help choosing girls bike- first time using gears

[SusannahM]

My apologies if this has been asked before, I did do a search but couldnt find exactly what I was looking for.

I am looking to get my 11 year old daughter a new bike for Christmas and I am overwhelmed by the information and price difference I have found online. She is quite short at only 134cm tall but I know she will have a growth spurt over the next year and her current 20 inch just looks too small for her.
She doesn't ride a lot and its mainly just suburban streets riding with me but the hills are killing her with no gears so she will probably use this new bike more.
My budget isn't huge $400 max, I would spend more but husband doesn't see the value in spending more than that.
These are the ones I have been considering online, can you let me know what you think? Trying to stay away from department store bikes because after reading this forum I understand how terrible they are.

https://www.costco.com.au/c/Northrock-G ... /p/2465425

https://www.99bikes.com.au/pedal-crush- ... black-fade

https://www.reidcycles.com.au/products/ ... ike-orange

https://ivanhoecycles.com.au/products/2 ... -star-roxy

https://www.anacondastores.com/cycling/ ... G9mrzQY3Gw

https://www.progearbikes.com.au/product ... -bike-blue

[P!N20]

I don't love suspension forks on kids bikes, but I realise that's what most of them have.

Honestly, get the one she likes the colour of, she'll be more likely to ride it. That Malvern Star Roxy looks pretty wild.

Sounds like 24" is the right size, so you're half way there.

Just as an option, I got this one for my daughter a few years back: https://www.99bikes.com.au/merida21-mat ... o_s=gplaau

I know it's a bit more than you wanted to spend, but just for comparison sake.

She's grown out of it now, but it was a good bike. Internal hub gear and coaster brake was a good transition to an 'adult' bike.

[brumby33]

To me, I would pick the Costco bicycle, it's fairly lightweight at 10kg and has 7 speed Shimano mix of gearing but I would also go with the one from 99 bikes for the simple reason, if you have a store near you and something needs adjustment as they do in the first few Months as things stretch etc, then 99 bike would be able to service it.
They would be my first 2 choices for a girls bike, even with growth spurts, they don't seem to shoot up like boys. They say whatever height she is at 5 yrs old, she'd reach twice that height by the time she's adult.
The only problem i see with the Costco bicycle is that there's no way Costco can service them although they will refund but what's the point in that, it's basically a Supermarket/department store bike so that pretty much cuts out the first one so my pick would be the one from 99 bikes. Unless your Hubby is a good bike mechanic, I'd stick with a bike store.

I also like this one and Trek bikes are on a Black Friday Special right now, lifetime warranty, I just bought a Trek Marlin for myself and love it. https://www.trekbikes.com/au/en_AU/bike ... Code=white

cheers

brumby33

[Andy01]

Honestly, the best advice (that keeps coming up in these forums) is to buy the bike that you think she will like (colour, style, gadgets/gimmicks etc), not what you think seems to be the best gearing, best brand, best quality etc.

She probably will grow out of it in a couple/few years anyway, so get what you think she will WANT to ride. I am an engineer, and years ago I bought my daughter a bike that I THOUGHT seemed like a good option. Turned out I liked it a lot more than she did, and as a result she seldom rode it.

[SusannahM]

Thanks for all the advice so far. My daughter had a pedal brand bike for her 20 inch and it comes with a free service in the first year which is pretty good. So maybe you are right ans that is the best option.
I am probably overthinking it a bit.
I have started looking on marketplace to see what's out there and one of the suggestions was the merida j24. It's a 2021 model so a bit older. But only $100, apparently like new condition so I might go and check that out. Good used bikes sell extremely fast I have noticed.