# The Best Kids Bikes for 2021



## tonyride1 (Oct 5, 2005)

No love for the Commencal Meta HT20? That's what I got for my 8-year old and he loves it.


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## shaybeer (May 31, 2010)

Good article with great pointers. However, personally I'm not that big on the hype around the Strider bikes. I had my twins on balance bikes since they were 18 months. One of the bikes was Strider. Second one was Chillafish (gotta love the name) from Costco. While completely made of plastic, the Costco bike had a better geo, more comfortable seat, and inflatable tires, which greatly improve the ride quality. Strider was never my kid's favorite. As a matter of fact, I had to get a seat cushion because the narrow, hard-plastic Strider seat (paired with hard tires) would hurt their bottoms to the point they would refuse to use the bike.

Anyways, the kids switched to 20" and while the choice was not easy, I went with Norco Shred - which I'm surprised was not featured in this article. The bike is well build and very capable. With a 6-speed rear derailleur, disc brakes (front+rear) and front suspension it appears to be a very good choice if you are looking to upgrade.


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## lawgs (Jan 30, 2008)

I cant say enough good things for Cleary Bikes. I had my two year old start on a Gecko and he was riding with me around local paths the second day. At three he was on dirt trails and riding 8-12 miles off road. At four hes now riding his Gecko at local bike parks and learning jumps. Its a solid bike that has a long wheelbase to help with stability and freewheel with hand brakes are awesome. When my son gets on a bike with a coaster brake, he tells me the bike is broken.


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## DPeper (Jan 24, 2013)

A super cool bike is nice and all but the number one thing to having your kid love the sport is to slow down and take time with them at their speed on whatever bike you've got. It took me two or three years of packing trail snacks and hiding toys on the trail the night before to get my girls to finally fall in love with biking. Sometimes it's great, fast and fun and other times we are riding slow and hearing about their challenges. Either way biking is great and since it all adds up, you can't go wrong. Start them early and give them lots of strokes. Same goes for my wife.


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## lee5 (Mar 1, 2020)

i never had training wheels. as a matter of fact I did! I told my father to take them off!!!!! he refused so i leaned hard left and right and bent them so they would not hit the ground! My brothers taught me how to ride their big bike 20" at the age of 3, I could not reach the pedals I had to push one side and wait for the other side to come up so I can push down again . then my father bought me a 12 " bike . I ripped every where with that. at age 6 I was taking 4' drops with it ! good times


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## nothingman76 (Aug 30, 2010)

For me the best bikes for kids are the woombikes. The article mentions woom because of their colour brake levers and also the bike in the first picture it's a woom...


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## James26 (Apr 23, 2020)

Trek and Spec's kids bikes are Walmart grade at best (look how the handlebars are a foot higher than the seat!). Yet no mention of Commencal or Spawn?


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## Brad15 (Apr 24, 2020)

This review has missing a ton of companies, Spawn, Commencal, Prevelo, Lil Shredder, Propain, etc. We love our Spawn Yoji 12, highly recommend the bike. What you really should do is get one of the https://thebikedads.com/ to do the article. They review these most high end kids bikes, highly recommend you check them out.


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## ted10 (Apr 25, 2020)

Not one spawn cycles bike made this list. seriously!?


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## ckim12 (Jan 12, 2010)

Also checkout the Marin Hawk Hill Jr. Comes with 24" wheels but can accept 26" wheels to extend the life of the bike. Dropperpost ready and full air suspension.


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## nobody (Apr 26, 2020)

Disappointing to see brands like woom omitted; they sell THE lightest 14 and 16in pedal bikes... which the article correctly pointed out is the most important factor.

Can't trust reviews if they ONLY include brands which they can get affiliate links from.


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## skoumi (Nov 20, 2012)

The best is Commencal
14" Ramones
20" Meta HT 20


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## mtnfoz (May 8, 2006)

Nice article. Another brand that is focussed on kids is Pello bikes!


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## laksboy (Sep 4, 2007)

Except they come with ridiculously long cranks.


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## BlackPenquinn (Nov 7, 2014)

Got my son an Early Rider. Just fantastic bike. Set it up with Eagle GX, some light bars, my son loves it


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## edj (Mar 31, 2010)

Woom makes exceptional bikes for kids. Lightweight and excellent geometry. Good value. Good all around bike including trails. Excellent customer service. Most of the bikes reviewed here are dogs compared to Woom.


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## brian_canevari (Jun 29, 2020)

This is a great collection, but you didn't include KOKUA Bikes - the very best full suspension balance bike for kids LIKEaBIKE. Whats up!


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## Dave42 (Nov 1, 2020)

Almost all kids bikes in the 16-20 inch wheel size, and most 24's have poor geometry with the seat pole area too high and the head steam too close to the seat making the kids cramped and balance tricky, just look at the photo of the kid on the green bike, his knees are close the the head stem. The only brand that makes the correct geometry is BYK but they are a bit over priced. The Co-OP is probably looks best in that size here.
That Schwinn Skip 3 has truly horrendous geometry !


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## high_desert_mud (Jul 22, 2017)

the at 3yo my son transitioned from balance bike to a woom2. Great platform. At a little over 4 (this year) he was ready for 16" tires. We wanted disc brakes because by this time he was riding easy (but real/adult) mountain bike trails downhill on his own, but his hands were really tired.

Early Rider had the _only_ 16" disc brake kids model in the 12-13lb range; "seeker x16". Hydraulic brakes, well thought out high quality kit; Highly recommend. happens to be a cool belt drive, too, which he loves.


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## svb3tech (4 mo ago)

kids dream MTB carbon race bike for inspiration for 12y-13y boy.
Maybe this post will be helpful for somebody who wants to play with build-up of bike from scratch and be different (definitely go for it!)
jump from 24,5" to 27,5" size carbon frame bike

See how the 13y boy enjoy riding this bike.. look at:
cheap custom carbon china frame bike 27,5" - 8,5kg


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## terrasmak (Jun 14, 2011)

No Marin bikes mentioned, the San Quintin hard tail is a great value


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