Kids bike - Coaster brak v's caliper brakes

[[AJ]]

Buying my little girl a new bike for her 4th birthday and I've been looking at the Trek Mystic 16. The only thing concerning me is the coaster brake. Now I know people use these all the time in Holland, but are they more intuitive for kids? Would it not be better for her to learn to use regular brakes from this age on something like this Raleigh? Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with their young kids riding with either type of brake.

Urgent help needed. I need to get it ordered!

[Cabinet Enforcer]

Kids tend to find coasters more intuitive than levers, plus the amount of braking force that small hands can generate through plastic levers and nasty pressed steel calipers is very small, so the coaster may well be safer (if its any good that is).

Main thing to watch out for is when she rides a bike without a coaster, the switch to lever brakes can be a bit confuzzling for some young uns

[[AJ]]

Thanks. I've since been looking at the slightly less twinkly Ridgeback. Looks like it has alloy rims and V's.

[Edit] - The only thing putting me off the coaster brake is that knowing my little girl she'll be wanting to fly down banks and slopes and rider over humps etc as well as tootle along the prom. A coaster brake only stops the back wheel which will make the bike skid a lot.

Edited by [AJ] on Thursday 14th August 21:58