Will your little one grow to 5 years? You can gift them a bike that will keep them physically active and engaged. Do you know what size bike for a 5 year old is the best?
The bike sizes may vary a little from brand to brand. However, for your 5 year old child, you can have 2 to 3 choices on the bike.
As the baby car seats have types in them (Car seat ages and stages), the child bike also has types in them according to the inseam height and age of your children 2-10+ years).
We will let you know how to choose the right size bike according to the age of your child.
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What Size Bike for a 5 Year Old is Best? Bike Size Chart for Kids
Is it your first experience with baby bike seat sizes and don’t know what size bike for a 5 year old is best?
Bike size chart for kids will help you here.
Note: The right-sized bike will be easy for your child to use and they will be safe on it (even if they are beginners, it would not be complicated for them to use if it is an appropriately sized bike).
The following bike size chart for kids could help you in deciding the right bike depending on your child’s inseam, height, and age:
| Wheel Size (Inches) | Age (Years) | Height (Inches) | Inseam (Inches) | Features |
| 12 | 2-3 | 36-39 | 15-18 | Mostly have training wheels |
| 14 | 2-4 | 37-44 | 15-20 | Usually have coaster breaks |
| 16 | 4-6 | 41-48 | 16-22 | Efficient transitional brakes |
| 20 | 5-8 | 45-54 | 19-25 | Have hand brakes and multiple gears |
| 24 | 8-11 | 49-59 | 23-28 | Have all functions of an adult bike |
| 26 | 10+ | 56+ | 26+ | Have all functions of an adult bike |
Have you got the idea of what size bike for a 5 year old is good for your child? You can have 2 options:
- A 16ʺ bike
- A 20ʺ bike
Both of these bikes would accommodate your child at the best as they both have a 5-year-old’s inseam (16-25 inches) and height (41-54 inches) ranges in them.
Children Bike Sizes – Choose what Best Fits Your Child!
How you will decide what size bike for a 5 year old will be worthwhile?
You will decide the best baby bike seats depending upon the inseam height and age of your children.
Why do you have to consider more than one factor? Because every child is different in their growth and learning capabilities.
Related: What size bikes for 4 year olds are best?
Moreover,
A bike that is selected “on the basis of its seat height, wheel size, and frame’s compatibility with your child’s height, weight, and age” will not only be easy to use but also ensure their safety.
What Size Bike for a 5 Year Old? How to Choose the Right Size Bike?
“Finding the right bike is all about the fit, no matter the skill of the rider!”
The following step-by-step guide will help you in deciding what size bike for a 5 year old will fit them the best.
1. Measure Your Child’s Inseam:
The car seat manufacturers prefer bike size by inseam. In the same way, the parents should also math their child’s inseam for the bike they want to buy.
What inseam height is?
Inseam height is the distance between the base of your zipper and the bottom of the leg opening.
How to measure your child’s inseam height?
Do you know how to measure your child’s inseam height? Follow the steps listed below:
- Place a book in the center of the child’s legs and have them hold it
- Take measuring tape and measure from the floor to the top of the book
- For a 5 year child it will lie between 16-20 inches.
2. What Size Bike for a 5 Year Old will be Compatible with Bike Wheel Size?
After measuring the child’s inseam, you can decide on what size bike for a 5 year old will be appropriate. Generally,
“You should buy a larger wheel size if your child’s inseam is appropriate for the bike”
Note: larger wheels will allow more stability as well as will have more room for growth.
The good thing about bike sizes is that:
“There is not a certain bike size for a specific inseam height, but for a range of inseam heights so that your child can utilize it for a longer time period”
For example, if you’re 5-year-old child has an inseam height of 16.5 inches, they can have 3 different bike sizes: 14, 16, and 20 inches wheel bikes!
3. What Size Bike for a 5 Year Old will be Compatible Bike Seat Height?
How to find out the compatible bike seat height?
“Bike Seat height is the distance from the ground to the top of its seat”
A 5-year-old child can ride and handle the bike very well but it must be very comfortable and suits their inseam and height very well.
The height of the bike seat is differently designed and some have seat height adjustment options in them. Then how you will decide what size bike for a 5 year old with respect to bike seta height is correct?
Continue to read below ☺
Types of Child Bike Seats – Bike Seat Stages by Ages
Just as baby car seats have variety in them i.e. Types of car seats by age, there are types of child bike seat also.
You can choose what size bike for a 5 year old is good form the basic types that are tabled below:
| Category | Rear Frame | Front Mounted | Mid-Mount/ MTB |
| Seat Positioning | Rear-Facing | Front-Facing | Mid-Mount |
| Mount postion | Bike’s frame or a rear rack | Below the handlebars | Between the handlebars and seat post, usually on the top tube |
| Age range | 12 mo. – about 48 lbs. | 9 mo. – 3 yrs. Or 33 lbs. | Ages 2 to 5 |
| Best for | Longevity of use | Babies and young toddlers | Older kids who can hold on (no harness) |
| Advantages |
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| Disadvantages |
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How to Find the Best Bikes and Their Seat Height?
As the baby car seats have a certain weight, height, and age rules and regulations and car seat manufacturers publish their product limitations, the baby bikes manufacturers do not any one of them.
Therefore, it is the most confusing point for the parents when they have to purchase a bike for their growing child.
However, you should not feel forsaken. You can take help from the bike-size-vise guidelines we have provided below:
Conclusion
Have you gotten your query resolved over what size bike for a 5 year old?
It should be a size that is compatible with your baby’s inseam height because that bike will be easy for them to use, will be safe for them, and your invested money will be utilized the maximum ☺
Frequently Asked Questions
Does bike sizes and ages relate to each other?
Definitely yes. A 3-year-old baby cannot ride a bicycle that is designed for a 6-year-old child. Therefore, you should know your child’s inseam height and then buy a bicycle that is best compatible with that height.
What is the best 16 inch bike age?
The minimum and maximum age limit for a 16-inch bike lie between 4-8 years. However, it is better to measure your child’s inseam and then choose a bike for them.
What size bikes for 4 year olds is best?
The parents ask for what size bikes for 4 year olds would be the best? For a 4 years old child, we will recommend two bike sizes i.e. 16 and 20 inches bikes (if your child’s inseam height matches with the recommended bike’s seat height requirements).
What size bike for 6 year old is best?
Do you want to know what size bike for 6 year old are the best? For 6 years old children, we will recommend two bike sizes i.e. 16 and 20 inches bikes (if your child’s inseam height matches with the recommended bike’s seat height requirements).
What should be the size bike for 7 year old?
A 16 inches bile is considered the best for children of age between 4-8 years. However, there is no standard rule regarding bike sizes. Therefore, choose the bike size that is according to your child’s inseam height.
What is the best 12 in bike age?
Children of age between 2-3 years are allowed to use 12 inches bikes. However, bike sizes vary with the experience, inseam height, and weight of your children.
Does my child need training wheels for their bike?
Addition of training wheels would definitely help your child in riding it confidently. They would be safer as well as need less effort in balancing the bike. However, the addition of training wheels for a 5 year old child is not essential.
