The Best First Pedal Bike

After spending 30 hours evaluating 13 pedal bikes on pavement, dirt, and grassy hills, we’re judging the REI Co-op Cycles REV 16 Kids’ Bike as the best first pedal bike for most kids.

If winter has finally loosed its grip where you live and your kindergartener is antsy to roam outside, maybe it’s time for their first pedal bike.

This solidly built aluminum-frame bike from a trusted outdoor retailer won testers (and their parents) over with its easy assembly, smooth ride (on and off pavement), and ability to grow with the rider.

The REI Co-op Cycles REV 16 Kids’ Bike is a nicely designed, mid-price bike from REI, a nationwide retailer run by actual outdoor enthusiasts.

It is light (16.9 pounds), has kid-friendly geometry, and was a favorite of our testers because of its versatility—it comes with removable training wheels and is highly adjustable, and its old-school coaster brakes make it easy for kids to get going without much fuss. (Kids who learned on balance bikes and are accustomed to putting their feet down to stop will have a small adjustment period in learning to use coaster brakes.)

The REV 16 comes nearly completely assembled and ready to ride within a few minutes—unlike two-thirds of the other bikes we tested, which required more wrenching (or possibly a bike shop visit). The 1.75-inch, semi-knobby tires perform well on dirt or pavement, and the 1.5-plus inches of adjustability on the handlebar stem and a seatpost that ranges between 20.5 and 25 inches means this bike will fit a wide array of kids.

We also liked the bike’s gearing, which performed well on moderate hills and allowed for good acceleration. The paint job, welds, and componentry—from headset to alloy wheelset—are top-notch, as are REI’s customer support, warranties, and return policies.

If we had one complaint, it’s that the 17-inch-wide handlebars are a bit narrow, which in our testing meant that the bike responded sometimes too quickly for first-timers.

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The lithe, aluminum Woom 3 is remarkably lightweight (13.6 pounds) thanks in part to its wheels, which incorporate proprietary alloy rims and just 16 spokes each (most of the other bikes we tested had 28). Everything on the bike, from the saddle to the powerful linear-pull brakes to the Woom-specific cranks and headset, is kid-proportioned and butter-smooth. The handlebars encourage a more upright riding position than do the more mountain bike-inspired and comparably priced Cleary Hedgehog and Prevelo Alpha 2—the Woom’s main competition in our tests—but our kids found it more comfortable, and yet it still allowed them to stand in the pedals and ride aggressively when the need arose. The bike is so darn light that speedy riding is, in fact, almost a given—this was the case even among our more timid testers. Woom makes sure all else is top-notch too: The company ships its bikes in boxes large enough that ours arrived with the wheels already mounted; the brakes came pre-adjusted too. You pay a premium for all this, though—it costs more than twice as much as the REV 16.

The best first bike for beginner off-road use is the Pello Revo 16″. Of the 13 bikes we tested, this one offered the best combination of trail-ready tires, hill-climby gearing, and geometry that suits both beginner and off-road needs (a higher bottom bracket, for example, gives it more clearance than the Woom 3). Like all of our picks, it arrived almost completely assembled. Our testers blasted through yards and over pavement atop its fat Kenda off-road tires, raving about how fast they could go and how well the bike turned and jumped. The Revo’s alloy fork connects to the handlebars and frame via a bombproof headset from mountain bike stalwart Cane Creek; we found the bike’s small diameter (0.75 inch) handlebar to be a perfect kid’s height for early forays into the dirt. The Revo comes with no front brake—though you can add one later, if you like—probably because with a beginner riding off-road, this could result in trips over the handlebars. Instead, it has a powerful, easy-to-squeeze Tektro rear brake as well as a coaster brake.