It’s easy to just write off kids' bikes as a toy.  Chances are if you're reading this, that it’s been a while since you were running around a playground like a maniac at recess with plenty more energy to burn on the weekends.

As an adult, it’s pretty easy to grasp why better quality equipment makes for a better experience.  For a bike that generally means fit, ride quality, efficiency, and weight.  Those are all pretty straightforward to optimize.  A frame that fits works better because you are more comfortable and better able to produce power. A bike that rides better will be more enjoyable than one that is harsh. More efficiency in things like tires, wheels or even the drivetrain means you can go faster or farther with the same energy. And yeah, generally a lighter bike goes faster and rides better because there is the physics of weight but also much of what goes into making a bike lighter often improves ride quality and efficiency as well by way of improvements to the materials used in the frame and parts.  But I digress.  

Kids bikes are no different than adult bikes and writing them off as a “toy” or “for a child” is doing kids a disservice.  If the goal is to get your mini-me as stoked as you on riding the key is equipment that will work for them not against them.  

Over the last 10 years there has been a real change in how kids' bikes are viewed and companies like Pello and Cleary are leading the way. No longer a bike for a “child” these brands and others are designing bikes for “small riders” and taking things with a proper level of gravitas.

My goal with customizing this Clearly Meerkat 24" for my daughter was to see what changes I could make to give her a bike that I myself would want to ride (if I was a much smaller human).

The approach is really no different then what I would take with setting up a bike for an adult.

First and foremost is fit.  I went with the Clearly Meerkat 24" bike because it’s the correct size bike for her.  I liked the low standover height and thinner frame tubes.  Lower standover makes it easier for her to mount and dismount and that means increased confidence.  Thinner tubes means not just lighter but not overly stiff.  An overly stiff frame can actually be less efficient and often less comfortable. Cleary and Pello both design their bikes with this in mind.  

From there I started tweaking things a bit.  The stock build is actually quite good, but when you own a bike shop and like to geek out over upgrades you find ways to justify changes.

I first tackled contact points on the bike.  First up I switched out the stock bars, stem and grips to a lighter bar and matching grips from SDG Components.  SDG has released some really special kid specific parts that drop weight off any bike and offer a slimmer grip area for smaller hands.  

I swapped out the stock pedals for ones from SDG as well.  The Slater series pedals take everything that is great about high quality mountain bike flat pedals and optimizes it for kids.  They retain the light composite boxy and sealed bearings of a high end flat but are slimmed down in size.  They still get metal pins for foot retention but they are wider and shallower.  This allows for increased grip over an all plastic pedal but the pins are not going to scrape up shins the same way a full on trail pedal can if the rider takes a digger or just manages to slip off.  In practice these work exactly as designed.  My kiddo has never slipped a pedal and I can tell watching her that her feet are staying properly planted.

Honestly, I probably could have stopped here, but I’m a bit compulsive. Every bike I ride has wheels I’ve built by hand and I figured I may as well continue this trend. I opted for some lighter weight rims laced to a nicer rear hub and a dynamo front hub that powers a small headlight for extra safety and visibility.

Many of the stock parts are more than adequate, but one thing to consider is that a kid is going to produce quite a bit less power than an adult so any changes that are made to how efficient a bike is can net some real gains.  On any bike the rider position (aerodynamics) and rolling resistance (tires) are the two biggest drags.  Kids are small and cut a smaller frontal area so aerodynamics pretty much take care of themselves, but rolling resistance is easy to overlook. So things like faster rolling tires and lighter wheels are going to mean my daughter can go faster at the same energy output which means we can ride together in an even more enjoyable way.  If she can ride faster we can travel together further which makes for more time together in the saddle.  Win, win.  

I topped it off with a proper bell from Crane and a nice handlebar bag from Aplenglow and the kid has a truly great bike.  I’d be perfectly happy to ride a bike like this because it’s pretty much just a scaled down version of the kind of thing I would build for myself.

The result so far has been some really fun rides together, and hopefully many more to come.

We stock bikes for smaller/ younger people from Kona, Norco, Pello, and Cleary. You check them out over Here.