Fitting a child's bike

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Fitting a child's bike
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flag dogmelissa
Posted: Nov 12, 2016 at 20:42 Quote
My apologies if this isn't the right place for this; I didn't know where else to put it.

I have a 6 year old (girl) who has become a really good cyclist this year. We don't do races or things like that, but a lot of riding to/from school, she rides around on the road with her friends and we've done some pathway and single track rides. Girl literally built quads that looked like a professional cyclist this year; a little crazy. However, we haven't done much biking in the last couple of months because she has preferred to walk to school.

She's currently riding a 20" Diamondback Octane bike, which we've changed to have click shift from the grip shift but is otherwise stock. I don't have exact measurements on the bike or the kid (I could take both tomorrow when she's awake), but rough numbers on her: she's about 49" tall and weighs about 55lbs. She has long legs: I've been working on teaching her how to start and stop by standing in front of her seat and she can sort of do it; there isn't a lot of seat post height left on this bike but if we put her at proper pedal position I think she'd be at the limit.

The point of my message is that the last two times we've gone out, we've gone for pretty big bike rides; about an hour/8km, reasonably flat but about half or slightly more was single track, the rest paved or gravel pathway. Both times, about half way through, she's complained that her back was sore, and when I asked her today she showed me where: sort of mid-back, just below the ribs and in a pretty big area (the size of her hand). She did not complain while we were on the single track or as soon as we got back to the car. At first I thought it was either because we hadn't ridden in awhile or because of the backpack she was wearing (though she usually wears a backpack), but she complained even after I took her pack today. I'm beginning to suspect it's bike fit. She also seemed to be slouching a little.

Maybe it's not bike fit, but given that she's just about at the limit of the seat post on this bike (which we only got for her in May thinking she'd fit it for a couple years!), I would like to explore finding a bike that will fit her for next year (and maybe another after). I know how to fit me for a bike, but I'm a bit lost on how to fit a child to a bike. Are there things I can measure - on her and a bike - to tell if it'll work, or is it more like with an adult and it's dependent on how it feels? If so, what can I ask her while she's sitting on a bike, in order to tell? We're in Canada, and I am very very surprised we're still biking this time of year so chances are we won't be able to test ride a bike but only sit on it to get an idea if it fits. Recommendations on bikes that are available in Canada that I should look at? I would definitely like to buy used, as this is our only child and I have a hard time with the idea of spending more money on a bike for her for a year than I spent on my bike.

Thanks in advance,
Melissa

 


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