5 year old kid: bmx or mtb

It's time to shop around for a bike for my kid, turning 5 in the summer. I will say 18" wheels, but maybe 16" are more common. We gravitate to the skateparks, pump tracks, ramps on the street more than trails as my younger ones can have fun too on their run bikes and I can manage them easier. Not looking for wonderbikes like a Spawn unless used and cheap. My kid's wish is that it be orange…other details, not too concerned. If we had to buy new, I would look at Norco.

Just wanted to hear from other parents, what they got and why. Or does it really matter in terms of quality, body position, bike weight, etc when looking at a mtb-style vs bmx-style?

at 5, like you said they dont care as long as they think it's cool. anything in good shape is all they need. the only thing I would get is a bike with rim brakes, no coaster bakes. that's about it.

My advice would be dont be driven by wheel size. Size the bike by standover height, crank length, and bar height.

Sit the kid on the bike and look at the general proportions. Crank length is important IMO, I see alot of kids with long legs spinning tiny circles on short steel rod cranks.

Longer cranks = more power and more fun.

good points, thanks, those make sense and he is definitely spinning tiny cranks right now. the other problem is finding places to look at a lot of bikes at once. can anyone recommend the North Shore Sports Swap for little bikes? we don't see many decent ones at value village and the local thrift stores.

my kids had good success with the redline pitboss. 16" wheels, not heavy, rim brakes, good length cranks, red.

When the 5 year old love spawn of my lesbian life partner and I venture to the multiuse trails, parks and community centres, she tends to prefer her haro bmx bike over her little norco mountain bike with gears. She keeps up to the rest of the love clan better on the mountain bike as it's a faster bike but I think the bmx is what has improved her biking more.

Most bikes in that size are going to be really heavy, unless you can drop some serious coin. I think my sons 16 inch Norco Menace comes in around 22 pounds, which is quite a lot for a 50 pound dude. With only one gear, it is fine for fairly flat ground, but not so great for any types of uphills (he is not able to stand and pedal yet). We also have a MEC Dash (20 inch), which weighs the same, but has hand brakes, 21 gears and front suspension. I can highly recommend the Dash as soon as the kid is tall enough. Our oldest really got into trail riding as soon as he could ride it.

We have a Spawn Banshee for the big girl, she is just starting out but had a huge grin after last weekend.

FYI North Shore Sports Swap has moved to Pemberton Ave: http://www.nssportsswap.ca/en/

Our 6 year old is on a Specialized Hot Rock that I got used. It has grip shift, which isnt the best but she has been loving it. Prior to that she had a Giant something or other with 16" wheels. She grew out of the 16" pretty fast.

BMX.

You and your kid will both thank me for the skills your kid learns on BMX, when they absolutely slay on MTB.

BMX is great for skills development. The bikes are simple and fun. If you want to take your kid trail riding though you probably want a bike with gears and decent brakes. Grip shift works well for small hands and doesn't require too much strength. Suspension isn't necessary for 5 year olds and will just make the bike heavier. Find the lightest bike you can that fits him and make sure it's orange!

I have a redline pitboss i'm willing to sell. PM for info.

Great bike and reasonably light for how strong it is.

Our 5 y.o. is on the 16" Commencal kids bike and we are very happy with it. BMX bikes have a taller BB and standover. The Commencal is 18 lbs. He's still pretty small at almost 6, 43 inches, and the bike still fits great.

https://vimeo.com/138557500