The best bike for a 6 year old girl

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Choosing the best bike for a 6 year old girl can be confusing, but it's such an important decision.

Is it going to give her a love of cycling for life? Will it be the start of regular exercise, that will reduce her risk of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes?

Will it sow the seeds of adventure, leading to a lifetime of exploration?

Will it one day mean that she’s got an independent form of transport (rather than relying on you)?

There's a variety of things to consider when searching for the best bike for a 6-year-old girl and here at Cycle Sprog we're here to help!

First, we'll look at some important things to consider before parting with your hard-earned cash, and then move on to look at some of the bests bikes available for a 6-year-old girl.

3 things to consider before buying a bike for a 6-year-old girl

1) Can she pedal yet?

Not all 6 year old girls have learnt to pedal, and if that's the case then we recommend getting her started on a balance bike first, before moving onto pedals.

Whilst it's tempting to use stabilisers, we rarely recommend these. Instead you can either buy a large balance bike, or take the pedals off a standard bike to turn it into a balance bike.

Further reading: Does my child need stabilisers?

2) Is the bike safe for her to ride?

6-year-old girls have small hands. They need small brake levers to stop safely. Can she reach the brakes and apply them easily? If it has gears, can she work the gear shifter easily? If not, then don’t buy the bike. Sadly there's a lot of very poorly made bikes available. They're usually really heavy - if you groan when you pick it up, how do you think a 6-year-old girl is going to feel when she’s trying to ride it?

Further reading: Why you shouldn't buy a REALLY cheap new kids bike

3) What type of cycling will she be doing?

As girls grow, so the type of cycling they do will change. Will your 6 year old girl be cycling every day to school? Or riding challenging mountain bike trails at the weekends? Or will she be riding occasionally around the park?

The bike you choose needs to be fit to purpose (and your budget) - we look at some of the best options below.

What size bike does a 6-year-old girl need?

According to the "official" charts, 6-year-old girls range can in height from 106 cm to 129cm.

A girl on the 50th percentile will be 115cm on her 6th birthday and grow to be 122cm by the end of the 12 months.

This means there's not going to be one bike that fits every 6-year-old girl, especially as some will have long legs and others, shorter legs within that range.

When buying a kid's bike it’s important that you get one that is the right size. If it’s too big she won’t be able to ride or brake safely.

The majority of 6-year-old girls will either be on a 16" single-speed bike or moving up to a 20” wheel geared bike, with some very tall girls needing a 24” wheel bike.

There is also an 18" wheel size available for those who are in-between.

Don't be tempted to buy a bike that's too big as she'll struggle to control it safely.

We've tried to help by listing the size measurements for each bike brand below, to help you find the correct sized bike for your 6-year-old.

Further reading: How to easily measure your child for a new bike

Does a 6 year old girl need gears on her bike?

There isn't a correct answer to this, but by the time she reaches 6 years she'll probably be wanting to go faster and further.

Gears can help, especially if you're going to be cycling in areas with hills.

The majority of 20" wheel bikes come with gears so make sure that they're easy to use because if they're not, you're going to receive complaints.

Make sure the gears are simple to understand - you don't need 27 gears at this age - she'll just get confused and not use them, plus they add unnecessary weight to the bike.

There are a few single speed 20" wheel bikes for children who live in very flat areas or aren't yet ready to deal with the complexity of gears.

Smaller 16" and 18" wheel bikes don't usually come with gears.

Best bikes for a 6-year-old girl

In this section, we take a look at some of the bike brands we'd recommend for a 6-year-old girl.

We're mainly considering hybrid (i.e. flat handlebar) style bikes without suspension, which are suitable for riding on paved surfaces, tracks and some technical off-road riding.

We're featuring 20" wheel bikes, but all the brands listed have 16" and 24" wheel offerings if required, and we mention a few of note.

If you've got a very skilled and experienced rider on your hands, she might want to try a drop handlebar road bike or a mountain bike.

However, we tend not to recommend spending your money on specialist bikes at this point, unless she's absolutely certain she's only going to be doing one particular type of cycling.

These posts will help you if this is the case:

Price: £250
Wheel size: 18"
Weight of bike: 5.5kg
Type of bike: balance/pedal
Warranty: Lifetime on frame and fork

If this is the first ever bike for your 6 year old girl, or if she hasn't yet progressed beyond the stabiliser stage, then the Kidvelo Rookie 18 is really worth considering.

It can start out in balance bike mode and then easily have pedals fitted when she's ready to start learning to ride.

This gentle start can make the transition to pedalling very simple and can be done at her own pace.

The bike can also be used purely in pedal mode, if the balance bike option isn't required, as shown in the photo at the top of this article.

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Frog Bikes (from £280)

Cycle Sprog reviewed and recommended bikes.

Frog key data (suitable for most 6 year olds):

Price: £280 - £485
Wheel Size: 16" - 24"
Weight of bikes: 6.75kg - 9.2kg
Types of bike: Hybrid, mountain, road, city.
Warranty: 2 years - extended to 5 years for frame if you register the bike within 28 days of purchase

Frog Bikes have a great range of bikes for 6-year-olds. For those of you who haven't come across this award-winning British bike manufacturer, the bikes are named after the minimum inside leg measurement.

Their 20" wheel model is the Frog 53 and provides a great introduction to riding a bike with gears.

The single chainring at the front keeps things simple, with a child-sized thumb shifter the only thing needed to move through the 8 speeds.

Recently Frog have launched the Frog City (pictured) which is a step through framed bike which is ideal for cycling to school. For more adventurous, off road riding then Frog also have a popular range of mountain bikes.

For smaller 6-year-olds, the single speed 16" wheel version is the Frog 48 (for those with an inside leg of 48cm and over). Frog Bikes come in a wide range of colours and patterns, including pink, spotty, red, orange, blue, union jack, purple and green.

Frog also do a 20" wheel drop handlebar bike (Frog Road 58) for girls wanting to do cyclo-cross or serious road riding, but please remember she will need to be a very competent cyclist to handle this type of bike.

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Black Mountain Bikes (from £449)

Black Mountain Bikes (suitable for most 6-year-olds) key data:

Price: £450 (up to £650 for the hard-tail mountain bike)
Wheel Size: 18" - 20"
Weight of bikes: 8.1kg - 10.1kg
Types of bike: hybrid, mountain bike
Warranty: 2 years - extended to 5 years for frame if you register the bike within 28 days of purchase

The great thing about Black Mountain Bikes is that they grow with your child, meaning you need to buy fewer bikes.

The frame is extendable so once it becomes too small you make a series of adjustments to the connecting points and it increases in size, increasing the life of the bike.

These bikes are also a good choice if your daughter hasn't quite mastered pedalling, as you can buy it in balance bike mode and it will convert to a pedal bike when the time is right.

6-year-old girls will probably be looking to ride the HUTTO - currently the largest size in the Black Mountain Range - which is sized for children 118cm to 134cm or the slightly smaller KAPEL, which is for those 110cm to 128cm in height.

Both these bikes come with gears, plus the Hutto has the option for disc brakes and front suspension too if you're planning some off-road riding.

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Cube Bikes (from £269)

Cycle Sprog recommended brand.

Cube Bikes (suitable for most 6 year olds)key data:

Price: £269 - £449
Wheel Size: 16" - 24"
Weight of bikes: 8kg - 12.2kg
Types of bike: hybrid, mountain
Warranty: Frame 6 years; rest of bike 2 years

Cube Bikes are another brand with a wide range of bikes, so there should be something to suit most 6 year old girls.

They aren't always the lightest, but Cube are renowned for producing good quality bikes that should withstand everything your child throws at it.

Their 20" wheel offerings are called the Cube Kid 200, and there are lots of options to choose from, including this great specification, lightweight (8.8kg) off road bike, the Cube Acid 200 SL, which has 7 gears, great off road tyres and a good range of gears for getting up hills.

Cube also do a step through "Ella" bike for girls who prefer a more continental style city bike with smooth-rolling Kenda tyres, cargo rack, full-length mudguards and dynamo LED lights.

This is a good choice for year-round commuting to school, as it's designed for carrying school books and riding in a skirt whilst keeping dry and being visible to other traffic users.

For much smaller 6-year-olds, Cube's 16" wheel single speed bike is called the Cube Kid 160 and the "girls" version comes in pink/berry, whilst you can get a white and blue unisex version too.

The Cube Kids range has lots of different colour and accessory options, so you may need to spend some time choosing the right bike!

We haven't reviewed the small Cube bikes (yet!) but have been very impressed with the larger Cube Mountain Bikes that our Sprogs have been reviewing.

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Squish bikes (from £269)

Cycle Sprog Reviewed and Recommended bike.

Squish Bikes (suitable for most 6-year-olds) key data:

Price: £250 - £300
Wheel Size: 16" - 24"
Weight of bikes: 6.3kg - 8.63kg
Types of bike: Hybrid
Warranty: Frame and Forks - 3 years; components - 1 year (excluding wear and tear)

There aren't that many 18" wheel bikes available, and the majority are very heavy steel-framed affairs.

One of the few exceptions is the Squish 18, which is a lightweight aluminium framed, single-speed bike, that gives an option for girls who are too big for a 16" wheel bike but not yet ready to move on up to a 20" wheel geared bike.

Islabikes (from £319)

Cycle Sprog reviewed and recommended brand.

Islabike (suitable for most 6 year olds) key data:

Price: £250 - £300
Wheel Size: 16" - 24"
Weight of bikes: 6.1kg - 9kg
Types of bike: hybrid, mountain
Warranty: 5 years on frame and forks and a 2 years on parts

If you've got the budget to spend, every 6 year old girl would love an Islabikes Beinn.

They're the premium kids' bike, with every bit of the bike designed specifically to fit the rider and to give an excellent ride.

Having been the pioneers of quality, lightweight kids bikes for well over a decade, Islabikes continually evolve their range and they now offer a small and large framed Beinn 20, plus a 20" wheel single speed Cnoc, so there should be a bike to fit all 6 year olds.

We've reviewed lots of Islabikes over the years and have always been highly impressed with them.

The bikes come in a stunning range of colours - red, green, pink or teal. There is a thriving second-hand market, as the bikes are so well made they're good for several owners at least!

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Halfords Carrera Bikes

Carrera key data:

Price: £205 - £260
Wheel Size: 16" - 24"
Weight of bikes: 6.8kg and 10kg
Types of bike: Hybrid
Warranty: Frame and Forks - lifetime guarantee - all other parts 1 year

Halfords offer a range of bikes at some very low prices, but you do need to remember the rules of what makes a good kids bike and avoid anything that you struggle to pick up.

The Carrera range offers some lighter weight children's bikes with alloy frames, so these should be much lighter than the majority of their steel-framed kids bikes.

The Carrera Saruna (often reduced) is the 20" wheel option, which comes with gears. The general height guidelines are 117 - 136cm.

The 7-speed gears use a Shimano Altus rear derailleur, which is a reputable and reliable set-up, and there's only one grip shifter to operate.

The Kenda tyres will cope well with paved and off-road surfaces and should give good stability and traction.

The Carrera Cosmos (often reduced) is their 16" wheel offering which might suit a smaller 6 year old - the general height guidelines are 112 - 127cm, but you're best trying in store if you can to check the sizing suits.

There's no gearing to worry about - it's just a simple bike with reliable brakes and tyres that should be fun and safe to ride.

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Still looking for the best bike for a 6-year-old girl?

There are so many other decent kid's bikes out there that are suitable for 6-year-old girls. We've put together a number of specific articles that cover both 16" and 20" wheels, so if you want more choices then take a look at the following posts: