How to Choose the Right Size Kids Bike
When it comes to choosing the right size kids bike, our over-riding advice is 'smaller is better than bigger'. Children learn to ride with greater ease, have more control on the bike and have a lot more fun if they are the master of their domain. So it is best not to stretch them too much. Of course, as a parent, you need to be comfortable the bike will last quite a while too. On that point, the most common reason kids have to move up a size on a normal bike is because of the lack of knee room between the seat and handlebars. This forces you to put up the seat and then your child loses interest or confidence in riding because the centre of gravity is really high and hence the bike becomes even more difficult to ride. On the ByK bikes, this same space is ergonomically correct - a little longer - which is almost like having the next size bike up for this knee space. In the end this means a ByK bike will last longer. My overall advice on size is based not only on Age and Height, but Ability and Personal Confidence. You can check out the ByK Range page for our age and height categorisation of the bikes. But for these last two points - Ability and Personal Confidence - you have to subjectively judge. Another factor is the "hand me down" option. ByK bikes can easily be passed down or sold on. A bike is the right size when your child can:
- Sit on the saddle and rest the balls of both feet on the ground.
- Straddle the top bar with a comfortable clearance and with both feet flat on the ground.
- Reach the handlebars with a slight bend in the arms when sitting on the seat. If there are handbrakes, your child should be able to grasp them and apply enough pressure to stop the bike.