Two Great Bikes, Perfect for Boys or Girls

Our family loves cycling together, it’s a great way of bonding while keeping the kids outdoors and active. What’s more cycling together is completely free – once you’ve bought your bikes of course. We try to go for at least a couple of hours every weekend, and regularly cycle to the kids’ tennis lessons and Cubs sessions. But, young children do grow through some bikes fairly quickly, and once they get to a certain age kids become style conscious as well, so picking the right bike can take quite a bit of thought. To give you a helping hand here are two bikes, ideal for boys or girls, that your little one will look great on and love the ride.

Squish 24 – ideal for a first geared bike for boys and girls.

No matter how much your child loves their first (or indeed second) bike – and believe me our seven year old daughter Ella loved her heritage bike – there comes a time when they need to progress to a geared bike, to keep up with you and/or their older siblings on those longer rides.

It’s a difficult decision to make too, as whatever bike you chose will hopefully be used for 3 or more years. My first thought when Ella was old enough was to go with another traditional girly bike but with gears, and I was almost at the point of investing in an Elswick Cherish 20 which looks lovely. Then I thought about seeking some professional advice and was pointed in the direction of Squish Bikes which have great reputation among parents for being lightweight, easy to use and well-proportioned. They’re also much less gender specific and exceptionally high quality. True at £399.99 they’re a fair bit pricier than the Elswick Cherish but I was assured that the extra money was well spent, thanks to the exceptional quality of Squish Bikes and the larger wheels – which would make keeping up with the rest of the family much easier.

So, I was quite excited when the Squish 24 (in Mint Blue) arrived by courier a few days later, almost built but with a few finishing touches like fitting the pedals and wheels required. Not being particularly technically minded I managed to confuse myself putting the front wheel on but a quick call to the helpline (and a few blushes) later the wheel was on and Ella was ready to hit the road.

The first thing that strikes you about the Squish 24, besides the rather cool hybrid look of course, is the exception lightness of the bike. It only weights 8.6kg and seven year old Ella had no trouble whatsoever lifting it completely off the ground.

The Squish 24 is aimed at children 8+ but Ella was able to reach the floor with the seat at its lowest setting, so we were happy that she was ready for it at her size – she’s just short of 130cm tall. After her ten year old brother had test driven it first, we put the Squish 24 into first gear and set her off on the pavement of our street to get her used to the frame and riding style, which was different to her heritage bike. There was some initial anxiety as this style of bike means leaning forward more than a heritage bike, but she soon took to the Squish 24 and within minutes she was also mastering the Shimano Rapidfire gear system and working her way through the eight gears.

Then we were ready to tackle a longer ride, into the countryside near our home. Ella was on fire, where only a week ago she’d been struggling to keep up because of a lack of gears and much smaller wheels than our bikes, now she was able to match our pace without us having to slow right down. Hills that used to mean I was dismounting and pushing her up, now presented no problem whatsoever. She was in heaven. I was particularly pleased with this as Ella has a heart condition that, while stable for now, worries me when she exerts herself too much.

Ella can’t get enough of riding her Squish and whenever I walk the dog in the evening, she wants to come along on it, which is nice and gets her outdoors exercising daily. She’s also well ahead of the pack when she’s riding with kids of her own age thanks to the lightweight frame, larger wheels and gears.

I’m not going to pretend I know much about the specifications on bikes – they can be found on the Squish website – but everything on the bike feels well-made and the larger price tag is money well spent as I imagine it will last Ella well past her tenth birthday.

I would highly recommend the Squish 24 for girls or boys aged 8+, while there are other sizes for younger or older children. For more information visit tgc.bike.

Jet Yoof BMX – The ideal introduction to BMX

Our ten-year-old son Harrison has been riding bikes for six years now and has pretty much gone through the whole range of styles aimed at boys. He already has a fairly good quality mountain bike but, like many boys his age, has an interest in pump tracks and trying to pull off tricks on his bike rather than just going for a leisurely ride.

So, while we were investing in a new bike for Harrison’s sister I thought we’d look at getting Harrison a BMX to develop his interest in a different riding style. Again, I didn’t really know much about BMX bikes, other than the name Mongoose which had been around since even I was a boy. So, I took advice from the world’s biggest BMX store.

Based in Hastings, Source BMX is the world’s largest BMX store and also has the world’s largest underground BMX and skatepark on site. Owned and run by the same pair of BMX enthusiasts since 2003, Source have gone from a local store to an international powerhouse in the BMX market who regularly hold competitions at their park. They also have a really handy BMX buyers guide on their website that guides you through sizes and levels of experience; they encourage you to call or “hit them up” on their website’s chat function too.

After speaking with Source BMX, I was assured that as a ten-year-old beginner the best option for Harrison was a Jet Yoof 20 BMX, which was one of their most competitively priced bikes at £249.99. Reasons suggested for this bike were the fact that it was built specifically for riders that were too large for the children’s version of a BMX but not quite ready for a full size 20-inch wheel BMX. The wheels still being 20-inch but the frame, cranks and bars being slightly smaller and therefore easier to handle for smaller riders. It also looked great, particularly the purple tyres that really stand out on the bike.

A couple of days later the Yoof 20 arrived and we had it together in an hour or so, but with some confusion over why only the rear brake was on the bike and the front brake was still in the box. After a quick chat with Source BMX I was informed that most BMX riders chose only to have the rear brake on their bike or even no brakes at all – to help them perform certain tricks. I certainly wasn’t ready to remove the rear brake and didn’t want to leave Harrison with just the one, so we slipped off the handgrips and fitted the front brake to the bike for peace of mind.

An hour later we were down the local woods and Harrison was doing his best to jump over the bumps, claiming that he was about a metre in the sky as he flew off them. In reality it was about two centimetres – and only his front wheel – but I agreed he was really flying through the air!

The Yoof 20 isn’t the lightest BMX on the market – the frame and forks are made of high tensile steel, and you’d need to pay a fair bit more for a lighter BMX – but it’s light enough for beginners and the specification looks like it’s made of durable components that will be strong enough to take a fair bit of punishment once Harrison is able to jump higher on it. I’m confident enough about this because I’ve re-lived a bit of my youth by jumping around on it myself.

What did take some getting used to for Harrison was the low seat style that comes with a BMX, which isn’t so much about the height but the angle of the seat. All proper BMX bikes have this style seat and it can feel like you’re sliding off the seat until you get used to it, but the advantage of this is that he’s now learned to ride a bike while standing up on the pedals instead of remaining with his bum on the seat all the time. For some reason he never liked doing this on his mountain bike – even on the steepest of hills.

He loves the Yoof 20 and I have to say he looks pretty cool as he rides along on it. I’m certain his classmates agree, and I saw one of his mate’s jaw literally drop when he first saw the Yoof 20!

Tricks wise, Harrison has only really managed jumping over ramps and standing on the frame and seat “surfing” the bike so far, but we’re looking forward to him getting more practice in while the weather is still good. It’s a great looking bike and he’s really happy with it.

For more information on the Jet Yoof 20, or any other BMX, check out sourcebmx.com.

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