Buying your child their first bike is a very exciting milestone. You may be asking yourself, how do you know you’re buying the best bike for your child, when should I get them the bike and what size would they want?
Dad of one, Micky, recently bought his son Archie his first bike and we asked him to share his top advice.
Micky’s story
My wife and I are avid mountain bikers, so we always knew that Archie would be rolling on two wheels. We were excited to get Archie his first bike, and we knew we wanted to get him a balance bike. What is one of these? A balance bike has no pedals and the child will sit on the saddle, scoot along, and balance. From our reading, we found that balance is the hardest part of learning to ride, so a balance bike provides a great platform for them to learn on and transferring to a pedal bike later on is easier.
A balance bike is propelled and stopped by your child's feet, rather than a drivetrain (with pedals and chain). The idea is that a balance bike will teach them the core fundamentals of balance, coordination and steering control.
There are lots of products in the market, but we decided to go for a Frog Tadpole Mini (the Frog Balance bike). There were a few things that jumped out at me; the quality, the weight of the bike and the fact I could go in-store and see them.
Getting their measurements
The biggest misconception I had was that I should buy a bike that he could 'grow into', but this actually makes it a harder ride and makes it more difficult to balance.
In contrast to many kid’s bikes, Frog bikes are sized by leg length rather than age, as this is the most reliable way of getting the right size of bike for each child.
The Frog Tadpole Balance Bike range has three wheel sizes that vary from 10″ to 14″, so every little one is covered.
Even with a toddler getting a measurement of his inside leg was very easy:
The best thing was being able to see the bike in person, put Archie on it and see if he could comfortably stand over the bike with both feet flat on the ground, and comfortably reach the handlebars when sitting. Don’t worry – Frog Bikes have long seat posts, so the saddle can be raised a long way as the rider grows.
Five things to look out for
Here are the five key things we looked for when buying Archie’s first bike.
Once you’ve got all the technical bits down, it is time to get into the look! It's not top of the list, but if the bike looks good, your child is going to like it more and want to ride it more. Frog Bikes have some pretty awesome colours, so we went with Archie’s favourite… yellow!
Looking after the bike
As with any new purchase, be sure to check the warranty. Check what it covers, for how long and what you have to do to replace it if required. Frog Bikes offers a standard warranty which is for 2 years on all frames, forks, parts and paintwork.
There are some simple things you can do to improve the function and longevity of a kids’ bike…
Once you have purchased the perfect balance bike, it’s time to think about the essential accessories to accompany it.
