Kids deserve cool bikes — and here’s how to find them

Because kids deserve cool bikes. Not just bikes that look cool, but bikes that actually work for small humans. I test kids’ bikes in the real world — with real kids, real rides and, inevitably, a few moments of “please don’t ride into that bush”. I’m looking beyond the marketing claims to find out what really matters when your child is on two wheels.

🚲 Ergonomics

Kids aren’t just miniature adults. Their proportions are different, their strength is different, and their way of controlling a bike is different. So I look closely at things like riding position, reach, handlebar, saddle and overall fit. Because “they’ll grow into it” is not always the brilliant argument some manufacturers seem to think it is.

⚖️ Weight

For a six-year-old, an extra kilo is not an extra kilo. It can be the difference between confidently lifting the bike, controlling it on a hill — or deciding that carrying it home is Dad’s problem.

That’s why I don’t just tell you how much a bike weighs. I also use my TCD Weight Ratio to put that number into perspective: the bike’s weight compared with the child’s weight. Because 8 kg might sound perfectly reasonable on paper. But if your child weighs 20 kg, that bike represents 40% of their body weight. Suddenly, the number means something. You’ll find the TCD Weight Ratio in every test, making it easy to see at a glance just how much bike your child is actually hauling around. No marketing magic, no confusing comparisons — just a simple number that puts bike weight into a kid-sized perspective.

🛡️ Safety

Brakes, control, stability and all those little details that help prevent a small wobble from becoming a big drama. Safety doesn’t have to mean boring, either. Quite the opposite: a bike that gives kids confidence is a bike they’ll want to ride.

So, grab a coffee, have a look through the tests below and find out which bikes make the cut. Kids deserve cool bikes. Let’s find them.