Buying a mountain bike is a great gift idea for a 16 year old. Not only is this age a great age to be out in the fresh air and mountain biking, but it is a great way to give an older teen a hobby that they can enjoy doing and can help to keep them occupied so that they have less time to pick up less desirable hobbies.
A good range of sizes to get a 16 year old a mountain bike is a S size adult mountain bike to a size M adult mountain bike. Taller teens this age might even fit an L size adult mountain bike.
There are a few other things that you want to consider when getting a 16 year old a mountain bike, and there are also a couple of reasons why there is a range here for the right size height to get them. The most important factor to consider is how tall 16 year old is because this will play the largest part on the right height for the mountain bike that will be the most comfortable for them.
How Tall Is The Average 16 Year Old?
There are a few things that can affect the height of a teen who is this age, some of it being a matter of genetics while another thing that can affect the height of a teen is their puberty which controls their growth spurt as well as what gender they are.
Knowing the average height of a 16 year old is something that is very important to know if you are trying to buy one ahead of time or even if you are looking to buy one for a distant family member who does not exactly live close enough to you so that you can measure their height for yourself.
Most of the time by the time that a teen reaches 16 years old they have already nearly reached their adult height that they will stay at, and this is most often but not always around the height that their parents are or somewhere in between if they have parents of two drastically different heights.
When it comes to puberty both boys and girls should have at least mostly finished growing by the time that they reach 16 years old. However, puberty in boys can sometimes not start until around 14 or 15 years old, with the growth spurt not usually starting until two years after that point. This being the case, sometimes this means that a 16 year old boy who is a late bloomer might only be just starting his growth spurt which will mean that he is still going to be shorter that a 16 year old girl who has already finished growing.
Another thing that can affect the height of a 16 year old by indirectly affecting their puberty is if they have been struggling with their health due to either a number of illnesses or injuries. If the body feels that it is being taxed too much then it will delay the beginning of puberty as long as it can. It will in particular delay a teen’s growth spurt so that it does not have to expend itself even more than it already is and so that it can build itself back up first.
On the other hand, if a teen is getting plenty of rest, a good amount of exercise, and is eating well, then they are far more likely to have already come close to the end of their growth spurt if they are getting to be around 16 years old.
The average height for boys of this age is around 68 inches whereas girls are closer to 64 inches most of the time. Most girls will have pretty much finished growing in height at around 15 years of age, with some who started growing early even being fully grown in terms of height at as young as 14 years old.
Height And Mountain Bike Size
One of the things that you will have to decide on that will affect the size of the bike is what size wheel that you should get on the mountain bike. A size S mountain bike will most often come with a 26” wheel but some of them can possibly come with a 27.5” wheel and doing this will make it a little bit taller as well.
A size M mountain bike or bigger stands more chances of coming with 27.5” wheels and these can sometimes even come with the largest 29” wheel size. However, few mountain bikes that are M size or smaller can really pull off a wheel that is that large. One thing that you can do is to get a mountain bike that is a little bit too big and then put a smaller size wheel on it to make it small enough.
If you do choose to do this then when your older teen grows you can put a larger size wheel on their bike to make it a little bit bigger. Doing this will help to prevent them from being as likely to grow out of the mountain bike you get them.
If the 16 year old has mostly done most of their growing then this may prevent them from ever outgrowing the mountain bike that you get them, while at the same time making sure that their mountain bike is not too big for them and something that they have to grow into.
Other Things That You Should Think Of When Getting A Mountain Bike For A 16 Year Old
Another thing that you should think of when buying a mountain bike for a teen this age is how many gears that you want them to have on their bike. A teen this age should be able to easily figure out how to shift the gears even if they don’t have that much experience at actually riding a bike at all.
However, if they have been riding a bike for a while and are already experienced with shifting gears then you can more easily base what to give them in this area based upon how well they do or do not like gears. If they don’t like gears you can off course go with a bike that has few to no gears, while if they like having gears then you can give them more.
Besides the gears there is also the suspensions to think about as well. Most mountain bikes come as hardtail, which is where the mountain bike has suspensions for the front wheel but not on the back.
The second most common option is what is mostly referred to as either full or dual suspensions which both are the same thing and involve suspensions on both the front wheel and the rear wheel. There is a third option too, and this is a rigid bike that has no suspension to it at all.
When choosing between these options you should take two main things into consideration. The first thing is the terrain that you know that they will be riding over. If they will be going over a lot of bumpy things like rock gardens or roots then they will need more suspensions than if they will be going over comparatively smoother trails.
The other thing that you should take into consideration is how well the teen in question does or does not handle a lot of bumps. A boy or a tomboy girl for example is quite possible to be more inclined to rough the bumps out without a dual suspension. However, if they like their comfort or are bruised easily or anything then they will certainly need a dual suspension on their mountain bike.
Finally, if you are getting a 16 year old a mountain bike then you should also consider getting them other things like a helmet and other protection.