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

Former pro Tony Martina and a kid posing next to the new Giant seek, a road race bike for kids.
Test rider on Cube Cubie

Welcome to the universe of kids bikes

I’ll admit it: when I became a dad, I suddenly started looking at kids’ bikes very differently.

Before that, a kids’ bike was… well, a small bike. Put some pedals on it, make it reasonably colourful, and job done. Right? Not quite.
Once you actually ride with your kid, you quickly realise that a bike can be the difference between “Dad, this is awesome!” and “DAD, I’M NEVER RIDING THIS THING AGAIN!”
And that’s why I started looking at kids’ bikes with the same slightly obsessive eye I’ve always used for my own cycling gear.

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.

I check how much the bike actually weighs and, more importantly, what that weight means out on the road or trail.

🛡️ 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.

Scroll to Top