Frog overhaul 20″ wheel kids bike range

Interesting news if you're just about to start looking for a 20" wheel bike for your child.   Frog Bikes, one of the UK's best know quality kids bike brands, are overhauling their 20" wheel kids bike range, removing three bikes from the range (the Frog 52, Frog 55 and Frog 52 SS) and adding one new one in.

This means there are now, quite confusingly, six different 20" wheel Frog bikes available!  I'm going to try and explain.......

The new Frog 53 is replacing the two existing 20" wheel geared hybrid models - the Frog 52 and the Frog 55  (that's 3 bikes now available to buy either new or secondhand)

The new Frog 53 claims to be suitable for children aged about 5 years through to 8 years (although all children do vary so measure them carefully) with an inside leg of at least 53cm. This should (in theory) extend the range of the one bike by a year or two, depending on how fast your child grows.

This claim sounds similar to the one Specialized made with their new Jett range earlier in the year, which they say will last 3 summers.

The Frog 53 will retail at £410, which is the same as the Frog 55, and £10 more than the smaller Frog 52.

The single speed Frog 52 has already been removed from their website, so let's assume for now it's been discontinued - I've emailed them to ask, but not heard anything back yet. (That's the 4th bike as it'll be available secondhand for some time yet)

The Frog Road 58 and the Frog Track 58 remain in the range (bikes 5 and 6!)

This is an interesting move by Frog, as the Frog 52 was popular with parents of smaller children desperate to move up onto a 20" wheel geared bike as soon as possible, whilst the Frog 55 was suited to those moving up a bit later.

The big question is whether they've been able to combine both ends of the sizing into one bike - the new Frog 53 - that suits all children and lasts for longer than the previous options.

The discontinuation of the Frog 52 single speed will be a disappointment to those with older and/or taller children who are not ready to move onto a geared bike for a variety of reasons.  However, Frog are instead offering a new single speed 18" wheeler,  the Frog 47.

In this article we'll take a look at the main differences between the 20" wheel geared Frog Bike - the new Frog 53 and the discontinued Frog 52 and Frog 55.

Weight is always an interesting topic for kids bikes, with the main quality brands always striving to shave off the grams.  As a result, the new Frog 53 weighs in at 8.15kg whilst the Frog 52 is 8.54kg and the Frog 55 tips the scales at 8.55kg.

This weight reduction will probably be noticed more by lighter and less strong children for whom a 400g reduction might improve their ability to manoeuvre their bike.  You may also appreciate the difference if you're left to carry the bike - or when lifting up onto a roof rack.

Other geometry changes have been made to try and ensure this new bike lasts as long as possible, whilst being comfortable and easy to ride.

Frog state the following about the potential longevity of the bike:

The handlebars can be lowered or raised within a range of 40mm and adjusting the seat height is easy to do at home with the quick release system.

The bike also offers a lower bottom bracket position to ensure a safer riding position with feet closer to the ground, whilst allowing for a greater leg-length range to be accommodated.

An additional 10mm spacer is placed above the handlebar stem to give the option to raise the handlebars higher as your child grows.

The lowering of the bottom bracket could lead to reduced ground clearance which is worth noting if you're intending to ride off road a lot.

The Frog 53 and 55 both have 11" seat tubes compared to the 10" seat tube on the Frog 52, giving that bit more room for growth.

For all the kids-bike-geeks out there who are already wondering about the exact differences between the bikes, I've been through the entire specification and geometry details of the 20" wheel geared bikes on the Frog Bikes website and these are the differences between the three models as of December 2021:

From these measurements you can see that the new Frog 53 is a more compact bike, with a much shorter wheelbase than the other two bikes (wheelbase is the distance between the middle of the two wheels).  I suspect this will be good news for children with shorter arms, and also allow a more upright (and hopefully comfortable) riding style for everyone. Either that, or it will feel very cramped!

We've not been able to test this bike in real life yet, so if you've already bought this bike do please drop a comment below to let us (and more importantly other readers) know how your child is finding the riding position.

For prosperity, I've also gathered the geometry charts on the discontinued bikes.  These can be found at the end of this article, together with links to the specification of components.

Where to buy the new Frog 53

At the time of writing (December 2021) the Frog 53 was just starting to appear in bike shops.

It is not yet available for lease at the Bike Club, but expect them to be getting their hands on stock pretty quickly - we've added a link below for you to check.

Obviously going to be a few years before the new Frog 53 starts to appear secondhand on Ebay and other forums

Buy New Hire

Where to buy the old Frog 52

There may still be some brand new Frog 52's available to buy online or in local bike shops, but this stock is already being replaced by the Frog 53.

There's still some of these smaller 20" wheel Frog 52's to be leased from the Bike Club, and these will continue to circulate through their system for years to come.

Finally, the Frog 52 is a popular bike to pick up secondhand, either on Ebay or in the Preowned Frog Bike Facebook Group

Buy New Hire Buy Used

Where to buy the old Frog 55

In the near future you may be able to fine a new Frog 55 available to buy, but again the stock won't be getting replaced as they sell out.

At the time of writing there were both new and reBike Frog 55's available to lease if you have a subscription to the Bike Club.

Due to the popularity of this bike there will be plenty of secondhand Frog 55's available for years to come.

Buy New Hire Buy Used

Where to buy the discontinued Frog 52 Single Speed

The Frog 52 Single Speed had been showing as out of stock on the Frog Bike website for a long time, and it's now been removed.

There could possibly be a few available at local Frog stockists, but once these have gone the best options are to try and get on the waiting list at the Bike Club, or to buy second hand.

This was always quite a niche bike, catering mainly for very tall younger children, or those with additional needs, who weren't able to use the gears on the Frog 52, so you may have to search harder to find this bike going forward.

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