Fun? In any case. Discipline? Well, yes. Go out with a few kids with the plan to try out a few bikes and take some photos. "Listen up, everyone!" Where have they gone now? Florian finds it much more exciting to hop over a small off-road step on his mini-fully than to ride boringly straight past the photographer. Seven-year-old Simon has parked his bike and is checking the consistency and depth of a muddy puddle on foot. Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Raphael is exploring the neighbourhood on his new 26-inch bike. And six-year-old Pauline steadfastly refuses to swap her grass-green test bike with Simon, who is supposed to do a few laps on it. Not even an attempt to bribe her with jelly babies helps. In short - the editor and photographer have their hands full keeping the rascals in check.
But one look at the happy faces of the kids is enough to make us laugh along and take the job a little easier. We also learnt the first lesson about how to best deal with children when cycling: fun and games come first. Even if, as active bikers, parents want nothing more than for their children to emulate them with the same sporting vigour. Excessive ambition is definitely out of place.
Lightweight is the trump card for children's bikes
For children to enjoy cycling at all, they need a bike that is tailored to their needs. And it is not enough to simply shrink a bike for adults. This is a challenge that only a few manufacturers take up with any consistency.
You can find these children's bikes in the test:
- Kokua LIKEtoBIKE 20"
- Scott Spark JR 24"
- Trek Skye SL 26"
You will also find a Large market overview of children's bikes below as a free PDF download.
