165 bikes match

Small pedal bikes

Looking for your child’s first small pedal bike?

Welcome!   If you’re searching for the best small pedal bike for a child aged 3 to 6 years, you’re in the right place.

At Cycle Sprog, we provide free, independent advice to help you choose a bike your child will love riding. We know how overwhelming it can be with so many options and confusing sizes - especially if it's their first pedal bike.

This guide will direct you to:

  • Our top buyers’ guides and age-specific advice
  • Reviews of 14", 16" and 18" wheel kids bikes with no gears
  • Tips on getting the right size bike and avoiding common mistakes parents make when buying.

We don’t sell bikes, but we may earn a small commission if you buy through some of the links — helping to keep our content free for everyone. Thank you for your support!

Why trust our advice?

We’ve heard from so many parents who say their child just doesn’t like riding their bike. And every time, when we dig a little deeper, we find the same issue:

It’s the bike!

It’s either too big, too heavy, or too advanced - and it knocks their child’s confidence.

That’s why we’re here. A good first pedal bike can help your child:

  • Build confidence and coordination
  • Stay active and healthy
  • Spend more time outdoors (and less on screens!)
  • Learn a lifelong skill they’ll never forget

Let us help you choose a bike your child will be excited to ride - and keep riding.

Is your child ready for their first pedal bike?

If your child is 2 or 3 years old and hasn’t used a balance bike yet, we strongly recommend starting with one before moving on to a pedal bike.

Balance bikes are lighter, cheaper, and more fun — and they help your child develop the core skills needed to pedal confidently later on.

We don’t recommend using stabilisers (training wheels) unless your child has additional needs. Stabilisers can delay learning and make it harder for your child to develop proper balance.

Below, you’ll find useful articles explaining:

  • Why balance bikes work best for this age group
  • How they help kids learn to ride faster
  • What to look for when buying a balance bike

If your child is 4 or older, or has already mastered a balance bike but isn’t pedalling yet, take our quick quiz to find out if they’re ready to ride.

We’ll email you a personalised action plan with top tips to get them pedalling in no time.

Looking for the best pedal bike for a 3 to 6 year old?

If you're choosing a pedal bike for a child aged 3 to 6, our detailed buyers' guides will help you find the right bike based on their age, height, and ability.

Below you'll find our dedicated guides to the best:

Each guide includes:

  • What height child each bike suits
  • Lightweight options to make learning easier and riding fun
  • A wide range of prices – including second-hand bikes to help keep costs down

need more bike buying advice infographic. free download of Cycle Sprog's bike buying guide- dowload now

need more bike buying advice infographic. free download of Cycle Sprog's bike buying guide- dowload now

Advice on buying your child’s first bike

You may be suprised to learn that many small pedal bikes are very poorly made, extremely heavy and really difficult for a young child to ride.

Unfortunately this can lead to your child getting scared or frustrated, and refusing to ride their new bike.

Not only is that a waste of your money, it's also stopping them enjoying a healthy, outdoors activity, away from screens!

In this section you can explore our articles that explain about what to look for in a good child's bike and how to make sure you're choosing the right size bike for your child.

Cycle Sprog’s small pedal bike reviews

At Cycle Sprog we're obsessed with kids bikes! And since we set up in 2013 we've reviewed a LOT of first pedal bikes.

It's very hard for us to pick an absolute favourite, because every child is different and kids bikes vary a lot in cost and style.

What we can tell you is that these are some of the very best first pedal bikes we've tested in 14 inch, 16 inch and 18 inch wheel sizes, and all make excellent choices whether you're buying new or used.

Other things you need to know once you’ve bought your child’s bike

Hopefully you've found the perfect first pedal bike for your child. But you're not done yet! There's a few other things you may want to think about such as cycling gloves, bike helmets and accessories to keep them warm, safe and happy.

At this age it's also difficult for children to ride on road or for long distances, so you may also want to learn how to pull your child's bike behind your bike.

Before you go.....

We'd love for you to explore more of our website, so here's a few articles we think you might find interesting:

Gravel Cycling With Kids

The best family bike rides in the Lake District

Gravel, grit and giggles: riding an ultra with twins in tow

Family holiday in Brittany by bike, train and ferry

Biking safely: How to campaign for safer cycling

We'd also love to keep you updated on all our new inspirational articles and product reviews, so don't forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Comments

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.