Kids Bike

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.

Giant are one of the world’s largest bike manufacturers so it’s not surprising that economies of scale mean they can make a decent kids bike at a reasonable price. However, up until 2019, their kids bike offerings had been rather dated in both design and specification as they’d not kept pace with how quickly the design and specification of quality children’s bikes has progressed recently.

All that changed with the launch of the ARX range.  It’s got all the style, components and quality you want from a lightweight kids bike.

The Giant ARX 20 is the smallest geared offering in the range and is a great all round bike for riding on and off road.

We were very impressed with the bike when we saw it, and our reviewer had a great time riding the Giant ARX 20 to school every day.

You can even get an ARX helmet in a complementary or clashing colour to complete the look!

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.

The Kidvelo Rookie 18 is a popular kids bike for older children aged 5 – 8 years old. Although it is a starter pedal bike in its own right, it does come with a conversion kit to remove the pedals for kids who may want the option to convert to a balance bike if they’re just starting out and need to practice balancing.

The Rookie 18 is also a great choice for children with additional needs who may want to practice balancing before learning to ride with the pedals. So buying the Rookie 18, you’re essentially getting two bikes, for the price of one.

It is also a great option for families with more than one child, or a younger sibling coming along behind, as they may be at different stages and therefore benefit from either the balance mode, or the pedal mode.

We’ve not reviewed this particular bike, but we’ve put the smaller Rookie 12 through its paces and were very impressed with the quality of the bike and the design features.

The Pinnacle Koto 16 is a good value option if you’re looking for a decent 16″ wheel kids bike without the higher price tag of some of the more premium brands.

The aluminium frame with aluminium rims helps to keep this bike reasonably light, meaning it will be much easier for your 4 or 5 year old child to manoeuvre than a 16 inch wheel bike several kilos heavier.

Quality bearings in the hubs, cranks and headset make for a smooth ride.

Whilst the bike comes fitted with stabilisers, you may what to read this article about whether stabilisers are a good idea before deciding whether to fit them.

The Pinnacle Koto 16 makes a good secondhand choice – remember we always recommend buying a good quality used 16″ wheel kids bike bike cheaply, than a cheap, poor quality new bike (which won’t be anywhere as much fun to ride).

It’s unusual to find a lightweight aluminium framed 16″ wheel kids bike at this price point.  B’Twin is the in-house brand for Decathlon, which explains why – they’re such a huge company they have economies of scale that many smaller brands don’t have.  This means they can deliver a great value kids bike at a cheap price.

Until recently Decathlon’s kids bikes were all heavy steel framed affairs, but they’re been upgrading their range and the B’Twin 16 900 is a great example of what they’ve managed to deliver.

The BTwin 16 weighs in at 6.3kg, which is significantly lighter than most cheap 16 inch kids bikes at this price, or lower.