The Best Bikes For Three Year Olds (and What to Know Before Purchasing)

Learning how to ride a bike is one of the most exciting parts about childhood. Your son or daughter will be learning a new skill that requires practice and patience, but the payoff is their first true taste of freedom. The biggest factor in how quickly they'll learn is the bike itself.  Age three is a great time to learn. But how do you find the best bike for three year olds? 

Many kid's bikes are heavy, have poor design and make it really tough to learn on. Unfortunately, the bikes you'll find at most stores fall into this category. However, in recent years a handful of brands have stepped up and put the same engineering effort into kid's bikes that we see with adult bikes on the market. The result is a safer, more comfortable bike to learn on. Plus, no training wheels like we learned on as kids (more on that later).

We have tested different techniques and bikes with our kids, consulted with other parents, talked to manufacturers and bike shops and done an exhausting amount of research on the topic. The below article can save you time and effort in navigating the decision of which bike is best for your three year old son or daughter.

Skip to the best bikes for three-year-olds

Understanding how to fit your child with the proper size bike is the most important part about the bike selection process. Quality is important, but sizing is still the most important thing to consider. A bike that's the improper size can discourage your child from learning how to ride or cause injury.

Kid's bikes range from 12-inch wheels all the way to 24-inch wheels for older kids. Most three year olds will need either a 12-inch or 14-inch bike, but as you'll read below, it's more important to consider the height (particularly inseam length) than the age of your child.

Consider the below tips when thinking about the size bike that your child needs:

• Remember kid's bikes aren't sized like adult bikes - Adult bikes are sized based mostly on frame size. You can find small, medium and large frames, and measurments to go with each of those frame sizes. Most adult bikes have wheels that range from 26 inches to 29 inches. Children's bikes are measured based on wheel size and there are a lot more wheel sizes available.

• Consider the size of your child, not their age - You'll see many stores, and even some manufacturers, advertise a bike for a certain aged child. This may be helpful as a general guide, but it's really your child's size that determines the right bike for them, not their age. Even bikes with the same wheel size can vary greatly in seat height, which is why the real important measurment here is your child's inseam.

• Don't buy a bike that they'll grow into - This is an important one, because it can be tempting for many parents. We all know how quickly our kids grow, and they grow out of the things we buy for them quickly as well. It can be tempting to buy a bike that is bigger in size so it lasts and they can get comfortable with it over time. Do not do that with your children's bike - it can cause serious injury, and will make learning much more difficult. It will also discourage them from learning how to ride a bike.

• Helmet sizing is just as important as bike sizing - As you're thinking about the right bike for your child, remember to also put thought into proper helmet and size. First thing's first - make sure you choose a helmet your child likes. Especially at age three, it needs to be something they'll enjoy and look forward to wearing. From a sizing perspective, the helmet needs to fit snugly over their head without too much slip. There should be no more than an inch of space on their forehead that's uncovered. Also make sure the helmet can't slip back on the head to leave their forehead exposed once you have the chinstrap adjusted.

We talked above about how it's your child's inseam, not age, that determines which size bike they need. The inseam is really just their floor to crotch height. Now you need to get their measurment. But how do you do it? There's a trick that will quickly get you there. 

Grab a book and have your child stand with their back and heels against a wall. Slowly slide the book up between their legs until you gently reach the top. Then take a tape measure and determine the length from the floor to the top of the book. That measurment is your child's inseam length! 

Once you've measured your child's inseam you're ready to start considering what size bike they'll need. If your three-year-old is just starting to learn how to ride a bike and this is their very first bike, you should make sure the bike you choose has a seatpost height available that is the exact same as your child's inseam. This will ensure they're comfortable putting both feet on the ground and controlling the bike that way. We also think you should start your child with a balance bike to get used to a bike with both feet on the ground. We'll talk more about that in the next section. 

If your child has already mastered the art of the balance bike (including turning, balancing, braking and general steering) we recommend you choose a bike with an available seatpost height that is 2-3 inches higher than their inseam. This will allow your child to touch the ground with their toes and remain in control, but avoid being too jammed to ride comfortably. 

Quick summary: New riders should be able to put their feet flat on the ground (seatpost height must equal inseam height). As your child becomes more comfortable, you'll want them sitting on their seat with tippy toes touching the ground (seatpost heigh 2-3 inches higher than their inseam). 

If this is your child's first bike, you'll want to think through whether you want to start them on a balance bike or a traditional bike with training wheels. Most of us grew up on training wheels; I know that's how I first started to learn how to ride a bike. However, balance bikes have risen in popularity in recent years - and for good reason.

Age three is a great age to start your child on a balance bike. While it may seem like it's a long way from riding a real bike with pedals, it will develop the right motor skills and avoid bad habits that training wheels build.

We strongly recommend you start your three-year-old on a balance bike instead of training wheels. Here's a few reasons why: 

• A balance bike teaches just that - balance. It's an even better option than a tricycle for early experimentation with a bike. Children can safely start on a balance bike as early as age two.


• Training wheels or a tricycle teaches children bad habits around balance. Your child will become accustomed to being able to lean heavily and rely on the training wheels to support them. This is not a movement that translates to a two-wheeled bike and will cause them frustration when making the transition. Bad habits will need to be unlearned, which can be difficult at any age. This leads to a longer overall learning process and more falls, which may discourage your child from riding their bike.


• Balance bikes will naturally and safely progress your child to a two-wheeled bike. With a balance bike, children naturally learn at their own pace and progress from walking the bike to eventually running with it, using their feet for power. It's very easy to tell once your child is ready to start riding a two-wheeled bike instead of their balance bike. They will naturally start coasting on their balance bike with their feet raised, showing they've developed the proper balance. This skill will make learning how to ride a pedal bike much easier.


• Balance bikes generally fit young children better. Especially if you're looking for a first bike for a two or three-year-old, balance bikes will be much more comfortable for them. Most come in either 12 inch or 14 inch sizes, and will be easier for your young child to maneuver than a lot of the heavy children's bikes out there. This will help them learn steering, braking and balance on a bike they can more easily handle.


• Training wheels get stuck a lot. If you've ever taught a child how to ride a bike with training wheels, you know they get stuck a lot and need a push. Whether it's a crack in the driveway or sidewalk, or the weight of the wheels digging into soft dirt, the contact points of the training wheels find a way to get stuck all the time. Balance bikes teach your child how to navigate this terrain much better.


• Balance bikes will create a fun experience for your child much earlier. You'll be absolutely surprised at how quickly your young child will pick up the balance bike. Before you know it, your child will be scooting along next to you on a walk or even a slow bike ride. The movement comes fairly naturally, and they have confidence with their feet comfortably on the ground. This gives them their first taste at the freedom of riding a bike, making the process of learning a two-wheeler much easier and exciting for them.

Our team has tried a ton of balance bikes and regular two-wheelers with our kids. We're a group of natural testers and gearheads - we love great gear for ourselves and it's no different for our young children. While working on this article, we also asked other parents, friends and even local bike shops for their opinions. We asked how they recommend teaching a child to ride a bike and what bikes they liked for their kids.

We also scoured reviews, testimonials and information on everything reviewed here. Plus we reviewed at a whole lot of other bikes and info that didn't make the cut. The bikes in this article represent the most trusted brands on the market, and the best models they have in their lineup.

When looking at bikes to recommend, here's the criteria we consider:

• Weight - If your child has a tough time maneuvering the bike, it can cause injury or just not be fun for them. And it's really all about having fun learning to ride a bike at the end of the day.


• Manufacturer trust and reputation - We all want to put our young child on a bike that we trust, and oftentimes that comes down to a quality manufacturer that takes pride in their product. We also want to know that they'll back up their product if something goes wrong.


• Quality components - Unfortunately, kid's bikes oftentimes get the short end of the stick with components. Many bikes are built extremely cheap, which results in an overly heavy frame, poor gearing and brakes and a bad experience for the child.


• Design - The look of the bike may be important to your child (and let's be honest, it's a bit important to us parents, too). However, we're more concerned with proper features and ergonomics that will support your child learning to ride a bike. We want to ensure they're riding at the right angle and the design helps them learn more quickly and safely.


• Flexibility - These are young children's bikes, which means the size they need now will be different before you know it. Between seat adjustments and handlebar adjustments, many bikes offer great flexibility. For more info on this, check out the compare table below to see the seat height range for the bikes we reviewed.

What you'll find below is the absolute best of the best for teaching your three-year-old how to ride a bike. Whether you're looking for best value because your child moves on quickly, or you want the best quality so you can pass the bike down to other children - we have you covered.