Bikes for teens and small adults

In the past 15 years there have been huge advances in children’s cycling with more and more brands popping up and giving children a great start in their cycling life.

With this, we’ve seen huge leaps in the development of rider skill, and children are now used to riding well specified lightweight bikes all through their primary school years.

We’ve started to notice a trend of brands making great bikes for kids up to about the age of 12 and after that it has been the expectation of the bicycle industry that children will then be roughly big enough for adult sized bikes and all will be well.

Unfortunately this just isn’t the case.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t options, once kids are sufficiently big enough to fit on adult sizes they have all the options that adults do.

The difference is when it comes to looking at the lower end of the price scale.

Searching for a more general purpose bike that can be used for getting to school, meeting with friends etc. can be extremely difficult, especially factoring in considerations that come into play with a bike for a teenager.

Things such as being less appealing to would-be thieves, having minimal, low-maintenance componentry, potentially being single-speed, tough or no paint, all things that can go towards being a hassle-free, more utilitarian ride experience.

Small adults need bikes too!

As well as teenagers being limited on choice when it comes to simple, uncomplicated bikes, there’s also a whole host of smaller adults who find it hard to find a bicycle that fits them well.

In recent years with the availability of quality children’s bikes being on the up, a lot of smaller adults have been looking to the children’s specialist brands to be the potential answer to their problems.

With many people finding that all the elements that kids had been deprived of for so many years were actually the same elements people of shorter stature had also been missing out on.

Most notably, lightweight, high-quality bikes that are sized proportionately and have a considered specification of components to suit the height of the rider.

Playing the averages

On lower-quality bikes that are aimed at consumers that “just want a bike” often manufacturers aim componentry at Mr and Mrs average.

Average height, average weight, average proportions. The trouble is this leaves a lot of people out in the cold, and often means people have to make a compromise on the fit and feel of a bike.

It’s when you start looking for something a little more refined, that things become more difficult.

Often bikes at the smaller end of the adult range are heavy, lumped with steel componentry, they tend to have heavyweight, gimmicky features, such as faux-suspension forks that are more akin to a pogo stick than a shock absorber.

Does this sound familiar? The same issues cheap children’s bikes faced, but even heavier and often even lower quality and hard to maintain.

It’s a question of choice

Now don’t get us wrong, there are bikes available out there that attempt to bridge this gap, but they aren't currently as common as parents and older children / teens are wanting.

Or adult brands who have a smaller adult range aren't designing them and marketing them as being suitable for teens.

It can be the case that a child who has been on a brand through their younger years wants something a bit more "mature" when they reach secondary school.

Here at Cycle Sprog we feel that this is a very under-served area of the market and we’re throwing down the gauntlet to the bike industry to come up with quality, lightweight bicycles that meet teenagers/smaller riders needs.

We've highlighted below a few bikes from reputable kids bike brands that are suitable for teenagers and smaller adults.

Have you come across a brand that is doing all it can for teenager/smaller riders? Let us know in the comments!

A selection of bikes for teenagers and small adults

Bike: Frog 78
Price: £535.00
Monthly Lease from: £19.99
Age Range: 13–16 years
Inside Leg: 72–83cm
Colours: Yellow Blue Grey Green Red
Bike Weight: 10kg
Frame material: Aluminium
Gears: Thumb Shift — 8 speed 34T chainring 11-32T cassette
Brakes: Frog Bikes designed Tektro easy reach brake lever. Tektro 836AL, aluminium, linear pull brakes
Tyres: Kenda K1047, 26"x1.5", Hybrid, (ETRTO/ISO 38-559)

The Frog 78 is the largest of Frog’s three 26″ wheel bikes, and is an all round bike suitable for children (or smaller adults!) with a minimum inside leg of 78cm.

The handlebars can be adjusted within a 54mm range and there’s a quick release seat post that makes adjusting the saddle height easy to do. Your kid should hopefully therefore get a decent amount of time on this bike, but some kids do grow very rapidly at this age.

It’s comforting therefore to know the Frog Bikes really hold their value, so if you keep it well maintained you should be able to sell it on to fund the next bike.

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Reader recommendations for bikes for teenagers and small adults

Thank you to everyone who has left messages on social media for us since we published this article. Here's a selection of the comments we've received:

"Squish 26, 15 inch frame is a good fit for my 5ft 4 daughter 11yr old. My now 15 year old daughter has been riding a small adult ridgeback bike since she was a petite 11yr old" Anna (See also secondhand Adult Ridgeback bikes)

My 12 year old recently got a Ridgeback MX2 26. I’m 5’2 and could ride it. It’s also a lot lighter than my specialized hybrid." Coral

"The Vitus Nucleus is a good bet - I did >6,000km on mine. Also, as a “simple/robust bike for riding to school/messing about with friends” don’t discount a BMX. They are not great for riding big distances, but are cheap, robust and cool. " Lewis