Good bikes for children

[Cyclist33]

That's because if you're an adult and part with that sort of cash, you (I hope) know you will reap the benefits/justify it. If you blow a few hundred to project your own cycling onto your kid and they ride it once and then forget about it, that's up to you, but I would save my money and introduce the kid to a few different influences and then invest in what they want and are willing to put the effort into... once they know what that is.

 

[MitchMan]

My son started off with a BMW kids bike - starts off as a balance bike and can be turned into a full pedal bike which is great.

MitchMan

 

[Justinslow]

We got our daughter a "Terrain Vesuvius" from Tesco
http://www.tesco.com/direct/terrain-vesuvius-20-dual-suspension-kids-bike/211-1238.prd
It was reduced to £50 in store and required minimal setup - a great buy and our daughter loves it! It's worth keeping an eye out for price reductions.

 

[noodle]

I'll echo your recommendation for walking bikes, and progression to islabikes.

Ted started on a generic balance bike when he was coming up two. He didn't really get on with it at first, but we left it with him and he soon started tearing around the house on it. We had a sweet spot about 3 months after his second birthday, where he could ride on the bike at adults walking pace. We took him to the shops most days on it. Having learnt how to navigate doorways and the cat, his low speed control was pretty much perfect.

Towards the end of summer, we couldn't keep up on foot. I'd chase him to the local park on Panzerfiets. Ted is two and a half in the video below.

For his third birthday, we bought him an Islabike. Although he could balance on it from the outset, it took him 3 months to accept that pedalling might be faster than running astride it. After playing on a tricycle at the local dads club, Ted said "take me home" and mimed a pedalling motion all the way back with his hands. When we got home, I took the video below. His first time. 3 years, 3 months.

That evening, he put in a mile and half tour of local friends. He logged over 300 miles with me by the time the summer drew to a close (most of them are tagged in my mycycling log account!). His balance bike has gone to another cyclechatter.

Now his younger sister (Darcey) has a balance bike of her own. This is her at 17 months.

I'd offer the following tips, that are less to do with "which bike" and more to do with making a success of whatever you choose.

• Ride with them, and let them see you ride. They want to copy you.
• Try to avoid using the car for local trips. When we integrated cycling into our daily routine, both kids really began to pick things up quickly.
• Resist the pull of stabilisers. There are kids in my street who are still on stabilisers, and are coming up 6.

Andy.

guilty as charged i cant get my little boy off them he is coming up to six

any ideas when i take the stabilisers off he wont use his bike so back on they go just to keep him interested HELP

 

[Specialeyes]

guilty as charged i cant get my little boy off them he is coming up to six

any ideas when i take the stabilisers off he wont use his bike so back on they go just to keep him interested HELP

Does he have a scooter? My daughter twigged riding without the previously-clung-to stabilisers really quickly once she'd learned her balance on a scooter. A few minutes of 'astronaut steps' with the pedals removed and, importantly, learning how to stop safely to build her confidence, then back on with the pedals and she was away.

 

[noodle]

Does he have a scooter? My daughter twigged riding without the previously-clung-to stabilisers really quickly once she'd learned her balance on a scooter. A few minutes of 'astronaut steps' with the pedals removed and, importantly, learning how to stop safely to build her confidence, then back on with the pedals and she was away.

yes he does we have tried pointing out how easy and quickly he can get around on it

i may make him a balance bike in a larger size and throw him down a few grassy hills

 

[Justinslow]

We just ran beside our kids lightly holding the seat or back of their coat etc, they soon got it but it takes time. I then continued to walk /run next to them for a while to prevent crashes!

 

[ianrauk]

guilty as charged i cant get my little boy off them he is coming up to six

any ideas when i take the stabilisers off he wont use his bike so back on they go just to keep him interested HELP

It's simple. Just take the stabilisers off the bike and tell him he's a big boy now and only babies have stabilisers. If he doesn't want to ride then so be it. Let it be his choice when he want's to try. Force him and he won't want to. Let him learn in his own time. Kids need to get used to it in their head before they actually try.

 

[summerdays]

It's simple. Just take the stabilisers off the bike and tell him he's a big boy now and only babies have stabilisers. If he doesn't want to ride then so be it. Let it be his choice when he want's to try. Force him and he won't want to. Let him learn in his own time. Kids need to get used to it in their head before they actually try.

Depends on the child ... with my neice (aged 8), I told her we weren't going to try that day, as I didn't think she was ready, but I wanted to check on whether she had grown tall enough to try. (That was enough to get her to give it a go to prove me wrong!) But that is a case of she is very stubborn, and wanted to get the better of her aunt, and it wouldn't work with all children.

 

[noodle]

Wouldn't work with him tbh. Well that should be it doesn't work with him

 

[HOU5EY]

My boy had a balance bike when he was two, soon mastered it. Bought him a proper bike from halfords and he was on the stableisers for two weeks, soon as I took them off having the balance was a matter of days before he was confident. He now rides to school every day since he started age 4. Problem is he's out growing his bike. Need an all weather age 4 - 6 bike that's actually good for commuting, luckily we have cycle paths right the way to his school.

 

[3narf]

I noticed that. People up north are a bit too tight savvy to spend an extra £100 for 'philosophy.'

Of course, we live in Cirencester now so we're posh! My daughter now has an Islabike...

 

[Karlt]

No mention of Scott either, surprising. Or are they just too expensive? It does make me laugh Adults are willing to part with thousands for their steeds, yet not a few hundred for their little darlings.

I think you'll find that most of us who are unwilling to spend hundreds on kids bikes also don't spend thousands on our own; mine's a £300 Triban SE 520 from Decathlon. Certainly looking around our bike club it's the people with the expensive bling for themselves who have the Islabikes and whatnot for the kids.

The reason for this is simple - there's more to life than cycling for us. There's climbing, fell walking, swimming, scrambling, board games (these we take quite seriously; lots of board games and I'm still a diehard pen and paper RPGer), music, arts and crafts. These all cost money. For the Bianchi Bling crowd, who live and breathe bikes, they choose to channel all their leisure money into bikes, for themselves and for the kids. If I didn't buy games, take the kids into the Lakes for walking and scrambling, pay for climbing clubs, swimming lessons and music lessons, sure I could spend hundreds on kids bikes. But I do, so I can't. And you know what? The kids love their bikes. I recently bought a junior road bike for the boys; only the eldest can ride it thus far, £200 reduced. Bit old tech, weighs as much as mine does, but he's having a great time on it. The look on his face as he topped a local climb in 34/28 where he'd previously had 22/28 available, and yet found it easier because road bike geometry, rigid fork and overall lighter bike, was something to see, and I didn't need to spend £6-700 to see it. Sure, he'd be even faster on a bike weighing a kilo less. Perhaps as much as 10 seconds....

 

[Absinthe Minded]

Decathlon sell great kids bikes. We bought one for one of the kids whilst on holiday a couple of years back and it has just been replaced for a 24" wheeled variant.
Well made, well sized and a good standard of component.

No daft suspension forks either, just a good honest kids bike at reasonable money.

Hmm, thank you - just checked them out and they look very good. Much appreciated.

 

[seraphina]

Anecdata:

At my kids' nursery/preschool (it's on a campus so they are always out riding bikes/scooters) all the young kids (ranging from just turned 3 to starting school) riding pedal bikes with no stabilisers are on Islabikes. Even the Ridgeback kids are still using stabilisers. Now, this may be because Islabikes are generally bought by parents who know a bit about cycling and therefore go down the balance/no stabilisers route, but most kids will be hurtling about on balance bikes anyway (the nursery has loads).

Our neighbour has been trying to get their daughter (nearly 6) to ride for ages and was a bit miffed to see MissS (just 3) bombing about the place with no stabilisers. Neighbour's kid has a bog standard Halfords job, complete with stabilisers and a big handle on the back to aid parents holding her upright. It's been a bit fraught with tears on the kid's behalf, but MissS offered her a go on her Islabike last night and within a few mins she was off and cycling. It was a bit small for her but the weight difference was enormous, and the small size seemed to be confidence inspiring. Her parents were amazed!