Sizes – WTH?

Let’s talk about bike sizes. Kids bikes are usually measured by wheels size. Once you get beyond 24″ wheels you’re into adult bike territory. With adult bikes you’ll typically be looking at both wheel sizes (26″, 650B, 700C, etc.) and frame sizes (14″, 17″, 54cm, 55cm). To make matters worse, some measurements are in inches, some are in centimeters, and some have arbitrary numbers from the (g)olden days of cycling. The bottom line is to pay attention to what the sales guy is talking about and don’t be afraid to ask!

Growing Like Weeds

You may have noticed we skipped the 24″ wheel size bike and went straight for a 26″. Technically my son’s height is smack-dab in the middle of the 24″ bike range. But after outgrowing his 20″ bike, he began stealing his mom’s 26″ Trek Navigator 2.0. He looks and feels comfortable on it, so why not entertain the idea of getting him a 26″ wheeled bike? I like that idea over buying a 24″ and having him outgrow it in a year.

Many Options

Like I said there are many options out there. Here are several we considered:

• Giant XTC Jr 26+
• Giant ATX 2
• REI Co-op Cycles DRT 1.0
• Trek Wahoo 26
• Jamis XR26

This is not an exhaustive list, they’re just a few that are available near me at the time of writing. If you’re savvy, you may want to do some internet searching and calling around to find out what is available nearby. Visiting a local bike shop for a test ride is paramount.

We landed on the Haro with the step-through design. He could ride this slightly over-sized frame for his height, but he could still get on and off of easily.

Suspension

It doesn’t have a front suspension fork. Ironically there are other Flightline models that do come with a front suspension fork, and they’re cheaper 🤔 I suspect they charge the premium for the Step Thru frame, not the fork. The reason I like a rigid fork is because it’s much lighter.

Frame

The step thru frame is sometimes marketed as a women’s frame, but Haro have wised up with the following marketing message:

Ladies only? Not the Flightline One ST…One of Haro’s most popular models, the FL One also comes in a step-thru frame (all genders welcome). While it is true the majority of these are purchased by women, men with difficulty lifting their leg over a traditional frame may want to jump on an ST.

I wanted it for my son because he’s only 10 right now and having the top bar lowered makes it infinitely easier to get on and off.

I’m not saying it’s the best, but it’s the best for us right now. Do you have any 26″ kid-bike recommendations? Let us know in the comments what it is and why you like it.

Balancing

Kids that don’t yet ride on two wheels should be learning to balance no matter what their age. It’s the single hardest thing to learn on a bike. Why muddle it up with pedals, gears, brakes, and bells?

Marlo got a Strider for her 4th birthday last year. Despite her constant nagging that it didn’t have pedals, she finally warmed up to it. At first she cursed the “wobbly bike” but would still give it the occasional college try because she saw her brother riding on two wheels.

5 months later and she had balancing down-pat. No training wheels, no parent running awkwardly behind hunched over. Just turn ’em loose with no pedals.

If your young/small child is just learning, go straight for the Strider. My daughter is small. At 5 years old she’s still only 30 pounds. But she could always lift and move the Strider with ease. Now with balance mastered, it’s time for pedals.

Pedal Bikes

The other main point that article makes is that most 12″ bikes are heavy. I’m talking more than half the weight of your child heavy. Could you imagine trying to ride (let alone learn to ride) on a bike that weighs 100 pounds?

So I poured over their recommendations. Then I poured over the reviews of their recommendations. I sort-of went against the mediocre reviews on the ByK E-250 and got it. BTW, ByK is pronounced Buy-Kay – glad we got that out-of-the-way 🙂

Why did I choose it? Two reasons:

1. 14″ wheels. It’s just a little bigger than her Strider and she can grow with it.
2. The seat height can be slammed to 15″ – great for shorter kids and amazing considering the 14″ wheels size.

Here’s a comparison shot of the seat height compared to the current seat height of her Strider:

Is it light? Yes – all the bikes recommended from that article are light. Also the crank arms are nicely shaped to stay out of the way when the pedals are removed. I recommend this to any parent with an older child that hasn’t yet learned to balance. Just leave the pedals off until they’re ready.

And about the push handle and training wheels that are included…

Do not, I repeat, do not install or use them. You’re doing yourself and your child a disservice. Take the damn pedals and training wheels off and let them learn to balance on their own! These items are included to placate parents who remember their first terrifying day with the training wheels off. Their parent hunched over with a backache. Forget about it. Those two things are still sitting in the box brand new.

Review Complaints

OK, so why is this thing only 3 stars? It comes down to 2 things:

1. Delivered with a flat tire.

I get it. This is a bummer. Do yourself a favor and order some 14″ tubes right when you buy this bike. This is an odd size so there’s even a chance that your local bike shop won’t carry it unless you special order it.

2. Bad / No Instructions

Also a legitimate complaint. The bike comes with a manual that seemingly covers every type of bike that ByK makes. So you have to figure out, is this a single-speed or a mountain bike because there’s no specific section for the E-250. Yes it’s lame. I was able to quickly work through it because I’ve put together a couple of bikes myself. This bike is rather unique and it could use a model specific manual.

Hopefully ByK figures this out, but it shouldn’t stop you from putting this bike at the top of the list. Take my daughter’s word for it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BicvT91hC7L/

I kept good on my promise, except that it wound up also being his 8th birthday present. We looked at several bike shops and online to see what sort of offerings were out there. Since Jules is 8 years old, I suspect many of the bikes we were looking at were second bikes. As such, many of the 20″ kids bikes have a ridiculous amount of features like suspension that kids don’t need and they make the bike heavier – much heavier!

Since he had been riding for less than a month (we didn’t do any training wheels), I consider this his first bike. We didn’t need any of these extra features – and likely neither does your child. Also, the switch from a coaster brake to hand brakes wouldn’t be an issue as he’d only been on a coaster brake for a few weeks. Some bikes offer both to ease the transition – which might be a consideration if you child has been riding on a coaster brake for a significant amount of time.

My one plea to parents out there is to spend a little extra money on a bike if your child really enjoys riding. It will make their experience (and yours by association) much better. You don’t need to get a $650 internally-geared, belt-drive bike, but instead of spending the normal $80-100 at a big-box store, consider spending around $200 at a bike shop. You’ll get a better product and have a better experience.

We wound up finding the Giant XTC Jr. 20 Lite for $210 at The Hub, my favorite local bike shop.

It was one of the few 20″ kids bikes that offers multiple gears without front suspension.

BTW, I’m annoyed at the fact that kids bikes are measured by wheel size (16″, 20″, 24″) but once you’re on a full size bike it switches to frame size (17″, 19″ – 54cm, 56cm). I don’t think this is going to change anytime soon, just do your homework and be clear with the bike salesperson if you’re specifying frame size or wheel size when shopping 🙂

The gears on the XTC Jr. were a little difficult to change at first. Jules just needed to figure out the best way to grip the handlebar shifter, and buck-up a little bit. The Giant also has a lightweight aluminum frame and a relaxed top tube angle which keeps the stand over height low.

My only complaint is because the top tube is so low, there’s not enough room in the triangle for a normal water bottle cage (nor do they provide mounts to even attempt). Instead the solution was to buy a Topeak handle-bar bottle mount. I raised the stem slightly and attached it there to keep the relatively small handle-bars clutter free.

Jules loves it – it’s his ticket to freedom. He rode to summer school, and we brought it on our trip to Flite Fest. He’s already asking if we can hook up a trailer 😀