Biking With Kids: Our Favorite Kids Bike Gear

We love going on family bike rides. It feels so relaxing and fun, and everyone loves it! Biking with kids has been a great way to explore both near home as well as on our travels, especially in the RV.

We’ve tried out a number of family bikes and family biking gear over the years, and have some definite favorites. We’ve had our favorite kids bikes for several years and they truly are the very best kids bike 20 we’ve found. Keep reading to hear all about those as well as our other favorite bikes for families!

Best Kids Bike

Our number one favorite kids bike is this one right here. The biggest reason I love it is that it’s the safest kids’ bike around. It has a patented braking system that allows kids to stop faster and helps prevent head-over-handlebar accidents. Especially when our family is riding on unfamiliar paths and trails, often in new destinations, I feel so much better about my kids riding on the safest bikes for kids. We’ve had several versions of this slightly less expensive Schwinn bike and the Guardian kids bike is just head-and-shoulders better.

We gave our 3rd kiddo this best kids bike 20 for his 6th birthday last year and it’s been a dream. Upgrading him to that from his old convertible balance bike was like night and day – he immediately took off and easily and safely keeps up with the family now. They’re amazing and truly the best boys bikes 20 inch and the best first bike for kids. It also has the best kids bike seat. My oldest has had this best bicycle for boys (the 24″ one) for 3 years and it’s still in perfect condition. It’s such a dream!

Finally, the company is a small business inspired by the founder’s grandfather who was in a head-over-handlebar accident. I love what they stand for and the customer service is truly top notch. The bikes get shipped directly to your home and we’ve assembled them in minutes. They even have a 100% money back guarantee if you don’t like it, and even allow you in that case to donate it to a local charity. I truly love supporting companies like that.

If it’s something you do decide to purchase, I’d be so grateful if you used my affiliate link! This post is not sponsored at all; we purchased with our own money and genuinely love our Guardians. Using this link just returns a small percentage of your purchase to me without costing you any extra.

Cute Bike For Girls

My daughter has had this bike for 3 years and it’s absolutely darling. She’s always loved yellow (though there are a number of other colors) and it just suits her so well. We get compliments on it all the time. Such a pretty and sweet bike. We love it with this white basket.

Still, it doesn’t feel nearly as functional as our favorite bike for kids I discussed above. It’s truly intended as a city bike, so it doesn’t have any gears. This is generally fine when biking around our neighborhood, but even on paved pathways in other places, especially in national parks, my daughter sometimes wishes she had gears. We live in a fairly flat area, but it would also be tricker in a place that was more hilly. For that reason, we really prefer this bike as the best bicycle for girls and boys.

Still, there’s no denying how attractive this kids bike is and it’s been one of the best kids bike 16 inch. So if you’re sticking in relatively flat city areas and want a really pretty bike, this is a fantastic choice for a really cute kids bike. I’d definitely recommend it as the best city bike for kids.

Best Kids Balance Bike

We’ve had several kids balance bikes over the years, and they’re by FAR the best way to teach a kid to ride a bike. It just makes it so much easier once they have the balance part down and they usually take off riding easily.

This little kids balance bike works well and has been perfect for our toddlers. However, it’s pretty small and doesn’t grow with kiddos. That’s why this Strider balance bike is the very best kids balance bike for kids in my opinion. It gets small for little ones but also gets tall enough for slightly older preschoolers and young elementary schoolers learning to ride. This kids bike 14 inch makes it easy for preschoolers and elementary kids starting out with a bike. I also love that it converts to a bike with wheels. Having a convertible balance bike helped my kids feel really comfortable making the switch to riding with pedals and they easily made the switch.

Once our kids are riding proficiently, we like to switch them over to the kids 16″ bike from Guardian, which is perfect for young riders alongside our other bikes for families.

Best Kids Bike Trailer

We absolutely love this double bike trailer for kids. It’s so sturdy and fits two kiddos side-by-side. Since we have several kids close in age, we’ve often had two little ones who aren’t yet capable of riding on their own. It’s so nice to be able to pull them in the trailer!

It is also foldable, which is great for storing in the RV, and also converts into a stroller or a jogger. While I personally don’t use it to jog (I’ll take my running without children, thank you!), I know several people who have used it for that purpose and say it works great. The wheels are very smooth while riding, so I’d imagine they’re even more so while running. It also has a 5-point harness buckle on each side.

Best Men’s Bike + Best Women’s Bike when Biking with Kids

For Dan and me, we chose to go with hybrid bikes. While Dan also has a mountain bike for trail riding, for our everyday bikes when riding around the neighborhood or for the best bikes for travel, a hybrid made the most sense. They can handle light trail riding easily but also handle beautifully on paved surfaces. We always hook the kids bike trailer up to Dan’s bike and it works great.

Here are our favorite men’s bike and favorite women’s bike, both from Trek Bikes. They truly have handled fantastically and are incredibly well made. They work great as family bikes! I will say, since I didn’t grow up biking a ton, it took some effort for me to get comfortable heading out on longer distances or on even well-maintained trails. Here are some great tips on getting comfortable with mountain biking for women.

Best Bike Helmets for Kids & Women

Speaking of bikes, helmets are just as (if not more) important. Dan gifted me a Thousand bike helmet recently and I LOVE it. It’s so cute and fits so well.

My older two kids each have this Giro helmet with MIPS protection, which I love. We’ve been really impressed with it – it fits snugly and clearly protects really well and has a really solid construction. I’d highly recommend this helmet for boys or girls who are doing a lot of biking or doing any sort of rugged riding.My 3rd kiddo has a Thousand kids helmet and it is such a cute color and fit with great protection.

Best Bike Rack for Families

We’ve had this 5- bike rack on our minivan for about 3.5 years. It’s worked really well and has comfortably held our bikes so far with 2 adult bikes and 3 kid bikes.

However, with our family expanding and more kiddos being on bikes (and those bikes getting bigger), we knew we needed another solution. We recently purchased this 8- bike rack that holds up to 8 full-sized bikes. It’s a fantastic bike rack for large families that is secure and safe. The old model is currently out of stock but a new and updated version will be released very soon.

Family Biking Accessories When Biking With Kids: Best Family Biking Gear

Of course, there are always a few extras we need when biking with kids.

• Best Bike Inner Tube – we always use this particular bike inner tube because if you get a small puncture, it actually heals itself because of the slime inside. So helpful.
• Bike Tire Lever – these little things are so handy because they help you remove the tread in order to replace the tube if you get a bigger puncture
• U-Lock Bike Lock + Bike Cable – we always use something like this to lock our bikes to make sure they’re very secure
• Longer Bike Cable – we often use a longer cable to be able to lock up two bikes at the same time with one lock – important for family bike gear
• Bike Safety Lights for the Front and Rear
• Kids bike horn or bike bell
• Bike basket
• Bike water bottle holder
• Waterproof bike cover – super important to keep them from rusting, especially when driving (just be sure to tie it down securely). This one generally covers all our bikes when secured on the back of the RV.
• Bike seat cover
• Bike pump – critical for pumping tires
• Helmet mount for the GoPro

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST ABOUT BIKING GEAR FOR KIDS, YOU MIGHT LIKE THESE POSTS TOO:

• Best Kids Hiking Gear
• Outdoor Gear for Kids: Splurge vs. Save
• Best Travel Shoes for Men & Women

NOT READY TO GO BIKING WITH KIDS QUITE YET? PIN THIS POST FOR LATER!