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How to choose kid's bikes?

Eurocycles Kid's Bikes Buying Guide - How to choose a bike for your child?

No childhood is complete without the freedom of cycling adventures and neighbourhood discovery with friends. However, to ensure your little ones get the best first cycling experience and grow their love of riding, you need to get the best size bike for your child. Mastering riding a bike is hard enough without having a bicycle that is either too big or too small. For that reason, we have created the following guide to help you choose the best kid's bike for your child. 

Unlike adult bikes sized according to seat tube length, children's bike sizes are determined by wheel diameter. To determine what size bike you need for your child, you can follow our kid's bike size guide

Measuring your child.

The most important things to look out for when buying a bike for your child are the following:

 

- Can they put the ball of their feet on the floor while sitting on the saddle?

- Can they stand comfortably over the top tube (horizontal bar between the saddle and handlebars)?

 

- Are their arms straight and back leaning slightly forward when you look at them from the side? Children ride in a more upright position. If they are stretching too far or hunched up, the bike might be too long for them. 

 

If you cannot get your child to try the bike before purchase (we do know that bikes make the best Christmas and birthday presents!), all you need is to measure your child's height and check it off against the bike's size chart or use our bike size guide.

 

If your child's bike size doesn't look right after you've given it a test ride, feel free to bring it back to one of our stores, where our bike experts can adjust it for you. If you can't come to us, you can contact us, and we will find the best solution to help you get the best bike fit for your child. 

Boy and girl having fun on their Scott's bikes - Eurocycles Ireland's family bike shop

Bikes for 18 months to 4 Years Old - Balance Bikes and 12" Wheels Bikes

When it comes to teaching your child the core fundamentals of cycling, balance bikes are ideal. With these pedal-less bikes, children learn to balance, improve their coordination and master steering control. Quite often, kids, who learnt to ride on balance bikes, will skip the stabilisers stage giving them more confidence on the road from the get-go. 
Explore our range of balance bikes for toddlers.

If balance bikes are not an option for your little adventurers, then the 12" bikes for kids are a perfect alternative. These single-speed, durable bikes are equipped with wide training wheels for extra stability and come in bright colours and colour-coordinated graphics to inspire any young explorer. 

Bikes for 3 to 5 Years Old - 14" Wheels

14" kids bikes look the part when going out on family adventures. These bikes boast an array of security features to help your little one enjoy any family outings. 
Lightweight and durable, 14" bikes for kids are built with safety in mind. These children's bikes offer great control and confidence while riding thanks to the smaller grips and shorter brake levers accommodating smaller hands. The wide flat pedals and chain guards also add to the safety level of these bikes, allowing you to enjoy family cycles in all tranquillity. 

Bikes for 4 to 6 Years Old - 16"

Durable and lightweight, 16" wheels kids bikes are made of aluminium or steel frame. These 16" bikes are fitted with powerful V-brakes and easy to maintain and use single-speed drivetrain for safe and comfortable rides. Their low-stand over height geometry goes with the safety-focussed design of these bikes. It reduces the risks of your child becoming entangled in the bicycle in case of a crash or fall. This design also makes it easy to hop on and off the bike. With safety in mind, most 16" kids bikes come with chainguards to protect your little one's fingers and feet from accidentally getting caught in the chain. 
Saddles with carry handles are often added to 16" bikes to help the transition from stabilisers to two wheels. 

Bikes for 5 to 8 Years Old - 18" Wheels and 20" Wheels

The 18" and 20" kid's bikes mark a significant step in your kid's cycling life. The 18" and 20" wheel bikes, moving away from the extra safety features of their smaller counterparts, do not come with fully enclosed chainguards and carry handles under the saddles but boast features closer to adult bikes. 
Robust and lightweight, 18" bikes and 20" bikes for kids are the bicycles your little ones will use to start mastering gear shifting. 
Being able to change gears and therefore increase pedalling range, the 18" and 20" bikes allow young boys and girls to explore further and take on more strenuous terrains and hills. These bikes are mostly mountain bikes for kids with knobbly tyres designed for all terrain. 
Bikes for 5 to 8 years old are fitted with either disc brakes (for added braking power) or powerful V-brakes. 
Shop all 18" and 20" kid's bikes now.

Bikes for 7 to 11 - 24" Wheels

When your child is moving onto teenagehood, 24" wheels bikes offer all the benefits of full-size bikes, from frame design to braking systems and transmission. 
24" bikes for older kids are optimized around 24" wheels, and a choice of mountain bikes, hybrid bikes and road bikes becomes available. Every riding style is catered for, and your children can progress into their preferred discipline seamlessly. 
24" MTB, unlike their smaller version, are now fitted with front suspension and equipped with more gears. 
Road bikes for kids come with drop handlebars, lower reach and shorter cranks than adult bikes. 

Bikes for Teenagers and young adults - 26" Wheels

For bigger kids that are not quite ready to jump to an adult's bike, these 26" wheel bikes are an ideal transition. 
26" bicycles are designed like full-sized bikes and offer everything an adult's bike has to offer in a small-scale frame making it the ideal solution for young adults and teenagers.