How to buy your kid the best BMX bike

This is a standard sized, 20 inch BMX bike, the Fit Bikes Corriere model, here in the Block Bikes shop (in Lancaster, CA).  Behind it are two of the balance bikes for the really little tykes, the pink one has 12" wheels, and the blue one 14" wheels.

Your kid wants a BMX bike.  You'd like to him or her set the controller and phone down and get outside and ride.  It's be great for them to get some exercise and some sun.  Now what?

BMX stands for "bicycle motocross," a sport that started in 1970 in Southern California.  Kids back then took their banana seat equipped Schwinn Stingrays and started racing on dirt tracks, mimicking the motocross riders of the time period.  Back then, BMX bikes all had 20 inch wheels, the standard size for children's bikes.  As BMX racing grew, BMX "cruisers," bikes with 24 inch and 26 inch wheels joined the party.  These days, BMX bikes come in a wide variety of sizes, styles, makes, and price ranges.  How do you pick the right bike?  That's what this article will help you figure out.

To get started, let's find the answer to these basic questions:

1. How old is your child?
2. How big is your child?
3. How much are you looking to spend.  BMX bikes range from low quality, $50 balance bikes for toddlers, to over $1,100 for high end, pro rider, signature model bikes.  Well made, solidly built bikes, start from 4130 chromoly (higher grade steel), start at about the $325 to $400 range.
4. How much will your child actually ride the bike?
5. How hard will your child ride the bike?
6. Does your child have a favorite rider or favorite bike company?

Let's go down that list, beginning with age and size:

Toddlers, age 2-4, who can't pedal yet- Balance bikes are today's tiny version of the original "hobby horse" bikes, that go back to at least 1818.  Here's what they looked like.  Actual pedal powered bikes were invented around 1875.

Balance bikes are tiny bikes with handlebars, a seat, usually with 12 inch wheels, but no pedals.  They're for toddlers ages 2 to 4, maybe slightly older for really small children or kids who may still be learning to balance.  On these bikes, kids sit down, hang on to the bars, and "walk" to push themselves along.  According to Dan, manager here at the Block Bikes shop (in Lancaster, CA), balance bikes really help today's toddlers learn the basic balancing necessary on a bike, and most kids are pedaling by ages 3 or 4, never using training wheels at all.  There are a lot to choose from,the seats can be adjusted to the child's height on most bikes.  Prices range from $50 to $225.  We carry the high quality Kink BMX balance bikes here at Block BikesOnline BMX Store.

Toddlers age 2 to 4 who can pedal- For the smaller kids, a 12 inch bike will get them going.  For kids a bit larger and taller, a 14 inch bike will be a better fit.  Click the links to see the Kink BMX bikes we carry here a Block Bikes.

Small children ages 5 to 9- The next size up, for the small children to pedal around, is the 16 inch bike.  If your child wants a BMX bike, it's likely they know who BMX Caiden is.  He's 8 (maybe 9 now), has 129,000 followers on YouTube, and routinely jumps huge jumps.  the kid's amazing.  Caiden rides a custom made 16 inch bike by Fit Bikes.  Here at Block Bikes, the Kink BMX Carve is our most popular 16 inch bike.  It's durable, and should handle all types of riding for the average child.  If your kid starts jumping like Caiden, 1) Start a YouTube channel for them, and 2)get a custom made, 4130 chromoly bike.  That's pretty unlikely, because Caiden's off the charts of the 8-year-old riding spectrum, but are great young riders popping out of the woodwork.

Larger kids ages 7-9 and smaller kids 10 to 12- Back in the olden days, when I was a kid, a few 5-year-olds got 16 inch bikes.  I actually learned to ride without training wheels on one (remember training wheels?).  But we actually started riding on 20 inch bikes when we were 5 or 6, and the bikes were huge for us.  Today's balance bikes and wide range of bike sizes have largely removed the need for training wheels, and kids have 4 bike sizes to choose from before they hit the standard 20 inch wheel BMX bike.

For the kids who really like riding, be it around the neighborhood, maybe competitive BMX racing, riding skateparks, pump tracks, or even dirt jumps, but just aren't quite big enough to really handle a 20 inch, there's the 18 inch bike.  Kink BMX has a great model in this category, the 18 inch Kink Kicker.  Again, 18 inches is the size of the wheels, and each of these bikes is proportioned around the wheel sizes.  This size is the interim bike for a serious rider who needs to grow a bit before they can really throw around and manhandle (or womanhandle) a full size 20 inch bike.

Teen riders- From age 10 or 12, most kids can ride a standard, 20 inch bike.  So the question of "which bike is best?" becomes one of riding habits, quality, and price, more than anything else.

Why bike shops, and all serious riders, hate bargain store bikes.  Yes, you can save a few bucks by buying your child a bike at one of the big discount stores.  As serious riders and a worker at a bike business, we hate those bikes, because they're the lowest common denominator bikes.  They're made as cheap as possible, they're heavier, they're not as strong and prone to breaking with any kind of jumping or skatepark riding, and the components (wheels, cranks, brakes, etc) are of poor quality.  I once had my handlebars snap mid air, not realizing they were not chromoly.  It did not feel good.  I only rode full chromoly bikes after that.  Trust me, that's not a surprise anyone wants.

In addition to that, bargain bikes are pretty close to worthless if you try to resell them later. Higher quality bikes hold a big chunk of their value for many years.  There's a saying among riders, "Friends don't let friends buy bargain store bikes."  Yes, some people are on a super tight budget, and their kid needs a bike to ride down the block now and then, and that's who bargain store bikes are for.  If you're reading this post, you're probably not in that category.

 Is your child going to just use the bike for ride around the neighborhood, or maybe to a nearby school?  If they don't plan on any kind of jumping, skatepark, or ramp riding, a bike from a good quality company, in the $275 to $350 range is your best bet.  These bikes will handle "normal" riding, and jumping off the curb now and then.  The Kink BMX Curb model (around $289), and the Kink BMX Launch model (around $319) are two good bikes in this range.  These bikes have hi-tensile steel frames, chromoly forks, and hi-tensile steel handlebars.  Hi-tensile steel is used widely for many purposes in many industries.  In the bike industry, 4130 chromoly steel, a lighter, stronger (and more expensive) alloy has long been favored for BMX and other bikes that are jumped or ridden really hard.  It simply holds up much better under extreme riding.  For normal riding that most young people do, hi-tensile steel if fine, and saves you $50 or $100 or more.  But once you start jumping, riding ramps, or the local skatepark, chromoly is a much better choice. 

Does your kid want to ride the local skatepark, pump track, dirt jumps, ramps, do street riding, or maybe start racing at a BMX track?  Then you want to step up to a complete 4130 chromoly frame, forks, and handlebars.  These bikes start in at around $380 these days, and you can get a great bike for $400 to $500.  The Kink BMX Whip model is right smack in this sweet spot.  It has 4130 chromoly frame, fork and bars, good quality components (wheels, cranks, pedals, brakes, etc), and runs around $429 at the time of this writing.  If I had a kid who planned to ride quite a bit, this would be my pick.  Yes, there are models that go up in price, but this is a very good quality bike for the money.

Higher priced bikes are usually based around the same quality of bike frame, forks, and handlebars, but the components, the other parts on the bike go up in quality.  Yes, I work for a bike retailer, we'd love to have you put a $750 Kink BMX Williams model on your credit card today.  That's the signature bike for their top pro rider Nathan Williams.  But I'm going to be straight with you, a bike like the Kink Whip would be just fine for nearly any serious rider.  Rather than spending the extra $330 up front, buy the Whip, or a similar bike in the $425 to $475 price range, and see what parts of it, if any, your child damages.  If your kid tacos the back wheel, put the money you saved into stronger wheels.  If your kid bends or snaps the pedals, buy higher quality pedals.  That's a much more sensible approach for the majority of parents buying bikes for your kids who plan to ride often and ride hard. 

Is your kid a serious rider, AND over about 5' 9"?  Most of the bike models, like the Whip I mentioned, have an XL, or slightly longer version.  Here's the Kink BMX Whip XL.  It's got a frame that's a half inch longer up front.  That doesn't sound like much, but it makes a world of difference when you're riding.  That helps the taller kids not bang their knees, while pedaling or in other maneuvers.  In some cases, short kids just prefer a longer bike, as well.

So there's  an in depth look at how to find the perfect BMX bike for your child, whether they're 2 or 17.  There are larger bikes, with wheel sizes of 22," 24," and 26" wheels.  Most of those are aimed at adult riders, like BMX dads who rode in their youth, though there are kids who are into the large bikes.  But that's outside the scope of this blog post.  In the urban Bike Life Movement , (NSFW- language, narrated by my old friend Todd Lyons) for example, doing wheelies on 26 inch BMX cruisers is the thing, but that's a subject for another time.

Here at the Block Bikes Online BMX Store, we carry Kink BMX, Subrosa, S&M Bikes, and Fit Bikes, in the BMX world, and in our physical shop, here in Lancaster, CA (North of L.A.), we carry a full line of mountain bikes and everything else you need, as well.  I focused on linking to the Kink BMX bikes in this post because the 2020 models just came out right before I wrote this.  Have fun, and go ride your bike.

-Steve the Blogger