|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kids Bikes Reviews
Updated December 2007
Consumer Reports hasn't reported on kid's bikes in nearly four years, but other publications haven't kept up either. We expected to find bike reviews at Parents Magazine or Good Housekeeping, but those magazines have little to offer when it comes to rating kid's bikes. We did find some good buyer's guides, however, at Cookie.com and on the Walmart.com website. The most useful reviews of specific kid's bikes are generated by consumer-review websites, including Amazon.com. In this case, information provided by parents is more useful than anything we found in professional publications. The Schwinn Tiger/Tigress (*est. $115) and the Schwinn Aerostar/Stardust (*est. $150) are two tested kid's bikes that earn points from reviewers, and merit first consideration. But as many bicycle experts point out, the best way to get the right bike for a child is to have that child try out several bikes before making a purchase. It's a tactic which may ruin an element of surprise, but experts say that's the best way to get the sizing right. Experts say that well-established brands are a good place to start. Schwinn and Mongoose make a number of kid's bikes. The kid's divisions of these brands are now part of a company called Pacific Cycle, which has been in the business since 1977. This company makes the majority of kid's bikes these days, and many designs are similar. Huffy has been around since the 1950's. Toys 'R' Us makes its own line of kid's bikes, but experts generally
advise adults to steer clear of bikes found in big-box stores. That's because
big stores tend to sell lower-quality bikes made by big manufacturers; the
higher quality versions are sold via independent dealers. Assembly and construction
is sometimes sketchy for bikes sold at big stores. For example, Harley-Davidson
16-inch BMX bicycles sold at Toy 'R' Us between 2002
and 2005 ended up being recalled because the fork welds on the bikes were
breaking. Also, two 2007 Huffy bike models sold at Kmart -- the 20-inch Huffy
Howler and the Huffy Highlander (*est. $100) -- were recalled because the
bicycle cranks were falling off. In general, bike experts advise parents to
shop at independent bike dealers, because they take time to fit the bike to
your child.
... Continued
Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
Many of these kid's bikes in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers correspond closely with the favorites of parents posting reviews at Amazon.com, the most reliable and comprehensive source that we found. The bikes represented here merit first consideration, but few reviews are thorough enough to be completely conclusive. Advertisement
>> Do you know of a review that we've missed? Click here.
>>  Email
>> 
Yahoo!
Digg
Google
Reddit
del.icio.us
(What's this?)
Kids Bikes Reviews |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
© 2008. ConsumerSearch, Inc. A service from 
, a part of The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.
ConsumerSearch and ConsumerSearch.com are registered trademarks of ConsumerSearch, Inc. Other trademarks or service marks on this site are the property of their respective owners. ConsumerSearch is not sponsored by any source reviewed, and we accept no consideration or payment for including, excluding, or ranking any reviews, products or services in our reports.
* Pricing information is approximate as of the time this report was written and is based on observed market selling prices and/or list prices. Actual selling prices may differ.
