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Make cycling with your kids your 2024 New Years resolution

Happy new year from Cycle Sprog! If you’ve decided to make cycling with your kids your 2024 New Years’ resolution, then we’ve got a heck of a lot of advice ready to help you get started!

Now in its 13th year, Cycle Sprog is the home of family cycling advice, and we’ve got a wealth of expertise for you to draw on, whether you’re looking for practical advice on how to physically cycle with your child on board, or in search of buying guides to help you invest in the right equipment.

Cycling with kids, whether it’s a weekend leisure ride or the daily school run, is a wonderful way to bond, stay active, and create lasting memories together. Even at this time of year! Don’t let the colder season stop you from getting started, we’ve got plenty of advice on winter cycling with kids, and a blog post about why you should get outside with your child in January.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to start, so we’ve taken the opportunity to signpost you to all of our most useful advice articles for parents who want to get started with cycling with their children. You can either read through the whole thing in order, or skip to the most relevant section for you.

Article contents:

A mum walking along the pavement behind her two children who are cycling in school uniforms
A man cycles with his child in a rear mounted child seat

Practical advice to get started

Before you go ahead and get out on the bike, here are some practical tips to help you get off on the right foot. Getting started with cycling as a family is an exciting adventure, but it's important to know what your options are, since there are so many ways to go about it.

If you’re thinking about driving less this year, consider doing the school run by bike. It can be a great bonding experience, and provide you with some extra quality time together in the mornings and afternoons, not to mention beating the traffic and saving money on fuel. You can learn the ins and outs of cycling to school with our guide on how to start cycling to school with kids. 

For parents with babies or toddlers, You have a choice of  how you’d like to carry your kids, whether that’s with a bike seat, cargo bike, or trailer. Check out our guide to cycling with babies and toddlers.

For those with smaller children who aren’t pedalling on their own yet, our article on how to start cycling with a small child in a bike seat, cargo bike, or trailer takes you through everything you need to know to choose the best setup for you and your family. 

A woman riding a road bike with a trailer attached to the back
A boy in a raincoat and waterproof trousers rides his balance bike through a puddle

If you like the idea of making this a new years’ resolution, but are worried about the current weather, don’t worry, we've got you covered with tips for winter cycling with kids. These will make sure your family can enjoy cycling all year round. 

Of course, you may have all the will in the world to get out on the bike, but what if your child is reluctant to hop on their bike? If that’s the case don't worry, you're not alone. Check out our post, why doesn’t my child want to ride their bike? for insights into common challenges and how to overcome them.

Helmets and safety

We know that the first concern of any parent thinking about cycling with their kids is safety. The riding conditions you’ll be navigating will depend entirely on where you live, and what infrastructure (if any) you have available to you. There’s plenty of advice out there about how to plan the safest route that you can also enjoy riding together. We’d recommend getting started with our where to ride guides, as well as Sustrans’ route finder.

A woman fastening her son's bike helmet, with his bike lying on its side behind them
A toddler wearing a bike helmet, in a rear bike seat, smiling

Another important question you might have around safety, is should my child wear a bike helmet? If you decide they should, then it’s important to make sure it fits properly. Learn how to measure your child’s head for a bike helmet, and then follow our advice in is your child’s bike helmet fitted correctly?

Once you know what to look for, we’ve got a round up of the best bike helmets for kids, because the right helmet is worth the investment.

Buying a kids’ bike

If your child is in need of a new bike, then at Cycle Sprog we’d argue that one of the most crucial things you can do at this stage is buy one that is good quality. There are so many bike-shaped toys on the market that aren’t built to last, and often fall apart within weeks or even days of being unboxed. While it might be tempting to opt for something cheap, take a look at why you shouldn’t buy a REALLY cheap new kids bike.

A young girl on her bike, with a backpack, seen from behind
A girl in a school uniform, standing next to her bike, smiling, with a helmet dangling from the handlebar

If you want your child to enjoy cycling long term, then buying them one of the best kids’ bikes is a surefire way to achieve that, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. We’ve got some great advice on buying a second-hand kids bike that will help you find the perfect set of wheels for great value, or you could look at leasing options. We’ve got a whole post dedicated to answering the question, should I subscribe to Bike Club instead of buying a kids’ bike?

For more useful advice, check out 12 things you need to know before buying a kids’ bike, and above all else, make sure it fits them properly! We’ve got a simple and useful article about how to easily measure your child for a new bike that can guide you through the process. Finally, if you order your child’s bike online, we’ve got a handy guide to how to assemble a kids’ bike out of the box for a stress-free setup.

A woman holds a book above her son's head as she measures his height against a wall
Two twin girls laughing and smiling in a bike trailer

Other bike accessories

So we’ve covered everything you need to know about the practicalities of getting started cycling with kids, and provided buying advice for bikes. By now we hope you’re feeling more informed on all the options available to you, and perhaps even know which setup you want for your bike.

Being family cycling experts, we’ve spent a lot of time testing and reviewing a vast array of products designed to help parents to cycle with their children, so we can confidently recommend what’s good, and steer you clear of what’s not.

With that in mind, here’s all the buying advice you could possibly need. If you’re planning to pull your precious cargo along, we’ve rounded up the best kids bike trailers, as well as the best tagalongs for pulling a child behind your bike.

If you prefer the idea of having your co-pilot up front with you, then check out our recommendations for the best front bike seats for toddlers and young children. We’ve also got a similar guide for best front mounted seats for older kids.

Two parents cycling side by side, one with a trailer and one with a child on a tagalong
Box bike with four children

If you’re more of a fan of having your little one sitting behind you, then you can find all the guidance you need in best rear bike seats for toddlers and small children and best rear bike seats for older kids.

Finally we shouldn’t forget about cargo bikes! They’ve seen a huge surge in popularity lately, and for good reason. We’ve got a lot of great guides to help you choose the best cargo bike type for your family, as well as a full guide to the best electric longtail cargo bikes.

Getting started on this kind of cycling journey with your kids can be a great new years’ resolution, but it isn’t just that. It’s also a commitment to a more healthy and active way of getting around, and creating more space for quality time together. With all the advice and expertise we can offer, we hope you’re now feeling much more prepared to get 2024 off to a flying start. If you think we’ve missed something, or have your own tips to offer fellow parents, leave us a comment below, and tag us in photos of your trips together using our handle @cyclesprog on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X, and be sure to join the Family Cycling UK group for support from a community of other families.

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