Best Mountain Bike for Kids

Once your children are good and stable on two wheels and want a “proper bike with gears”, go for one of the Hotrock series by Specialized. These mini-mountain bikes are great all-rounders and will last for years. As well as being superbly built, they also look the business, which is getting important when you're five or six.



The Hotrock series comes in boys' and girls' versions and several sizes: 20-inch wheels for five to seven-year-olds and 24-inch wheels for seven to 12-year-olds. There is also a single-speed 16-incher if you have a three to five-year-old who really can’t stand to be left out.

All the Specialized Hotrocks are good and will take whatever is thrown at them. My kids have the basic 20 and 24-inch models and use them daily going to and from school, scrambling on mud tracks in the park and practising wheelies and jumps.

All the components are of the same quality you would expect to find on a basic adult’s mountain bike and they have been scaled-down and fitted with real care. Crucially, the powerful ‘V’ breaks can be easily adjusted to suit very small hands – a major safety problem with some bikes in this category.
Robust, Safe and Cool
Childrens Bikes - Specialized Hotrock | MediumThe gears on the Specialized Hotrocks are good too and don’t need constant adjusting. The 20-inch version (left and below) has five speeds (ideal for the age group), while 24-incher (top) comes with the full 21 - a bit much really but to kids, gears mean status!

On both bikes, the gears are changed by twisting the handlebar grips, which most experts say is the safest and most intuitive method for young children. The Hotrocks also come with good quality front suspension on the forks – great for jumps etc.

As one enthusiastic consumer on an American bike site puts it: “This bike rocks! Ya, I am a kid but I have done up to 5 foot drops on this bike . . . I use it for dirt jumps, slalom racing, down hill, urban assult and big drops. You just can't break this bike!”
Great Reviews
Childrens Bikes - Specialized Hotrock | MediumAll reviews of the Specialized Hotrocks I’ve seen say much the same, albeit in more measured terms. The only drawback they point up is that the Hotrocks can be bit heavy for smaller children. For this reason it's best not to choose one that's too big to start with.

Finally, if money's no object, Specialized offer two premium Hotrock models in the 24-inch frame size: the Hotrock A1 FS and the Hotrock A1 FSR. Both these bikes are more expensive than the basic model but come with lighter frames and very swish components. The FSR also has the addition of rear suspension.

They sound tempting, I know, but my advice would be to stick with the basic models unless your kids are planning to turn professional sometime soon.

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