Teaching your children to ride a bike and getting them out cycling is one of the great joys of raising a family. With warmer weather and spring holidays coming up, now’s a great time to get them ready to ride.
Keeping children on the right sized bike as they grow is really important for their confidence and safety. It means they’re not scrunched up on a bike that’s too small for them or, on the other extreme, perched up too high to put a foot down easily when they come to a stop.
The right size bike will keep their centre of gravity lower, so they’re more stable and help first time riders to learn more quickly. They’ll be able to pedal further and feel less tired, helping to ensure that they enjoy their riding.
Bike Club says that you need up to eight bikes to keep a child riding the right sized bike up to age 12
(Image credit: Bike Club)
But with children growing so fast, by the time they’re 12, you may have to have bought them up to eight new bikes to keep them riding one that’s the right size, according to Bike Club. It’s a substantial investment, both in cash and in time to research and buy a new bike. Bike Club also reckons that there are up to 12.5 million children’s bikes sitting unused in the UK, because children have grown out of them or just don’t want to ride them anymore.
There’s a better way to keep them riding quality bikes that are the right size for them than buying a string of new, increasingly larger size bikes though: Bike Club offers monthly subscriptions on children’s bikes from £4.49, depending on the bike model.
All Bike Club's bikes come from quality brands like Frog
(Image credit: Bike Club)
For your subscription you’ll get to choose from a range of box-fresh children’s bikes from balance bikes for ages 0 to 4, through first pedal bikes for 3 to 6 year olds up to hybrids, drop bar road bikes and MTBs to suit children from 5 to 14 years old. Bike Club has a handy interactive bike finder to help make sure you’ve got the size right and show you its choice of available bikes.
All the bikes come from top-rated children’s bike specialists, including Frog, Islabikes, Forme, Squish and Strider, who fit parts like short reach brake levers and have narrower pedal spacing to suit young riders. They’re delivered to your door and require minimal assembly before they’re ready to ride.
Refurbish and reuse
There’s even more good news when your child grows out of their bike, as Bike Club will swap your child’s bike for a new, larger one at any time. That means that your child will have a new bike that’s the right size for them and the old one’s not going to be taking up space at home. Just select the new bike you want and Bike Club will arrange collection of your old bike and deliver the new, larger bike at the same time. If you’ve had the bike for 18 months or more you get a free exchange. If you wish to exchange earlier, there is a £19.99 fee.
Returned bikes are refurbished, worn parts replaced and the bike thoroughly safety checked. Members can elect to take a refurbished bike instead of a new one, which lowers the monthly fee and ensures that used bikes don’t go to waste.
If you’ve got a kid’s bike that you’ve bought yourself and that’s sitting around not being used, you can even sell it to Bike Club for cash.
What's better than a box-fresh bike to ride when you grow out of you old one?
(Image credit: Bike Club)
Bike Club is a popular option, with over 40,000 current members. For the parents, it’s a hassle-free service that keeps children on the right sized bike as they grow and Bike Club offers comprehensive support and advice to its members using live chat, e-mail and phone. There’s also comprehensive advice on site on how to set up bikes from each brand and how to adjust saddle height.
As well as its kids’ bike subscription service, Bike Club sells helmets, lights and everything else they’ll need to get riding. There’s even a selection of scooters and adult bikes available to lease so you can ride along too.
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Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.
He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.
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