Royal Baby Global Review

About Royal Baby Global Bike

If you trust Amazon to recommend the best kids bike to you, then you’d buy a Royal Baby Bike. With over 5,700 reviews, 4.5 stars, and the coveted “Amazon’s Choice” banner, the Royal Baby Freestyle must be as good as it gets, right?

If you haven’t already figured this out, let us break it to you. Amazon’s Choice isn’t always the best choice. And 4.5 stars doesn’t always mean the product lives up to such a superior rating. So how many stars does the Royal Baby Freestyle Bike actually deserve? Three… if we’re being generous. It’s a pretty solid bike for the price, but has a lot of drawbacks.

If you’re looking for a kids bike that’s more of a toy than a bike, the Royal Baby won’t disappoint. But if you’re looking for a bike that’s easy to ride and will help your child develop of love for bike riding, we’ll recommend several different options in our review below.

Royal Baby Bike Overview

PROS:

• Solid, durable frame
• Comes in a variety of colors
• Available in many sizes – 12″, 14″, 16″, 18″, 20″
• Better build and quality than cheap big-box store bikes
• Easy to assemble
• Comes with training wheels if you need them

CONS:

• Not a good fit for anyone – too tall or too cramped
• Very heavy
• Coaster brake and low-quality front wheel hand brake
• Front brake may not come adjusted correctly
• Small, awkwardly thick saddle
• Training wheels make learning to ride much more difficult than using a balance bike

Results of our Test Rides

Note: Royal Baby bikes come in a variety of models and sizes, ranging from 12″ wheels to 20″ wheels. In this review we’re looking at the highly popular Royalbaby Freestyle 14″ bike.

There are a lot of truly terrible kids bikes out there. Just go to any big box store and head to the bike section. RoyalBaby is not one of those terrible bikes. It’s actually a lot better than a typical Walmart bike, but it’s still not great.

These bikes were designed and built with mass manufactured parts that keeps costs down but quality down as well. As a result, they’re cute, but sized in no-mans-land. Keep reading to understand why these bikes aren’t a great fit for anyone as we try to answer the question – “Who are these bikes designed for?”

Sizing of Royal Baby Bikes

The RoyalBaby Sizing Problem

Before we jump in, let let me sum up the problem with RoyalBaby bikes. They don’t fit any kid really well, and for that reason, we really don’t recommend them. There are other bikes that will fit your child, so why buy a bike that probably won’t?

On Amazon, Royalbaby provides a simple sizing chart. But the stated seat height ranges and the stated recommended child height ranges just don’t make sense. And having tested this Royalbaby 14 inch bike with four different riders within the stated height range, we can verify that in real life these sizes don’t make sense either.

Based on our experience with the 14″ Royal Baby Bike, we can only guess that the other wheel sizes aren’t a great fit for kids either. Read on to find out the cause behind this problem!

RoyalBaby Sizing Overview

Royal Baby bikes come in five different sizes – 12″, 14″, 16″, 18″, and 20″. This wide range of sizing should be an advantage because it allows you to get a more precise fit for your child. Unfortunately, that’s not really the case. We’ll cover the 14″ Freestyle bike here.

Wheel size is a very general (and often inaccurate) way of indicating a bike’s size. What we really need to look at are two things:

Sizing – Seat Height

The 14″ Freestyle has a seat height range of 19.25″ – 22″. With less than 3″ of range, the bike doesn’t offer much room for growth. This is especially problematic at an age where kids are growing like weeds! To be fair, most 14″ bikes don’t offer much room for growth, which is a downside for 14″ bikes in general.

Seat height should be set for flat feet or solid tip toes

For a rider using training wheels, the saddle needs to be low enough so that they can touch the ground either flat footed or with solid tip toes. For balance bike graduates that are not using training wheels, flat feet is ideal when first learning, and as they master pedaling, the seat height can be raised so they can touch with tip toes.

Being able to touch the ground allows the rider to learn to start the bike on their own. Even more importantly, it allows a child to use their feet to help them stop and to keep themselves upright if they start to fall. (And YES, it’s very possible to fall even using training wheels.)

Royal Baby’s lowest seat height is too high for many riders

Royalbaby’s sizing chart states that their Freestyle 14 inch bike is a good fit for kids 37.4″ – 47.2″ tall. It is quite common for a manufacturer to state a very wide, unrealistic height range. That’s where we come in to help you hone in on a bike that will be a great fit for your child.

Look at our test riders below where the saddle is set to its lowest position. On the left, our 37.5″ tall 3-year-old can’t even touch the ground when she’s sitting on the saddle in its lowest position. On the right, our 39.5″ 3-year-old tester can barely touch with one tip toe if she leans the bike to the side. This bike’s seat is too high for both of them, even though they are within the stated height range.

As further reference, check out our taller 4 and 5-year-old testers below. On the left, our 41.2″ 4-year-old tester has the Royalbaby’s seat set to its lowest point. She can comfortably touch the ground with her toes, which is safe for a rider with training wheels, and would also be okay for a balance bike graduate without training wheels.

At the saddle’s maxiumum height, we have our 45″ tall, 5-year-old tester, well within the stated height range. She’s on solid tip toes, but she’s clearly too big for this small bike!

Sizing – Frame Size: Royal Baby’s disparity between frame size and seat height

Here’s the heart of the dilemma with the Royal baby Freestyle 14 inch bike (and some other bikes like it). The bike’s frame size and the room in the cockpit (distance between the saddle and the handlebars), is actually quite appropriate for its low-end stated height range (our 3-year-old testers).

But the minimum seat height is too tall for those kids to safely ride it. For riders who can safely touch the ground (our 4 and 5-year-old testers), the cockpit is already getting cramped, which limits their ability to comfortably maneuver the bike.

Look at this side by side comparison of our 3 and 4-year-old riders on the Royal Baby bike. Pay particular attention to how close their knees come to the front of the bike.

On the left, our 3-year old has enough room, but remember, she can’t safely touch the ground with toes! On the right, our 4-year-old tester who can touch the ground with her toes has basically no room for growth. Her chest is too close to the handlebars to easily lean in and out of turns, and her knees come almost directly under the handlebars.

Do other bikes provide more room to move and grow?

If you’ve never seen a child effortlessly ride on a bike that was truly designed for their body’s proportions, it’s hard to understand why the Royal Baby comes up short. Dedicated kids bike brands have much better bike geometry that works seamlessly with a child’s body.

Look at this comparison here of our 3-year-old (39.5″ tall) on the 14″ Royal Baby Freestyle bike, vs her everyday-use bike, the 16″ Prevelo Alpha Two.

Although our 3-year-old has decent room on the Royal Baby, the difference between that and her Prevelo is drastic. The Prevelo has a minimum seat height that allows her to solidly touch the ground with her toes, and also has a much longer frame and ample room in the cockpit.

Once again, look at the additional room between her knees and the handlebars. She rides skillfully and aggressively on her Prevelo. It will also provide her much more room for growth.

The need for more room is even more exaggerated for our 4-year-old, taller rider below. At 41.2″ tall, from a safe seat height perspective, the Royal Baby bike is designed for someone just her height. But she has minimal room in the cockpit on the Royal Baby, and plenty on the Prevelo. And remember, the recommended child height range is 37.4″ – 47.2″ tall for the Royal Baby 14″, so she’s actually on the lower end of that range!

Is the tall seat height okay if you’re using training wheels?

Even with training wheels, the Royal Baby 14″ is not a good experience for either of our “good fit” 3-year-old riders . While training wheels are designed to keep a child upright, we’ve seen plenty of kids fall over while using them.

Not being able to touch the ground to help stop themselves is not a situation any child wants to be in, especially toddlers and pre-schoolers. Our little rider ended up riding into a ditch several times because the bike was hard to maneuver with training wheels and she couldn’t figure out how to use the coaster brake. Because her toes couldn’t touch the ground, she was unable to use her feet to help her stop. She also ended up falling over as a result.

Additionally, even without training wheels, this confident, aggressive rider can’t get the bike started on her own. It’s too tall for her to push off the ground and gain momentum. On her Prevelo Alpha Two, she needs absolutely no help and rides like a total pro. Which begs the question again – who is this bike designed for?

Weight – Royal Baby’s Heavy Steel Frame A Lot to Handle

While the Royalbaby bikes are better than your average Walmart bike, it still weighs a lot. With a heavy steel frame and heavy components, the Royal Baby 14″ weighs in at 21.7 lbs with training wheels. That’s a lot of weight for a toddler to handle.

Our tall barely 3-year-old-tester is already 39.5″ tall, well within Royalbaby’s stated height range for the Freestyle 14″. She’s a solid little nugget at 38 lbs. At that weight, the Royalbaby comes in at 57% of her body weight. That’s like a 150 lb. adult riding an 85 lb. bike. Can you even imagine? As a comparison, the $269 lb. Guardian 14″ Bike weighs just 16.2 lbs, which is 43% of her body weight.

When our 3-year-old tester first rode the Royalbaby, she had already been riding a pedal bike for about two months. She was confident in her skills, and is also an aggressive rider. Although she couldn’t start the bike on her own, she honestly didn’t have much trouble riding the Royalbaby without the training wheels on flat surfaces. But hills quickly become problematic and fatigue is going to set in a lot more quickly.

Brakes – Not an Ideal Set Up

The brakes on the Royalbaby Freestyle 14″ are not going to help your child’s riding experience. In the rear you have a coaster brake (or back pedal brake). Based on their Amazon listing, all sizes come with a coaster brake. Back pedal brakes make learning to ride more difficult because children have a natural tendency to pedal backwards. While many more expensive bikes come with an option to remove the coaster brake, the Royalbaby does not.

The Royalbaby also features a front wheel hand brake on the left hand. The brake is single-pivot style which has very limited stopping power. It’s an old style of brake that good quality bikes generally don’t use anymore. Out of the box, our brake cable didn’t have enough tension to provide any stopping power at all. If you want this brake to work, you may need to YouTube how to adjust a brake cable.

The other problem with this hand brake is that it’s on the left hand, which teaches children to rely on the left hand for braking. When a child advances to a bike with dual hand brakes, this is a problem.

As kids get older and ride faster, braking with the left hand (front wheel) only can cause a child to endo (flip themselves over the handlebars). When learning to brake a child should be taught to brake with the right hand first, engaging the rear brake. If a child’s first experience with a brake is on the left hand, they will have to un-learn this bad habit.

Wide Street Tires

The tires are a standard street tread, which make the Royal Baby bike great for paved surfaces. They are also a little wider than most tires, which does provide a little additional cushioning and stability.

Saddle and Seat Post

The saddle is a small and awkwardly shaped. It’s slightly padded, but covered in a thick vinyl/plastic that is a bit stiff. The saddle itself is also quite tall, which adds to the tall seat height problems we discussed earlier.

We do appreciate that the seat post has a quick release clamp to allow for easy height adjustments.

Easy to Assemble

For coming out of a box, this Royal Baby kids bike was actually pretty easy to assemble. It comes almost fully assembled – you’re responsible for attaching the handlebar, pedals, saddle, and training wheels.

As mentioned previously, if you want to use the front handbrake, you may need to adjust the brake cable.

Bottom Line on the Royal Baby 14 Inch Bike

While the Royal Baby 14″ Freestyle bike is much better than many bikes you’ll find at a big box store, we still can’t sufficiently answer the question, “Who is this bike designed for?” With a frame that’s a good size for a 3-year-old, it’s seat height is too tall for that same child to safely ride. By the time a child is tall enough to safely ride the bike, the frame is getting too small.

So what do we recommend instead? If your child has never had a bike – a balance bike. Your average 3 or 4-year-old is much better off on a balance bike than a bike with training wheels anyways. Check out our list of favorite balance bikes here.

If your child is a balance bike graduate, check out the $149 Btwin 100 14. Better in every way, it’s well worth the additional $15 for a great and affordable riding experience.

What We Like

Basically Everything!

Unlike other type of BMX bikes for older kids and adults, the RoyalBaby BMX bike isn’t designed to be some agressive freestyle or racing bike that takes on jumps and obstacles, but rather merely offer up a smooth and seamless ride for a young child who’s still new at all this.

Still, the materials and components are impressive. The frame is sturdy and balanced, and doesn’t weigh too much. UIt can easily be lifted into a car with one arm, and isn’t so heavy that your kid can’t lift it off the ground and back onto its wheels when needed.

The tires are thick and have just the right amount of tread, so it can handle pavement, grass, and flat dirt surfaces with ease. The brake works well, the seat is comfy — everything is just as it should be.

The extra features are what really makes this bike.

The training wheels are easy to get on and off, and the added width really does help keep the bike upright if your little BMX rider suddenly decides to take a sharp corner.

And of course, the water bottle and bell are a hit with the kids, and gives them more of a sense of ownership of the bike.

All of this works together to make the ride more fun, which makes your kid love biking even more. And that’s the goal, right?

What We Don’t Like

The RoyalBaby bike isn’t quite perfect, but almost. The pedals seem to be an issue for some, and have been known to crack easily at times, Fortunately, the can be replaced with any standard sized pedals.

The abundance of sticker decals may be a bit much for some kids, but you can remove almost all of them, if they are self-conscious about such things.

Buying Advice

If you are buying this for your child, and it’s their first bike, you are likely going to need all the proper safety gear, especially if they are using training wheels, A helmet is a necessity, and pads are probably a good ideas as well.

The bike arrives partially assembled, so if you hate dealing with such things, it would be wise to pay the extra fee to let Amazon do the assembling for you.

Conclusion

Yes, the RoyalBaby BMX bike is a little pricier than the cheaper, inferior kids bikes you can walk in and get at a retail store, but the money is well spent.

Not only do you get a bike that your kid will be more than excited to ride for years, you get actual quality components that ensure a better level of performance, which your child will definitely appreciate. The training wheels option and additional features are just more reasons as to why this is the best children’s bike around.

If you are looking for the ideal kids bike for your young rider, look no further than the RoyalBaby BMW bike.

(FAQ) on RoyalBaby Freestyle Kid’s Bike for Boys and Girls

Question- Do I need all the safety gears when buying this bike for my son?

Answer- Well, if your son is using training wheels, a quality helmet is necessary. Also, you need to get him pads as well. Even after your son learns the trick, it is always safe for him to have safety gear on for protection against possible falls.

Question-Do I have to assemble the bike?

Answer-This bike arrives partially assembled, and so you need to do the assembly on your own. But you should not worry about that since the bike comes with a manual to help you during the process. However, if you hate the process, you can pay an extra fee for Amazon to assemble the bike for you.

Question-Is the bike expensive?

Answer- Well, the bike is not so expensive, but it is pricier when compared to other inferior and cheaper kids bikes. The bike is worth your money!

Question- Is the seat comfortable enough for the kid?

Answer- The bike’s seat is very comfortable. It is padded with contoured shape making it very comfortable for your kid the seat is also adjustable which means you can fix it to match your kid’s height.

With Royalbaby BMX kid bikes, you will not only get a bike that will captivate your kid for years, but you will also get a bike with quality components for a high level of performance that your kid will appreciate. If looking for the best kid bike for your child, look no further for Royal baby is here for you. Let your kid get out and get moving as biking is the best way to explore the surroundings and stay happy and fit!