Full face helmet and bike choice for 9 year old daughter

Spamjavelin

Hi folks, my eldest daughter is turning 9 in April and I think its about time I get her a 'proper' mountain bike, to replace the Halford's special she has at the mo. (No offence to Halfords its done her proud for 2 years!)

I'm looking at the Kona Shred2-4, she likes the colour which apparently is very important when you're 8/9! Lol That or a specialzed Hotrock.

She is 4 foot 7 inches tall average build with a 26 and a half inside leg, tall for her age you'd think, but the rest of her class at school are the same, must be the water?

Any advice would be handy.

Also, to protect her head when she comes with Dad to the woods. 8) I'd like to get her a full face lid.
I know that they are hotter to wear, as I've got a Thor force lid for when I go Freeriding, but I don't want my little 'angel' to end up scarred for life. :shock: :
I've been looking at the 661 range but I really don't know what to get, the colour for this is EVEN more important to her than her new bike. Kids, honestly.

Anyone, who can help please do.
ta Mart

dnsmiff

My son used this for a couple of years:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_219886_langId_-1_CarSelectorCatalogId__CarSelectorGroupId__varient__categoryId_31354_crumb_33980-31510_parentcategoryrn_31354

He had a few falls when he first started and this stopped a quite a few nasty knocks to his face, he no loner wears it now, but his younger brother will, at least until his skills are up.

As for bike's I would really try to get a 26in bike, my son is still 8 (he is tallish - but no where near the tallest in his class) and rides a 14" framed Carrera Kraken, the Giant Yuken also come in a ladies specific 14" frame.

Wouldn’t bother with the 24" bike, unless you have a sibling to hand it down to.

We had a Specialized Hotrock A1FS that got used for just under 1 year.

Spamjavelin

Ta for that, just checked out some of your pics, very impressive stuff. They rate she's growing she may well be able to fit a 26-inch wheeled bike when I come to buy. So I'll keep that in mind, also the Halfords helmet does look pretty good. I have a younger daughter too, so handing down will happen in time anyway.

Thanks for your advice
Mart

dnsmiff

If you have a younger daughter the Kona may make a good buy. The Hotrock A1FS was great, it's lighter than the standard hotrock and hasn't got the extra weight of the A1FSR (the full sus one!) still rides like new and is now waiting for it’s next rider to grow-up a bit!!

My son was slower on the 26" bike when we first got it, the combined weight of wheels / tyres made climbing difficult (until I got hold of some lightweight tyres), plus he "just" fitted it at first, which did not help his confidence.

Trek, Giant and Specialized all make really small framed women’s bikes – In fact I’ve just got hold of a Giant SCR 3.0 w road bike for my son and after swapping the stem and handlebars it fit’s him like a glove ( gets it on Wednesday when he turns 9!)

lovewales

My daughter has a 24" Hotrock A1FS. Bought just before her 9th birthday. Even though she fitted a 26" wheel bike they were all a bit too big for her to ride with confidence off road. But would have been ine for fire road riding.

We decided that to go for the smaller bike was a better option and then when she gets a bit bigger we can always chenge stems etc. Plus I also noted that another LBS said they would always buy it off us as they couldn't get decent 2nd hand kids bikes and people were always asking for them.

My other daughter has a Kona Hula 24" and this is a similar spec to the standard hotrock.

The most important thing is to take her to a bike shop with a good selection of kids bikes and let her try them - our lbs were probably sick of the sight of us

As for full face helmets - sorry no idea.

Mike Healey

For what my advice is worth, I believe that going the full face helmet route isn't really necessary.

We've been running a Saturday bike Club for kids since June 98, with pallets, planks, seesaws, ramps etc., had them racing on and off-road and on hard and grass track and haven't had a facial scar yet (fingers crossed). There's also the fact that the additional weight may even help cause an accident.

You may also find that it restricts her field of vision somewhat.

However, she's your daughter and you know her skill level better than me, so it's still your choice.

Hope she enjoys herself, whatever helmet she wears

dnsmiff

My son at Lllandegla.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW6DI7u19lM

He no longer wears it, you can see the helmet smash into the fence, would have hurt a lot more without a full face!!

Does not wear it anymore, but my youngest will wear it round the trails until his skill levels build up.

gavmac

I got my eight year old son a 2005 full face 661 from CRC for peanuts for Christmas which he loves and looks a good piece of kit. I'd recommend them. He prefers it to his XC type helmet. He also has a Specialized Hotrock which is an excellent little bike if a little pricey. It was a little big for him at first and I'm planning to pass it on to his sister so I thought the extra was worth it. The Edinburgh bicycle equivalent bikes look as good and better value but were not available when he got his. I think they deliver to anywhere in the UK and the quality is always good.