The Cycle Sprog Review Process

At Cycle Sprog we love to ride and review kids bikes and other related cycling equipment.

Some we’ve bought ourselves, others have been lent to us by family cycling brands.

We have a great panel of Cycle Sprogs and their parents who test products and give their honest feedback about what it’s really like to use.

We hope you find our reviews useful in helping you to decide whether or not to buy a product.

Our commitment to you

• Bikes and equipment are tested and reviewed by families that are experienced cyclists and are regularly cycling with their children.
• When we say we have reviewed a product this means a family/child has used the product as part of their day-to-day cycling for a decent amount of time- not just a quick lap around the car park!
• We do not accept payments for rider reviews. This means we can be as honest as we need to be and share the bad bits too!
• If we do accept payment for a first look at a product (in which we present the product as it comes out the box, without offering a review or opinion), we always make this very clear at the start of the article.

Review Scoring Criteria

Cycle Sprog’s review scoring is based on the bike meeting the needs of the expected rider, so that means if it’s a mountain bike, we expect it to be capable off-road, and if it’s a family cargo bike we expect it to be able to carry children of various ages.

For bike reviews, we score out of 5 on the following criteria:

• Quality of the frame, components and build.
• The weight of the bike compared to other bikes that are built for a similar purpose/size.
• Value for money, how the quality, components and weight compare cost-wise to other similar bikes.
• Customisibility and if it is easy to add to and customise the bike to individual needs (E.g. are mudguards sold as an add-on? Rain protectors, bags, etc.).
• Resale value: does this product sell well and retain value to a second-hand audience?

Understanding Scores

For bike reviews, we score out of 5, this is what each score means:

5/5- Outstanding, best in its class, we struggle to fault it. 

4/5 -Reliable product, room for minor improvements. Not quite the best in class- top 5 perhaps.

3/5 -Fine, but we think there are better alternatives

2/5 -Functions, but disappointing  

1/5 -Poor quality and unfit for purpose- we wouldn't use it with our children.

It's not just kids' bike reviews we do either. We have reviews of family cycling equipment such as bike seats, trailers and cargo bikes, plus helmets and clothing too. Check out our reviews page for everything we offer.

We hope this overview of our review process helps you understand what we think makes a bike, piece of equipment or item of clothing brilliant, and will hopefully lead you to some more confident purchasing decisions. Happier kids and family bike rides - hooray!

We’d love you to comment below and let us know what you’d like to see reviewed next.

Other posts you might be interested in:

• Cycle Sprog Reviews
• Kid Bikes Reviews
• Kit Reviews
• Clothing and Helmet Reviews
• The best kids bike trailers
• Cube Kids Trailer Double CMPT- rider review
• Keeping warm on a bike seat, cargo bike or in a trailer