The First (and last) Bike You’ll Ever Buy for Your Kiddos

If you’re watching this - you’re probably a cyclist. And, there’s a good chance you’re a dad, too. And I’ll go one step further and say you’ve probably been disappointed with what’s generally available for your kids to ride. I mean, sure - there’s no shortage of options from the big box brands, but NONE of those bikes are designed from the ground up for children - they’re really just smaller versions of their adult bikes.

And that’s fine...I guess...but personally, I STRUGGLED to get my eight year old daughter on a bike for years - everything I brought home was either too big or too small, her hands weren’t strong enough to operate the shifters, nor were they big enough to reach the brake levers! And the bikes I got from the name brands were tanks - which made them even harder to ride and do something as simple as just picking it up when she laid it down in the grass by the playground.

Frog’s was founded in the UK by Jerry and Shelley Lawson in 2013. After having an almost identical experience as me, they were so inspired that they left their corporate careers behind to create bikes just for kids.And that’s where Frog Bikes was born.

I pulled this quote from their website, and I think it speaks volumes: “Our bikes are not scaled down adult bikes, as children are not miniature adults. At Frog, we put the child into the centre, and design our bikes around the child’s unique anatomy in order to suit his/her unique needs”.

That means everything from geometry to componentry has been engineered to make a child's journey as comfortable and ENJOYABLE as possible. (remember that, because we’ll come back to it).

More specifically, this means features such as adjustable short throw brake levers, shorter cranks, scaled down handlebars, and an optional handlebar stem add-on provide room for growth

Two other small things that make a HUGE difference are (1) shifters that are 60% easier to shift than stock ‘adult’ shifters and suspension that’s tuned to 60-pound riders, not 160 pound grown ups. These incremental changes add up aup to give your littles an added degree of comfort, fit, and most importantly: confidence (another thing we’ll come back to in a minute).

Frog sent me two bikes: the Road 58 and the Mountain 62. Let’s take a closer look and see how they’re spec’d.

The Frog 58 Road bike has 20 inch wheels and two sets of Kenda tires (for road and gravel), and the lightweight 6061 T6 Aluminum frame has ample clearance for both sets. Smooth, but not grabby stopping power is courtesy of Tektro cantilever brakes. It has a microshift 1x9 drivetrain with short throw shifting, a 32 tooth chainring, an 1132 cassette, and there are auxiliary levers at the tops, if your little one - like mine - isn’t ready to hammer in the drops just yet.

Now...if you know me - you know that there may not be a bigger bike snob….anywhere on earth….than me. So as you can imagine I approached both bikes with a very critical eye. And what I found was nothing short of two fully customized bikes. Seriously - when you back away and take a look at the big picture: these things aren’t unlike a bespoke Pegoretti or Moots - they’re dripping with exclusive components...they’re engineered completely around the rider...they’re tuned for performance...and built to last.

Earlier, I said I’d come back to two things: enjoyment and confidence. When these bikes arrived - neither one of my kids was very stoked because the frogs are just a touch too big for each of them and they were still kinda hooked on their little 16 inch craigslist neighborhood bikes. I wasn’t too worried about my son - he took to the 62 pretty quick and was blasting up and down the street in no time, but my daughter was another story. She’s the oldest, and really didn’t take to the bike until literally a few weeks before the Frogs got here. I mean it - getting her to even ride around the BLOCK was like pulling teeth and she’s got a nice little Trek mountain bike.

I can’t remember exactly how it happened,and I promise I’m not making this up but once we got her set up and got her going on the 58 she. Was. un. Stoppable. When I asked her what was different, she said “dad - it’s SOOOO much easier to ride. And its so fast!” And now, without any cajoling from me or her mom - she wants to ride it every day.

And, that’s frog’s mission. In a nutshell, yes they make bikes but what they REALLY want to make is cyclists. And in my opinion, that’s just not gonna happen on a heavy clunker that’s hard to ride.

Frog's child-centred approach has earned them global accolade; industry awards for innovation and design, an award-winning factory, around 1,800 retailers worldwide and thriving partnerships. If you’d like more information, please contact nainfo@frogbikes.com