Road bikes are made with a lightweight frame and aerodynamic seating position. The mountain bikes have sturdy frames and rugged brakes. You can go for hybrid bikes that can be used on roads and on tough terrains. The other models include cruisers, folding and specialty bicycles. If you are looking to upgrade your kiddo’s bike or buying them their first, we have options here too. Choose from tricycles, balance, transitional or pedal bikes.
To help your child have fun and stay safe while on the road, here are a few highly rated and expert-recommended bike options that are in line with guidance we received from our cycling experts. We listed different types of bikes for kids of varying ages and sizes based on our experts’ advice (we go into detail on the types of kids bikes below). We also noted the wheel size, suggested ages and weight of each one based on the bike manufacturers’ recommendations.
It’s available in five colors, including red, blue, green, yellow and purple. While the Huffy Pro Thunder comes in 3rd place, it’s still a decent bike for riding around the neighborhood. We loved how lightweight it was compared to the others. Additionally, its minimum seat height is the smallest of any of the three, so a younger, shorter rider can still touch the ground with his tippy toes. Our 6-year-old tester chose to ride this bike on many occasions and zipped happily up and down the street.
Co-op Cycles also offers a 24-inch version of this mountain bike for older kids and teens. It features a durable and lightweight alloy frame and high-grip tires to handle dirt roads and off-road cycling, Fuji Bikes says. Made from lightweight aluminum, the Woom 4 bike weighs under 20 pounds, making this the lightest option on this list for kids above 6 years old. When shopping for a kids bike, you want to make sure you’re getting a bike that will actually fit your child.
Similar to adult bikes, the wheel size will indicate how big the frame is, explained Alison Dewey, education director with bicycling advocacy organization League of American Bicyclists. Typical wheel sizes for kids’ bikes range between 12 and 24 inches, and the bigger (and often older) your child is, the bigger their bike’s wheels should be. Ideally, a bike should dynacraft bike weigh less than 40% of a child’s weight. (For reference, most adults ride bikes that are no more than 20% of their weight!). Cheaper bikes traditionally have heavy steel frames which make a 40% threshold very difficult to accomplish. All of the bikes we tested were pretty heavy, although it’s not abnormal for kids’ bikes to be about 50% of a child’s weight.
There are so many benefits to riding your bike to work or school. Some people ride for exercise, and it becomes their way of life. I see my neighbor fine-tuning his bike almost every day, and he rides every morning before work. The children in the neighborhood are starting to ride their bikes again which reminds me we need to check the condition of our bikes again. Regretfully, last year we didn’t do a lot of it, and now my boys have outgrown them again. With a longer wheelbase, our testers found the Kent Chaos to be the smoothest ride because they had sufficient room to ride, no crowding of legs!
Teaching your child to ride a bike is one thing, but helping them find the right bike can be an entirely other challenge. To help you get started, we spoke to cycling experts about how to find the right bike for your child and what to consider when it comes to identifying the correct size, weight and type of bike. We also compiled a list of highly rated and expert-recommended options that are in line with their shopping guidance. This may sound silly and obvious, but a kid needs room to ride a bike. Too often super value bikes don’t provide enough space between the handlebars and the bike seat (wheelbase measurement), so a child’s body gets crammed together as a result. It’s uncomfortable, and it makes it much more difficult to pedal efficiently and to control the bike.
Summer biking for the beginner will involve training wheels. Whatever bike you get, make sure the training wheels are strong. The last thing you want to happen is for the training wheels to go out on your child while he or she is biking. That’s a recipe for them never wanting to get on the bike again.