If your child has successfully overcome the crawling period and explored all the surfaces in your home, having mastered the skill of walking upright, which is distinctive for Homo Sapiens, then it’s time to think about more efficient ways of moving. It is likely that your child himself, pleadingly raising his hands and looking plaintively into your eyes, will say the cherished: “Can I have a bike?”. If you are a responsible and loving parent, you will have to answer affirmatively and get on the Internet to the sites of sporting goods stores to “take a closer look”. And then the agony of choice will begin. How to choose a bike for a child? We will cover the questions in ascending order of the age of the child.
Starting option: children’s tricycles
It is worth buying a child from three to five years old, if only because it looks very fun. It’s hard to fall off a bike like this, but don’t underestimate kids’ chances of falling for no reason, so keep an eye out. It may not seem so to you, but a children’s sports bike at the age of three is a three-wheeled friend. These bikes are extremely loved by speech therapists and child psychologists:
- Develops gross motor skills;
- Develops the skill of balance;
- There is a development of speech and creative activity.
The human brain is peculiar – the parts responsible for motor skills are close to the speech center. If a three-wheeled horse is bought as a children’s bike for a girl, be sure to choose one with a fun basket at the helm. So, you do not have to carry your favourite baby doll in your hands.
Children’s four-wheel bicycle
Four-wheeled bicycles today are not only a standard option: we are familiar with a bicycle with two side safety wheels for balance training. These are also real velomobiles: full-fledged 4 wheels and a high seat with a back. This option has 2 advantages: firstly, it is extremely difficult to fall from such a velomobile, and secondly, you can quit training balance at all, the velomobile does not require this. Suitable for the little ones.
The standard version with safety wheels are children’s bikes for 4-6 years. The market offers many options, children’s bikes for a girl or a boy for every taste, but we conjure: pay attention to the shape of the handles on the steering wheel! It may seem to you that this is far from the most important criterion for selection, because it is so important who made the tires, the degree of damping, the smoothness of the pedals and the height of the steering column. We hasten to assure you: for a beginner, this is not so important, and a paediatric surgeon can curse you for the wrong shape of the handles! If you look at the statistics of injuries received by children with the help of vehicles, splenic rupture from a steering wheel will be the top one. If the handle narrows towards the end or has a straight shape – pass by, when falling forward, such a handle will hit your child in the side with all the force of his weight and it will not end well. But if the handle expands to the edge or has round rubber pads at the ends – welcome paediatric to the family. If you are already unlucky enough to buy a bicycle for a child with a handle shape that is not approved by paediatric surgeons – do not despair: special linings are sold relatively inexpensively in sports stores. Let your child learn to bike with normal injuries: skinned knees and hands, or better yet, pick up protection. And a helmet. Will come in handy.
An important tip: when buying a children’s bike for a child at the age of 5, make sure that it fits for 7-10 years. Prioritize:
- Large seats;
- Adjustable steering wheel;
- A set of patches for wheels;
- Pump;
- Protection kit.
So there is a chance that you will not have to make this purchase every year. On the other hand, if you are a happy owner of a sports child, travel a lot, lead an active lifestyle, have real bike paths in your city and you ride a lot yourself, then you should pay attention to children’s mountain bikes. Of course, they are not adapted for modernization to the height of the child, it is not worth the risk here, and you need to accurately match the bike to the height of the child. In the instructions, the recommended height is always there. The recommended wheel size is 24 inches (0.61 m). The advantage of mountain bikes is that they are suitable not only for gravel serpentines: the small size of the wheels makes them very manoeuvrable in an urban environment, the brakes on such bikes are hydraulic and instantly react to movement. It is worth considering the skills of the child: a mountain sports bike for a boy is not suitable for beginners, they all have a transmission and up to 16 speeds, it will be difficult for a beginner to cope with such a bike.
Teenagers: how to please them with a bike?
If your kid has turned from a cute kitten into a prickly hedgehog, then the question arises before you: how to choose a bike for a teenager? Tip number 1: stop calling his old metal horse great – from now on it is a junior bike. Among sports bikes for teenagers, you should pay attention to 26-inch wheels for children who have not reached a height of 150 cm (that is, for girls), for boys whose height has already exceeded that the mark it is worth looking at adult sports bikes with wheel diameters up to 27 inches (0.69 m).
If the child does not calmly ride a bike to school through the yards, but drives like crazy along the bike paths, then you better look at a teenage road bike. These bikes have a number of differences:
- Shortened frame, which provides a higher fit;
- The speed is higher, there are no low speeds on the transmission at all:
- Low weight, up to 8 kg;
- Lack of depreciation, which is aimed at improving aerodynamics.
For such a bike, significant sports skills are required. Don’t forget the helmet!
And remember, when choosing a good, high-quality and fast bike for your child, you can see how he leaves you for university. So, choose carefully.
You will also be interested in articles about choosing a bike helmet and how mountain bikes differ ordinary bicycles.
