Best Kids' Bikes (2026): Woom, Prevelo, Guardian, and More

FAQs

How do you size a kids’ bike?

Bikes are expensive. It’s tempting to future-proof your purchase by buying a bike a size or two bigger, so that your kid won’t outgrow it quickly. Do not fall into this trap! Not only is it uncomfortable, it’s unsafe. How would you expect to control a bike that was two sizes too big for you?

Sizing by age range is also risky; for example, my 10-year-old daughter is half the size of some of her peers (sorry, sweetie). To find the correct size, you’ll either have to measure your kid’s height or their minimum inseam length. Children’s bikes are measured by wheel size, so a 12-inch bike refers to a bike with 12-inch wheels, and so forth. When you get the bike, see if your child can stand over the frame with flat feet comfortably on the ground. Make sure your child can get on and off easily and that their hands can reach the brakes and shifters if the bike has them.

What features should I look for?

• Brakes: Most kids start with coaster brakes, also known as pedal brakes. They let you stop by pedaling backward. An older kid might want hand brakes so they can pedal backward like Mom or Dad. Rim brakes are cheaper, but a disc brake will help them stop faster.
• Shifters: Once your child is big enough to comprehend basic physics, an intuitive twist shifter will help them keep up with Mom or an older sibling. I can always hear my 8-year-old’s shifter frantically clicking behind me and his sister on our way to school.
• Suspension: Are you planning on dragging your kid mountain biking with you? Then you might be considering a bike with shocks. However, these will add considerable weight and expense to the bike. Kids are also usually light enough so suspension might not work. If you plan on doing a lot of off-road riding as a family, I would suggest prioritizing bigger wheels and better brakes first.

When should my kid get gears?

From personal experience, kids start wanting gears around 6 years old. This is about the age when their hands are big enough to get around the grip and shift. This is especially relevant if you bike in hilly terrain or as a family—they are really going to want to keep up with you. I recommend twist-grip shifters, like on the Woom, for littler kids.

How much should a kids’ bike cost?

I think around $400 is a reasonable price for a brand-new kids’ bike. Do not get the cheapest brand-new bike at the big box store; I have done this before and ended up carrying tiny bikes to the nearest shop for replacement parts. There is a healthy secondary market for kids’ bikes that children have outgrown. You might want to check Craigslist, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or ask your neighbors.

Should I get training wheels?

If you want to teach your little kid to ride a bike—especially one that’s trying desperately to keep up with an older sibling—it’s very tempting to just screw some training wheels on and figure that you’ll teach them later. It’s even more tempting because you don’t want your kid to get turned off riding bikes altogether.

However, if you’re a child that’s learned to bike with training wheels, it’s very frustrating to have them taken off and learn how to balance from scratch. I highly recommend skipping the training wheels entirely and letting your kid figure out that they can coast on two wheels all on their own. This video is a good summary of the process (although they call the bunny hop the “frog hop,” which I disapprove of, as bunnies are much cuter than frogs). A properly fitted bike also goes a long way to ensuring that your child feels comfortable.