Aspen Times Weekly: High-quality kid bikes

As a father of four young kids, ages 3 to 11, and with varying levels of interest (and willingness) around the activity of bicycling, my garage is a mess of wheels, seats, frames, and accouterments to appease a mini-peloton.

We have cheap bikes and good bikes. Some are rusty, some we keep clean, wiping off the paint after each ride. The bikes in this article, all mid- to high-end options, have come out as the kids’ current favorites this spring.

Balance Bike: Yuba Flip Flop

Among multiple push-bike options, my littlest one loves this Yuba the most. Its swooping frame and straight handlebars offer performance and fit as he crushes out sidewalk miles.

After about a year of hard use, and with zero maintenance and much abuse, the bike shows few signs of wear. The foam-filled tires cannot pop. A bonus: The lightweight aluminum frame “flips” over to transition the bike to a taller ride as your grom grows. ($120)

For more on these products, visit https://gearjunkie.com/. Stephen Regenold is the founder and writes about outdoors gear for Gear Junkie.