do gender-neutral kids bicycles exist?

In article ,
Frank Nospam wrote:
Hello to MKM. Apologies for posting a non-joke today.

My daughter would like her first bicycle for her birthday this spring.
My wife and I think this is a great idea. We'll probably buy bikes
for ourselves as well. So which one should we choose...

Disney Princess Bike? My Little Pony Bike? Glitter Express?
The Girls Adorable? Is an ORDINARY bicycle too much to ask?

Bleah, really bothers me, poisoning children's minds about gender
differences at an age where physically it shouldn't matter. Also,
the girls bikes all looked about HALF as sturdy as the boy models.
Maybe they're actually just as capable underneath the frills, but
I'd be really leery to let ANYONE ride those bikes on dirt trails.

I'm hoping that this form of evil marketing is confined to toy stores,
and that there are other places where I can buy a good bike for her.
Suggestions?

Definitely go to a real bike shop---one that services bikes as well as
sells them. The bike will be slightly more expensive than the junk
bikes that the department stores sell, but they'll last longer and be
easier to maintain. You will also get help in fitting the bike to the
child, fitting the bike helmet, and other crucial services. The bike
store bikes I've seen have generally been fairly gender neutral, aside
from choice of paint color.



--
Kevin Karplus http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus
life member (LAB, Adventure Cycling, American Youth Hostels)
Effective Cycling Instructor #218-ck (lapsed)
Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz
Undergraduate and Graduate Director, Bioinformatics
Affiliations for identification only.