It’s (almost) never too soon to get your littluns pedaling and, thankfully, things have come a long way since the lumpen steel-tubed kids’ bikes of yesteryear.
These days, balance bikes are the way to go for a first set of wheels, and we’ve added some corkers to our line up.
Early Rider kids’ bikes ooze quality, sophistication and innovation.
Their incredible Spherovelo (£69.99), for kids aged 6 months to 2 years – is like nothing we’ve ever seen. Instead of wheels, these sturdy machines roll on hard-wearing, polyurethane spheres, which encourage young riders to learn about balance, while also being incredibly safe.
Stepping up a gear, Early Rider produce a range of wooden balance bikes, as well as classy-looking rides in brushed metal, finished with faux leather saddles and integrated headsets!
Crafted from super lightweight aluminium, their Alley Runner (£129.99) weighs in at an industry-leading 3.25kg, and the 14-inch aluminium wheels are topped off with real pneumatic tyres – not the leaden, solid plastic you’ll find on el-cheapos.
When the time comes to progress to pedals, we have Early Rider’s Belter, the world’s first belt-driven kids’ bike. (£260). No bike chain means no grease and minimum maintenance! Incredibly, it weighs 5kg less than most kids’ bikes with 16” wheels.
Hopefully, your junior pedallers will stick with cycling long enough to move on to 24”-wheeled bikes – and beyond.
UK brand Genesis are well known for their devotion to steel-framed bikes, but for they’ve gone for lighter aluminium for their Core 24 and 26 children’s bikes. Simplified 1×9 gearing eliminates the faff factor of double and triple chainrings, and makes the set-up lighter, easier to maintain and more resilient. (aka ‘junior proof’!)
Grab a bargain: We’ve slashed the price on the Genesis Core 24 – from £450 to £365, and on the 26 – down from £475 to £395!