Guardian Kids Bikes Ethos. 16/20/24 Inch, Multiple Colors for Boys/Girls. Safer Brake System for Kids. Lightweight Steel Construction. Easy Assembly. ASO SharkTank.

To give a little background on my kid’s-bike buying adventure, I spent a good amount of time on the Two-Wheelin Tots website. The way they explain things on there just makes sense. For instance, I see kids riding around on those cheap "big box store" bikes and the kid looks so awkward on it - their legs don't have room, the handle bars are up to their shoulders and the whole thing looks unstable. A dead give-away that the bike isn’t designed well is if it looks like a toy instead of a miniature adult bike. Two Wheelin' Tots explains in basic terms the concept of bike frame geometry and the importance of having a light weight bike with a low center of gravity and a longer wheel base.In other words, If a bike is uncomfortable because it sits too high and is unstable, or it's too heavy, it makes it harder for a new rider to learn. The better the bike's geometry and weight, the easier it is to ride and the more likely a kid is to keep at it and they’ll actually enjoy the bike.The Ethos has a steel frame and is listed as being 20lbs. To compare, the Schwinn Koenn is about 25lbs for the same 16 inch size but other brands like Raleigh make a 16 inch that’s around 19lbs. The Guardian Original is a lighter aluminum frame but the smallest size of those is a 20 inch.My oldest kid, who was 5 at the time, was very timid with anything remotely resembling “adventure”. We got a balance bike for his little brother but he was too big for a trainer like that. So, after a lengthy amount of research into various brands and hoping to get the “best bang for the buck”, we went with the Guardian.The 5 year old was pretty hesitant at first but instead of running behind him, holding on to the seat and hoping he caught on to peddling a bike suddenly, I went with another suggestion - I left the peddles off the Guardian Bike and let him cruise around like it was a regular balance bike. Once he was comfortable with the feel and weight of the bike (which was about a week), I put the peddles on. As he already had confidence in the bike from walking and coasting around on it, he started getting the hang of peddling pretty soon after. Now he’s a bike ridin’ fool, cruising around all over the place.One thing we ran into though, and it was purely my fault, is that the 16 inch was just about maxed out for the height limit when we first bought it for my kid - I should have looked at the specs more closely… Luckily his more coordinated brother was ready to move on from the balance bike pretty quick so we just bumped the older one up from the 16 inch to a 20 inch. And because we liked the Guardian bikes so much, we went with the 20 inch Guardian Ethos and moved the younger onto the 16 inch Guardian.Now to tackle all the features and some very minor drawbacks.The biggest touted feature of the Guardian bikes is their SureStop brake system. There's 1 brake handle on the right grip that works the rear brake. When the brake pads grab the rim of the tire, the thing that holds the brake pads slide forward, pulling a secondary cable that actuates the front brake. As Two Wheelin' Tots explains, coaster brakes are not ideal for kids learning to ride a big-kid bike because they tend to balance by peddling backwards. With coaster brakes, this locks up the rear wheel and the kid goes skidding off. Some bikes have only a rear wheel hand-brake but this may not give enough stopping power. Other bikes have separate front and rear brakes (like all adult bikes have) but small kids may not catch the concept of going light on the front brake when stopping and they end up going over the handlebars.A few other things I like - the chain-guard on the front crank helps keep errant shoe laces and pant-legs from getting snagged, the seat seems well made and is well cushioned, and the whole thing is just well made from the smaller components to the rims and tires and the frame itself.The bike comes mostly assembled so there’s minimal Christmas Eve night or birthday-eve headaches. Aside from setting the bike up for your kid’s height/inseam, the only thing you have to do is put the handlebars into position, put the seat on, put the peddles on, then tighten everything down.As for the drawbacks - the previously mentioned weight of the bike can be an issue for little riders but my bird-boned middle child is only about 35lbs and he can still peddle it around with ease, so long as he doesn’t encounter any long inclines or any semi-steep hills.Another thing - as with any object that has moving parts, the more complicated it is, the more chance there is for a problem at some point. We’ve had the 16 inch Guardian bike for almost a year and haven’t had any issues with the special braking system but I foresee it being a pain when it needs to be tuned up or taken off for any reason. There’s very little movement when the little brake pad things slide forward to actuate the front brake, so getting the tension on the cable to be “just right” may require some patience - I’m hoping it’ll be easier done than said but I suppose only time will tell. Right now, since it’s 105 degrees outside, the bikes aren’t getting used much, so with luck the kids will be gentle on the bikes until they grow out of them and I won’t have to deal with it.Last of all is the price. The listed price when I wrote this review was $240. I bought mine when there was a sale going on so I snagged the 16 inch for about $190. It’s a great bike for $190 but at the $240 range, you can get a Trek, Giant, or other similar better-known-brand of bike. However, the other 16 inch bikes from these big brands lack the braking system that the Guardian has, and they all seem to have coaster brakes (which I hate) regardless of whether or not they also have a hand brake - so the Guardian does earn a win for me there. These other big brands may not have the best kids-bike geometry in their lower $200 price range as well - obviously their ridiculously expensive competition bikes will be honed-in to perfection but their lower end, suburban family bikes may not have all the features and design qualities of the Guardian so do your homework if you look elsewhere.Again, these bikes are built very well. I’ve looked at the common cheap bikes and the way the tires are so close together with high handlebars and a frame made of what feels like lead when you lift it, they’re just terrible for kids trying to learn how to ride. My neighbors who have kids the same age as mine were all impressed that my little guys took to riding a bike so quickly - My kids are NOT coordinated - They catch footballs with their faces instead of their hands, sort of coordinated - So I chalk it up to a well designed bike that the kids are comfortable on and can handle with ease.

It was time for our daughter to shed the training wheels and, being an avid mountain biker myself, I spent a lot of time looking at the big name brands before finding information about Guardian Bikes. The transition to handbrakes made me nervous - I've had plenty of "over the bars" experiences myself - and the more I read about it, the more it became clear that my trepidation was not unfounded, especially with new riders.The reviews for the Ethos were strong, and I loved the idea of their adaptive brake system - we purchased the bike hoping that it lived up to the hype.It has been about a month now, and after getting up and on the pedals after her first day of practicing, my daughter has been asking to go out on bike rides daily, so we've gotten plenty of use. The geometry of the bike makes it easy to learn on, though I'm a little worried about the height of the handlebars and how things are going to look as she gets more comfortable and I can raise her seat up to allow for longer leg extension (we used the Guardian sizing guide and got the 20" large size, very happy we didn't go with the small). I also would have sacrificed a little more seat tube length in return for a higher BB - she's starting to dab the pedals every so often on sharper turns if she isn't anticipating where her feet need to be, but as she gets a feel for it she's starting to press down on that outer foot more often, so I'm not overly concerned. Other than that, the shifting is a little stiff for small hands to start out with, but the cable has started to loosen up as it gets broken in.The brake system is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, and that is what allows me to look past all the other little stuff (issues that, I'm positive, exist with other major brands as well). The fact that I know when she squeezes that handle she is going to stop, and there is no chance of her ending up over the handlebars, is worth its weight in gold. On top of that, the fact that these bikes are designed specifically with kids in mind (not just scaled down versions of "grown up" bikes), means that everything plays well together - the color schemes, the accessories, the ease of use - is all geared (pardon the pun) toward new and growing riders. My daughter knew immediately that this was a bike made especially for HER, and that made a huge difference in the learning process.Thank you Guardian Bikes! Keep up the great work!

The 16" Guardian Ethos has been awesome for our 4yr old girl. Up to this point, she has been on a balance bike and has never used training wheels. We road with no pedals at first, to simply act like a balance bike. It's kind of weird that the cranks spin forward while the bike moves forwards, occasionally hitting her legs, though there is hardly any resistance so it never phased her. 3 shorts balance rides throughout the day, we put pedals on, and boom she was riding. I LOVE the brakes and the fact that it has no coaster brake. Her balance bike also had a right-hand brake lever. I think this is an absolute habit to learn the right brake first. As other reviews said, when she needed to gain balance or find the pedals she almost immediately would pedal backward. If it had coaster brakes, then that wouldn't work. Awesome bike!Sizing: She is a hair under 40" tall and is a hair below recommended height for the bike. I slightly tilted the handlebars towards her and it seemed to work. I think the "no pedal" rides were key for her learning new geometry with her arms higher and further apart than her small balance bike. I believe it would have been too big if she had not previously ridden the balance bike, but with that experience she was fine. She cannot sit flat-footed on the ground, though she is not fully on her tippy toes either. I plan to raise the seat off the bottom stop soon to help her pedal stroke be a better form, though she needs to learn to stop/go a little better first. Happy with the size.