkin on 13/12/2022 - 15:35

    My son has a byk e450 mtb, which has been great. When I was looking I was considering any of the big brands that had gears and fixed forks rather than suspension forks e.g. giant arx 20, scott scale rigid and the apollo neo 20 you listed above. Having a look now though, the polygon premier 20 is on sale for $279 new and I think that would be an excellent option.

    • leyton01 on 13/12/2022 - 17:17

      Looks like the Polygon is only on sale in one colour at the moment :( Any concerns over having no chain guard? Our daughter still loves to ride in all kinds of cycling-inappropriate outfits such as long dresses

      • bobkin on 13/12/2022 - 19:20

        We haven’t noticed a problem with the lack of chain guard but can see than long dresses could be an issue. There is a good review and video of the polygon on two wheeling tots (here). I was considering the polygon when I bought the byk, but at that stage there was about $80 between them and the byk was available locally

  • bargaino on 13/12/2022 - 15:46

    You are overthinking it. Little kids are not fussy or snobby. Are you expecting them to be doing a lot of hill-climbing? Or racing?
    Just wait, the time to worry more will be here before you know it.

    • leyton01 on 13/12/2022 - 17:13

      We realised this which is why we are looking second hand. The weight is not just for them but also the grandparents loading/unloading them from the car. Also the name brand bikes seem to have a better thought out riding position than the kmart ones.

  • tsunamisurfer on 13/12/2022 - 16:07

    I went through this process recently.

    I wanted one for my daughter, with gears (so she can keep up with the rest of the family), also 20 inch wheels.

    I found every geared bike to use the twist gear change system which becomes incredibly stiff and near impossible to change with young weak wrists.

    The only ones I found that she can handle twist changing gears are the in-hub gear bikes like a e40i.

    IF you just want the single geared type then they are all very similar. Also AVOID the bikes with suspension forks, all they will do is dampen the pedaling force and lose power.

    • Euphemistic on 13/12/2022 - 16:56

      bikes with suspension forks, all they will do is dampen the pedaling force and lose power.

      If you’re lucky they’ll do that but provide some actual suspension. More likely for little kids they won’t provide any suspension at all and just add weight.

      Agree with grip/twist shifters not being great, but not many bikes come with trigger shifters for little kids. I just resigned myself to shifting to an appropriate gear for them until their hands got stronger. They usually shift ok in one direction, but are harder to twist back the other way.

  • bobkin on 13/12/2022 - 16:17

    I agree twist shifters are not ideal. They’re cheap and easy to change though so can be fixed if they’re causing a problem

  • Euphemistic on 13/12/2022 - 16:36

    Pick any bike shop brand bike without suspension forks. They will be much the same, and end of the day a few hundred grams doesn’t make that much difference while riding it.

    If you’re keen you could replace the tyres with some lighter ones for easy weight loss.

    • leyton01 on 13/12/2022 - 17:11

      The range of weights for the 20" at 99bikes was actually quite large - they ranged from 8kgs up to 15kgs plus, all of these were 'premium' (at least expensive) bikes which surprised me. Annoyingly like most manufacturers 99bikes/other stores don't list weights.

  • leyton01 on 13/12/2022 - 17:08

    Thanks all for the suggestions. I had the same thoughts about gears - can be difficult to change and just an extra distraction at that age. Plus I would have to find 2 bikes with gears (bit rarer) so as not to have any chance of jealousy between twins :)

    Also looking at the lightest possible for the grandparents who love to take them to the park and need to lift the bikes in and out of the car.

  • omguleh on 13/12/2022 - 17:23

    We had a look at the Silberback, Mongoose and Neo bikes at 99Bikes. All alloy frames so it’s not too heavy. Went with the Silverback as they were all similar.

  • JimB on 13/12/2022 - 17:32

    Can confirm the byk e450 is a good bike for my small 8yo.

    But trying to get 2 byk e450s secondhand may be a struggle.

    Giant and Mongoose is also are safe bets

  • Baa on 13/12/2022 - 18:49

    We used to buy new, but cheapish bikes for my girls (7 and 6) but they are so hard on them and outgrow them so fast just picked up some second hand bikes.

    I got two of these for $25 each on marketplace in near new condition (https://www.kmart.com.au/product/50cm-neochrome-bmx-bike-430…)

    Unlike their old bikes I am less worried about weather damage and just general bumps and nicks they get from learning to ride and falling over occasionally and once they outgrow them I will give them away to somebody else. Surprisingly decent bikes for the price.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join