20 Inch Bike

[Manuela]

TheGuardian 16 Inch Bike has a lightweight steel frame, making it easy to control and balance. Featuring our single-lever SureStop Brake System and kid-specific geometry the Guardian ETHOS is a safer and easier bike for your kid to learn to ride. The bike is designed for on and off road use.

The Guardian 24 Inch Bike has a lightweight steel frame, making it easy to control and balance. The bike is designed for on and off road use. Featuring our single-lever SureStop Brake System and a 7-speed easy-to-twist gear shifter, the Guardian ETHOS is ready for any adventure!

To make matters a little more confusing, sizing can also vary between styles of bike or the company that makes them. For example, road bikes and mountain bikes will often use different numbers to designate sizes.

Without going into too much detail, bike size used to be determined by measuring specific parts of the bike, like the seat tube. However, over time manufacturers have decided to update their measurement system since bike geometries have changed considerably. The goal was actually to make it easier for people, but since some companies still stick with the old systems, it can be a bit puzzling.

When choosing the wheel size for your next mountain bike, you'll want to take your height and your preferred riding style into account. It's true that smaller riders often feel more in control on smaller wheels, but depending on your level of experience and the desired ride characteristics, that may or may not be the best way to go for your specific goals.

If you're a beginner, go with the first option on the suggested wheel size portion of the above chart. If you're an advanced rider, you might consider the other listed option and decide which wheel size will suit your riding style best.

As a rule of thumb, larger wheels have faster top speeds and roll over obstacles easier, while smaller wheels are more maneuverable and "playful". If your trail priorities are speed and efficiency, go with a larger wheel size. If your priorities are agility and playfulness, you might really enjoy a smaller wheel size.

It's important to point out again that not all manufacturers use the same frame size naming conventions. Some brands prefer to "simplify" their sizing to numbers from 1 - 6 (instead of XS - XL) for example. The thing to keep in mind is that not all brands are sized the same, and it's important to look at the size charts provided by the brand you're looking at, as well as the bike's geometry chart, in order to get the best fit.

In the early days of mountain biking, we used to size MTBs by the lengths of their seat tubes, as that would give someone a pretty good idea of what the standover height for a bike would be. That worked for a while, when frame design was relatively straightforward with top tubes and geometry that were more similar to road bikes.

As mountain bike design evolved, manufacturers were able to find more capable performance with different tube lengths and angles. With longer, more sloped top tubes and dropper post-ready designs (and more variations across brands), the seat tube is no longer the best way to approximate a bike's size. This paved the way for brands to start their own sizing methods.

Hybrid bikes like commuters and fitness bikes are great all-arounders that are extremely versatile and often very affordable. Most hybrid bikes use a Small/Medium/Large measurement system, but you might find a few companies who still use inches as the size denotation.

It's almost always better to size up with kids bikes, but only if they can actually handle the larger size. Kids grow up fast, and as a parent you'll want to try to give them a bike that they can ride for at least a few years, not just one.

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