horizon wrote:yael: thanks for that but are we still not agreed that there is no essential difference apart from size? The quality issue is nothing to do with cycling, it's to do with attitude (on the part of parents and makers). The cost element doesn't really come into it as there are plenty of parents driving Jaguars and BMWs who are nevertheless unable to buy a good quality child's bike. My impression is that children's bikes are seen as toys, Xmas presents or status objects - they are not designed to be ridden. This says a lot about the state of cycling in the UK but rather less about the essential difference between a child's bike and an adult one.
The size is the major difference, yes. Not just the frame size - it's also the wheels (obvious enough on children's bikes, but for some reason not obvious on, for example, XS hybrids), the cranks, the handlebars, brake levers, saddle, pedals. On a good child's bike, everything is scaled to suit a smaller person.
But there are other things that need to be taken into consideration, and I think they are essential or at least important design features. One thing is the weight. And 0.5kg here or there makes a bigger difference than on an adult's bike. It's obvious.
Then gears - triple on the front can be enough to confuse plenty of adults, so that's probably more so for young children.
Misuse and abuse - children's bikes need to be more durable, because they get chucked about more.
Having said all that, most children, let's face it, don't have a 10-mile commute every day. And only the lucky ones get to go cycle touring at a young age. So for most of them bikes are toys. There's nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that nowadays toy=plastic...
The last thing that is special about children is the fact that they expand quite quickly at times - it means that most parents are not willing to pay the real value of a real bike. It's not inherent for cycling, I agree with you, but I hardly see this attitude with shoes or clothes. That's the main reason in the real world almost all children's bikes are terrible. Then again, what's the difference between adult's clothes and children's clothes? It seems quite elusive on many children I see out and about.
I think that if I had to choose, I'd go with a bike that was made for small adults, or a good bike that was made for children. I understand why the OP wants to have more options, but with most of the other options you need to know more about the pitfalls or spend more money than her budget permits. I think she got quite a lot of advice, and I hope she'll report back on her decision.
