Kids Bike Selection

Warning

If you plan to sign up for lessons with us, we suggest that you DON’T BUY THE BIKE before the first lesson. See the “Why you should delay your purchase” section below to understand why you should hold off buying.

I don’t have time for this -just tell me what to buy!

Book your child in for lessons with us and receive a free professional recommendation based on their ability. -The right size bike, in most cases, will be larger by their third lesson compared to their first.

Bike Considerations

You will need to think about size, weight, types of brakes and even the colour when considering a kids bike.

Size

How it is measured

Kids bikes are traditionally measured by the wheel diameter in inches. They tend to go up by 4″ increments from 12″ to 24″, however in recent time other sizes have come into the market.

Manufacturers have made in-between bike sizes at 14″ and 18″ in recent years. There is nothing wrong with them. -I only avoid them because there is already so much overlap in the traditional sizes. More importantly, I know that I can buy spare tubes and tyres of traditional sizes at every bike shop, but some shops are often out of stock of the in-between sizes.

The bike size to select is based on the height of the rider and their skill level. Do not buy on height alone. -See the “Why you should delay your purchase” section below.

Most bike manufacturers provide a size guide with overlapping height ranges. A manufacturer might have the following (fictional) guide;

Rider Height (cm)	Bike Size (inches)
79 – 99	12″
95 – 121	16″
102 – 139	20″
112 – 156	24″

Notice how a 110cm rider could ride either a 16″ or 20″ bike. Likewise a 120cm rider could ride a 20″ or 24″.

Why you should delay your purchase

As the rider’s skill level increases, so does the bike size. The 110cm rider in the example above may start lessons on a 16″ bike, but as their skills improve they may move on to a 20″ bike. This means they are less likely to outgrow the bike quickly.

Considering that kids bikes can cost between $300 to $700 it makes more sense to learn using our bikes and see what size they move up to as their skills develop.

Weight

Even the best kids bikes are heavy compared to much larger adult bikes. -Better kids bikes are just less heavy than regular kids bikes.

A child typically has a very low power output to begin with. When anxious, a child subconsciously restricts how much power they are prepared to output through their legs.

A bike that is nearly as heavy as an anxious child who has low output power results in a poor power to weight ratio.

The bike they are learning on is usually the heaviest one they will ever ride when compared to their own body mass. Once they know how to ride, their confidence will grow and they will mentally be prepared to use their full power. At that point the weight of the bike is less of an issue.

Avoid buying bikes with unnecessary weight. For example, an older child who is learning on a 20 or 24″ bike should avoid bikes with suspension. The suspension adds weight unnecessarily and provides very little function anyway as the child is typically not heavy enough for the suspension to compress.

A 16″ bike with a doll carrier on the back might look cute, but in reality the carrier and the doll are just adding weight. Additionally the change in centre of gravity makes it harder to learn on. -It’s best to remove the carrier while learning and use it as the reward once they know how to ride without training wheels.

Brakes

Coaster Brakes

Often referred to as “back pedal brakes”, they are effective at stopping safely, but make learning difficult for the following reasons;

• Without the ability to rotate the pedal backwards, setting the position for the pedal when starting is not easy while learning and just adds unnecessary complication and frustration.
• Around 20% of kids get muddled up with the pedalling direction while learning. Accidentally back pedalling stops the bike right at the time when you’re trying to encourage motion.

Hand Actuated Brakes

Caliper Brakes

The majority of kids bikes are produced with the same long-arm caliper brakes from the 70’s and 80’s to keep costs down. These should be avoided.

Caliper brakes tend to require a greater distance to bring the bike to a stop as they are typically the least effective. Kids simply don’t have the hand strength to make them work effectively. They will work fine for an adult parent with strong hands when testing in the bike shop, but the child typically doesn’t have the hand strength to stop effectively.

While learning, kids are not thinking ahead to apply the brakes before they encounter an obstacle. They tend to brake at the last second meaning the brakes need to be more effective. Whereas adults can take into account the distance required to come to a stop. -Kids lose confidence when they apply the brakes, albeit too late, and still end up crashing into the obstacle.

Caliper brakes have a tendency to shudder making the learning experience more stressful.

V-Brakes

In recent years, V-Brakes (from the 90’s) have made their way into a portion of the kids bike market. -We highly recommend these. They don’t require much hand strength to bring a bike to a stop safely.

Colour

It makes sense to buy what makes the child happy. That said, gender neutral colours make it easier to pass a bike down to a younger sibling or a friend of the opposite sex. They also do better in terms of resale value as they are available to double the number of potential bidders. -Yes, it’s better to raise a child that doesn’t care about perceived gender colours, but it’s not always easy to control external influences. Aiming for neutral colours is a safe bet while not perpetuating stereotypes.

Merchant

It might be tempting to try and save a little by buying from a variety store like K-Target, Big-Mart or Aldi-W. Don’t do it! -Their best bikes tend to be much worse than the entry level bike at most bike shops. Variety stores tend to set the bar extremely low because you’re still likely to go back for other cheap items. The same goes for no-name brands on auction sites such as Temazon.

You wouldn’t put your child in the poorest quality shoes, nor should you risk their safety on the poorest quality bikes and helmets.

Your local bike shop can’t afford to risk their reputation selling poor quality bikes. They must stand by their products to remain in business.

Bike Recommendations