Bikes For Kids

From balance bike to 24-inch wheels:

children’s bikes are sold by wheel diameter, and each size belongs to a stage. A balance bike has small wheels and no pedals or chain: a toddler scoots along with their feet and learns to lean and steer, which is the hard part of riding, and many who start that way never need training wheels. The 14- and 16-inch bikes are the first with pedals, usually one gear and a steel frame, with training wheels in the box. At 20 inches the road forks between upright bikes for riding round the neighbourhood and BMX bikes with pegs and a rotor that lets the bars spin all the way round. By 24 inches a bike is a smaller adult one, often with gears. A child not ready for pedals can start on one of the scooters for kids, battery ride-ons sit under vehicles and RC, and trampolines and swing sets are in outdoor play.

Fitting a kids’ bike to leg length, not age:

sit the child on the saddle at its lowest setting: on a first pedal bike both feet should reach the ground flat, and on a balance bike they should touch with the knees slightly bent. Buying a size up to grow into backfires on a heavy steel bike, which is harder to steer, stop and pick up after a fall. Weight is the quieter difference. An aluminium bike from Trek or Specialized is noticeably lighter than a budget steel one, and a light bike is one a small child wants to ride. Small bikes usually stop with a coaster brake, worked by pedalling backwards, because small hands struggle to squeeze a lever; hand brakes come in on bigger wheels, though not on every model. Gears matter less than parents expect. The Amador Causeway is flat and a single-speed is all a child needs there, while the hills around Boquete are where gears start earning their weight.

A used 16-inch bike against a new one:

the budget steel bike on the shelf sets the ceiling. New, a 16-inch from a mass-market brand runs about $70 to $110, and a used one in good order should go for around $30 to $50. That discount pays for the tyres, chain and grips the next child will wear through, and for the fact that the same model can still be bought new. Balance bikes hold on to more of their value: there is no chain to rust, and the foam tyres on a Strider cannot puncture, so a clean one loses little beyond its scuffs.

Wheels, brakes and cranks on a used kids’ bike:

lift each wheel and spin it. It should run true past the frame and brake pads without wobbling or rubbing. On a coaster brake, pedal backwards hard and the rear wheel should lock; with hand brakes, squeeze both levers and push the bike forward. Rock a crank sideways, because a knock there means worn bearings in the bottom bracket. Look for rust on the chain and bolts, cracked tyre sidewalls and bent training-wheel brackets, then raise the seat to your child’s height and make sure the minimum-insertion line on the seat post stays hidden inside the frame. A used helmet is better left behind, since there is no telling whether it has already taken a knock.

Listing a bike after the growth spurt:

put the wheel size in the title, because that is how parents search, and it is printed on the tyre sidewall if you are not sure. Add the brand, whether the frame is steel or aluminium, the brake type, whether the training wheels come with it and how tall your child was when it last fitted. Photograph the chain side, both brakes and the tread on each tyre, and say plainly what needs fixing. Suggest the buyer brings the child along to collect it: a quick sit on the saddle in your parking lot settles the size better than any chart.