The best 20″ wheel kids bikes

Cycle Sprog is a reader-supported website. When you buy through links on this page we may earn an affiliate commission.

20" wheel bikes tend to mark that transition from a single gear starter bike to a "grown up" bike with gears.

This means when you're buying a 20" wheel kids bikes there's more things to think about than previously.

Don't worry! Here at Cycle Sprog we've been reviewing, writing about and recommending kids bike since 2012 and where here to guide you through the bike buying process.

We've got some top tips to consider before buying your child their next bike, and our list of the very best 20" hybrid (all purpose) kids bikes.

We include options for buying new, buying second hand and renting monthly, so hopefully there's a bike for every child and every budget!

Before you start take a moment to grab your FREE kids bike buying checklist to help you record all the information you need to find the perfect bike for your child. 

Quick picks - Best buys on 20" wheel kids bikes

If you're in a hurry and looking for a 20" wheel hybrid bike (with gears) for your 5, 6 or 7 year old, then here's our quick picks on the three best buys at different price points to suit all budgets.

If you're trying to keep costs down (and who isn't at the moment?) then it's important to buy a bike that's a good price AND built to a decent quality.

Otherwise you're wasting your money on something that won't be safe or enjoyable for your child to ride.

The B'Twin range of 20" wheel bikes which is sold exclusively at Decathlon has options to meet all budgets.

They're great value for money and a proper, rideable bike.  Win win!

Prices: Start at £159 / $259

Buy Now

The Vitus 20 bike is a great choice if you’re looking for a quality bike with a slightly lower price than some of the other leading kids bike brands.

These bikes are lightweight and well specified, making them great fun to ride. Even better they're in the spring sale too!

Discounted from £309.99 to £259.99 / $349.99

Buy Now

Orbea have five different 20" wheel bikes in their range so there's a bike for riding to the park through to one for hurtling down mountain bike trails at top speed.

The good news is most of the range is currently reduced in the Tredz spring sale. And if you sign up for their newsletter they'll also send you an additional £5 off voucher.

Plus they have free shipping and 0% finance available too making now the perfect time to get those wheels ready for summer fun.

RRP: £415 - £639 Discounted prices: £299 - £539

Buy Now

Remove the upfront costs of a top of the range kids bikes - and the stress of buying and selling every time your child grows - with a subscription to Bike Club.

Pay a monthly fee to use a quality bike from their fleet.  Upgrade to a bigger bike with a few clicks.

20" options include the Frog 52 and Frog 55.  Frog Bikes recently replaced both these models with the new Frog 53.

Bike Club have reduced their prices to start at £15.99 per month for a reBike. These have been lent out, returned and fully refurbished making them cheaper than a new bike.

For more information on how the Bike Club works read our detailed guide here.

Subscription price: from £15.99 per month for a Frog 52 reBike and £19.99 for a new Frog 53

Price new: £480 for the Frog 53

Bike Club  Buy New

The Black Mountain HUTTO is a unique "growing" bike that allows the frame to extend.

This can make it a cost effective option as it can replace the need for two bike sizes if your child is at the lower end of the sizing range.

Price: From £499

Buy Now

What makes a good 20" wheel kids bike?

For this article, we’ve focused on good quality, lightweight 20″ wheel hybrids which are a great choice if your child is doing a range of cycling - they'll perform well both riding on tarmac to school and on gravel  and grass the rest of the time.

All the bikes featured have flat handlebars, and a wide range of easy to use gears (i.e. only needing to change gears with one hand) for tackling both flat and hilly terrain.

They’re lightweight (mostly under 10 kg) – so fun for a child to ride – and if looked after properly should be capable of being passed on to a sibling, or sold on to recoup part of the purchase cost.

All gear shifters on the bikes we recommend are suitable for the small hands of a 6 year old, but the general rule (for all bikes, not just kids bikes) is the more expensive the components on the bike, the easier it will be to change gear.

Some bikes use a twist grip on the handlebars to change gear, others use a thumb trigger.  If possible, get your child to try both and see which they find easier to operate. You can always get your local bike shop to swap them over if needed.

What age child is a 20" wheel bike for?

20" wheel bikes vary greatly in their sizing, and some brands even have several frame sizes so there's something for shorter and taller kids ready to move onto their first geared bike.

Some have an inside leg as short as 47cm, although the majority start at about 52cm.

This roughly equates to between the ages of 6 and 7 but some 5 year olds may be ready to move up to this wheel size.

Every 20" wheel kids bike has different geometry (sizing) so we've provided the measurements shared with us by the manufacturer.

Please measure your child carefully and if possible test ride the bike if you're worried it won't fit - don't buy a bike that's too big for them, as they won't enjoy riding it, plus it could be dangerous.

These articles will help you:

The best 20" wheel kids bikes

Here's our selection of the best 20 inch wheel all purpose (hybrid) kids bikes currently available.

We've split them into three price categories - Under £300, £300 to £400 and over £400.   Hopefully there is something for all budgets.

We only ever recommend good quality bikes we'd be happy to recommend to our friends and family, which is why we don't include the very cheap kids bikes that you may see advertised, which aren't built to safe standards and tend to break after a few rides.

We can't list all bike on this page, so if you can't find what you're looking for use our kids bike search from the top of any page.

The best kids 20" wheel bikes for under £300

Be warned that lots of 20" wheel bikes under £300 (not listed here!) are either incredibly heavy (and therefore hard work to ride) or have very complicated gears / suspension.

As this will be your child's first time using gears it's much easier if they only have to worry about using one gear shifter rather than two.

Cheaper bikes tend to have 18 or more gears, and this can get confusing for a 6 or 7 year old to cope with. A bike with between 6 and 8 speeds is easier and has less to go wrong.

Btwin Riverside 20″ 900

The BTwin Riverside 900 is a lightweight aluminium bike at a great price point.

For ages Decathlon’s own brand BTwin kids bikes have been much heavier steel affairs, so we’re really pleased to see that they’re upgrading to aluminium for the frame, fork and chainset. Not only is this lighter (and therefore easier to ride) it’s also much less likely to rust.

The Btwin Riverside 900 with 20″ wheels is a great hybrid bike for ages 6 – 9 years old with a height of 120 – 135cm.

It is available in a grey/green colour and is a lightweight bike that will be great for riding both on tarmac and on the trails.

The specification on the 900 range of BTwin kids bikes includes all the things we’d expect to see at a much higher price.  This means you get things such as easy to use gears, child friendly brakes and shorter cranks for easier pedalling.

BTwin 20″ Riverside 120

The BTwin 20 Riverside 120 is Decathlon’s entry level 20″ wheel geared bike, which offers great value for money.

Weighing in at a very respectable 11.2kg, the bike is considerably lighter than many other bikes in this price range.

The 6 gears are simple to operate using a Microshift twister to help with hill climbing.

The bike is supplied with a front and rear battery operated LED light, which is a great touch.

This bike will be suitable for riding on roads and leisure trails that involve some hills.

If your child isn’t quite ready for gears, or is riding on flat terrain only, then there’s a single speed version of this bike – the Riverside 100 – which is slightly cheaper.

The best kids 20" wheel bikes £250 - £400

If you have over £250 to spend on your child's first geared bike then the choice of brands offering a lightweight bike with easy to use gears increases.  In this price range are a mix of specialist kids bike brands and well established bigger bike brands with well designed junior offerings

Some of these bikes are also available via the Bike Club subscription scheme.

Further reading:  Should I subscribe to Bike Club instead of buying a kids bike?

Cannondale Quick 20

Cannondale is a household name in the bike industry. Established in 1971, they have a long history of quality bike design.

The Quick 20 is Cannondale’s all-rounder offering aimed at kids’ aged 7-12 years old.

The Quick features a lightweight SmartForm C2 alloy frame and fork, a Shimano Tourney 7sp drivetrain and the ever-popular Kenda Small Block 8 tyres.

This setup will be best suited to urban and light off-road use making it great for everyday usage whether it be riding to school or in the park.

Pinnacle Ash 20

The Pinnacle Ash 20 is a kids bike aimed at ages 5 – 8 years old, featuring a lightweight aluminum frame and wheels.

The Ash 20 has child-friendly short-reach brake levers and comfortable rubber grips making is easy for your child to come to a stop. This bike is a good all-rounder, whether your child is riding to school or riding through the park on weekends, Pinnacle has made this bike to handle it all.

As well as being available new, the Pinnacle Ash 20 is a popular secondhand choice and is often available.

Vitus 20

Vitus kids bikes are a great choice if you’re looking for a quality bike with a slightly lower price than some of the other leading kids bike brands.

With a long, slack geometry the Vitus 20 is a stable bike for kids getting used to riding further, using gears and assisting in developing their general riding skills and confidence.

It’s a good option if you’re thinking of trying out some mountain biking (blue graded trails), whilst your child is also wanting to ride regularly on tarmac or grass.

Whilst we’ve not reviewed this particular bike we have reviewed the slightly wider tyred Vitus 20+ and our reviewer loved it!

The Vitus brand is available exclusively online so you don’t find the Vitus 20 at your local bike shop.

The best kids 20" wheel hybrid bikes for over £400

If you have over £400 to spend on your child's first geared bike then there are some premium bikes to choose from.

The majority are from bike brands that specialise in kids bikes (such as Woom and Frog) and this shows in their obsession to detail.

These bikes are built to last, so make good secondhand options, plus if you look after the bike you buy you'll be able to recoup part of the costs when you sell on.

Cube Acid 200 AllRoad

With the Cube Acid 200 AllRoad they’ve taken their base Acid 200 model and added some accessories that are likely to be needed when riding on roads or (if you’re lucky) lovely safe cycle paths.

So with the Cube Acid 200 AllRoad you get dynamo-powered lights, snap-on mudguards and a kickstand, which make this a more versatile choice of bike for children who are going to be riding their bikes to school during the week and want to explore further at the weekends or holidays.

orange and green how to carry your kids by bike advert with a photo of a family on a bike ride

Other 20" wheel bikes

If you can't find the right bike in our recommendations, why not use our kids bike search to really narrow things down?

Under "More Options" you can even narrow down by colour!

There are some 20" wheel bikes that have sadly been discontinued and aren't in our search.

It's worth a quick check on these Ebay links to see if you can bag a second-hand bargain.

Keep up to date with the latest Cycle Sprog articles

Sign up to receive our newsletter straight to your inbox.

Comments

Karen

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Elton – this is great insights. Karen

Hoyt

Hi there, thank you for this very comprehensive list. Very apropos as we’re choosing a new bike for Santa to bring our 6 year old this Christmas. Basically we’re deciding between an Islabikes Beinn and a 2019 EarlyBikes Trail 20. Right now we’re preferring the IslaBikes Beinn 20 because it’s so light and its geometry is tailored for our little one (lower q-factor, smaller diameter grips, easier to squeeze brake handles, etc).

I’m just looking for some perspective on the EarlyBikes Trail 20. Do you know how they compare on geometry?

Come to think of it, any reason you haven’t reviewed earlybikes here? I mean, they are a premier UK children’s brand, right? Our girl has been on their belter 16 for a couple of years and I can’t say enough great about that bike.

Ruta

I have purchased Saracen Mantra R2.0 for my daughter – could’t find any wheight before. But – it is about 8.00 kg without pedals and up to 8,5 kg with them. The stem is very long – I asked to cut down some 5-6cm at the lokal bike store so I can take the seat down as much as possible for my 115cm daughter (otherwise at the lowest position you still have some 8 cm out from the frame till the seat). it is good for longer children but as my daughter felt scary at the beginning with BIG bike, it feel beter with a lower position in the beginning. We moved from Earlyrider Belter to this and it is great bike as well.

Karen

Thanks for that feedback Ruta – I’ll add in the weights to the article. Good tip about the sizing – wondering if a bike shop could also supply a shorter post, so there’s still the benefit of the longer one at the child gets longer. Hope she had great fun riding it. Karen

James

I found your site really useful when researching bikes for my seven-year-old. No mean feat finding the right bike – he’s small for his age, but really wanted to get out on the trails.

We eventually settled on the Orbea MX20 Team. This combined all the features he and we (his parents) wanted. For us, these were:
1. Trigger shifters, rather than twist grip or tourney – because our son found them more intuitive and they enable him to maintain his grip while shifting;
2. V brakes rather than discs – because they’re lighter and easier to maintain, and less of a draw for small fingers;
3. A decent range of gears covering most kinds of riding; and
4. Tyres that are big enough to provide a bit of give when riding trails but are equally good on tarmac.
It is a great bike, my son loves riding it and I’m definitely happy with it!

In case it helps others to choose, I was worried about buying a bike without knowing its eight, so I emailed Orbea prior to making a decision. The response was:

MX20 XC: 10.3kg
MX20 Team: 8.97kg
MX20 Team Disc: 9.55kg
MX20 Park: 9.95kg
MX20 Speed: 9.96kg

Karen

Thanks so much for the feedback James – those weights are really useful to have – it’s strange they don’t make them publicly available. Glad you’re pleased with the bike – here’s to you both having lots of fun times out on the trails together. Karen

Chris

I always use your website as my first place of research when buying a bike for my children. I have just used it for the fourth time to purchase my son a Orbea MX20 Team disc as he has outgrown his Frog 48.
Thanks for the great site ??

Karen

So glad you find the website useful Chris – really appreciate you taking the time to get in touch. Hope your son enjoys his new bike! Karen

Will

Hi,
Our daughter moved from her Cnoc 16 to the Isla Beinn 20 and has loved it for the past few months, especially with mud season now in full swing. Whilst spending hours looking for a replacement to the Cnoc we fell in love with the Cannondale Quick 20 (her sister has the ‘Boys’ 24 in Acid green). The Quick 20 is weighing in at 8.2kg with pedals so is up in the light category and we would have gone for it but were questioning the resale value in 12 months, hence the Isla instead.

Karen

Hi Will – thanks for getting in touch. The Cannondale is a great bike too, isn’t it – we’re finding that there are so many makes and models to choose from now – all with great specifications! At the moment the Islabikes do tend to hold their value well, as they’ve got the brand name plus the excellent quality of the build is proven over years and year. Hope your daughter has loads of fun on the Beinn 20. Karen

Stephen

Hi, after looking at most these bikes pretty much over the last 3 months, i thought it also worth mentioning the Raleigh Performance 20 which comes (or did) in 10 or 11 inch frame and light c.8kg. good geometry and my 6yo son really liked how it felt. Decent components and riser bars which can be usefully asjusted dor fit/growth. Price is also competitive with the range in the article and some deala to be had though not many dealers stocking.

Karen

Thanks for the recommendation Stephen – much appreciated. Karen

Edward Bryan

We’ve just bought our second chartres (the 24 inch) and it’s brilliant. He loved the 20 inch version and cycled miles on it. Halfords will give you a discount for buying another wiggins which was good to discover!

Karen

That’s good to know Ed – thanks for the update. Hope he enjoys the 24″ version as much as the 20″. Will definitely be faster! Karen

Carl

We brought a Wiggins 20 inch Chartres. We are very happy. It’s a good bike. As in VERY good. My little one has done 50m + in the last month.
Its tough, well built and light. Great gear ratios let my little one get a 1m long 5-7.5% hill with no drama. He uses it for his cycle club and off road also. Its a great jack of all trades take it to the park, ride it 15miles, take on a bit of down hill bike.

Karen

Hi Carl – sounds like your Cycle Sprog is getting great use out of the Chartres. Good to hear it’s got the gears to get him up the hills – there’s nothing more dispiriting than having to get off and push! Thanks for the update – and hope he continues to enjoy his cycling – he’s certainly getting the miles in! Karen

Tim Holman

Hello. I registered ages ago and was pleased to hear from you. We bought our three year old grandson a Cnoc16 from Islabikes early last year and he was cycling within seconds having started on a crap balance bike we’d got secondhand. He’s now ready, more than ready for gears and a bike for longer distances, although he has done up to 10k without difficulty on the Islabike, which has been a great buy despite the expense but because of the totally child oriented design and components. So it was great to get your reviews on the 20″ hybrids. We are biased in favour of Islabikes understandably. Have heard that thumb shifters for wee, not so strong fingers can be a problem, which itself points us towards Islabikes because of the twistgrip shift, so any further comment on that would be a help if you are able.
Thanks for the website: it’ll be on my list of favourites.
Tim

Karen

Hi Tim, Thanks for getting in touch – so glad your grandson is enjoying his Cnoc 16. As with anything, the quality of the components makes a huge difference in how easy the bike is to ride. Islabikes use top-end components, so their gears are very easy to use for most children. A bike with a cheaper twist grip will likely be harder to move. Some children prefer thumb shifters – it can be personal preference or what they first learn with. Again a well specified one should be easy to use, although if they have weak to double jointed thumbs then it’s best to stick to a twist grip. Hope he enjoys the move up to the next wheel size. Kind regards Karen

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.