Hi guys! While visiting Vancouver, doing some reviews at a shop called Cit-E-Cycles, I was able to speak with two young ladies and their mother about electric bikes for children and kids. Her eldest daughter has Developmental Coordination Disorder (which causes low muscle tone and increases fatigue). But with ebikes, they were able to take a family bicycle trip that lasted five hours! Owning ebikes has allowed this daughter to keep up more easily than on a traditional/acoustic bicycle. She actually learned how to ride on an electric bike before ever riding non-electric... pretty neat. Anyway, the family purchased two Haibike SDURO HardFour 4.0 models in 2017 and the kids love them. You can hear directly from the mom and her kids in the video interview below, and I welcome your feedback if you have kids or any other input:
Some general tips on choosing an e-bike for kids:
Check out the BULLS TWENTY4 E kids ebike as wella s the Pedego 20" Trail Tracker to compare with the Haibike shown above.
Some general tips on choosing an e-bike for kids:
- Children and young people tend to have shorter legs, which means more pedal strokes for the same distance... an ebike can help them go further because they don't have to work as hard with each pedal stroke. You could get a kids ebike with a hub motor or mid-drive (like the bike shown in this video) but both will help the child.
- Kids ebikes have smaller frames and often smaller wheels and shorter pedals, they tend to be lighter than adult bike, but could still be heavier than they loo... so be sure to help your child approach and steady the bike, and definitely help with lifting.
- I really love that most kids ebikes are brightly colored, have reflective stickers and paint, and have a lower stand over height (sloped top tube to make mounting easy). Be sure to look for these features when choosing an ebike for your own child. There just aren't that many options yet... and they still tend to cost a lot (just like adult ebikes).
- Not all child ebikes have hydraulic disc brakes like the Haibike, or suspension forks, but both of these features add comfort and safety for longer rides.
- Most of the kids ebikes I have reviewed use the same high powered motors and battery packs as adult ebikes but limit the top assisted speed of 15mph (25km/h) vs. the adult 20mph (32km/h) for safety. I often wish that the top speed could be increased later by parents as kids get older. Most that I have seen from Haibike and Bulls were locked in.
Check out the BULLS TWENTY4 E kids ebike as wella s the Pedego 20" Trail Tracker to compare with the Haibike shown above.
