When you’re biking with kids you need to be prepared whether your balance biking in your driveway or mountain biking down the trail. Find out the essential gear for biking with kids here. What do ride and bring in your biking bag?
Bike Trailers, Balance Bikes and Kids Bikes
First up, you’ll need bikes for your family bike ride – everyone in your family will be on wheels. When you’re biking with babies (six months plus) and toddlers, the most important biking gear for your family will be a bike trailer or seat.
We’re fans of (and affiliates for) Burley Bike Trailers. We love Burley because they’re easy to attach and detach, can hold 100 pounds of kids and gear and are super high quality. Plus certain models convert to a ski chariot for cross-country skiing in winter months.
Bike trailers allow you to carry all of the snacks, spare tubes and family biking gear essentials easily. And as a bonus, you can shove a balance bike in the storage area when your toddler tires out. They are essential!
Once your toddler reaches 18-36 months you can start them on a balance bike. This teaches (SURPRISE) balance before adding pedals to the mix. Read this post on balance bikes vs. training wheels.
Older children will need a bikes that actually fit. Don’t be tempted to buy a bike a size bigger so they can “grow into it” because your child will have less control if they can’t reach their feet comfortably to the ground while sitting on the bike seat.
We love WOOM bikes (pronounced Voom) because they’re designed with kids in mind with low-to-the-ground telemetry and lightweight frames. Plus they have an Upcycle program that lets you purchase the next size bike for your child at a steep discount, ensuring that your kid is always on the right size bike.
For mountain biking we recommend Prevelo bikes. Read this post to see why.
Biking Gear Emergency Essentials
In addition to bikes, you’ll want emergency gear for your family bike ride.
In our family, the most common biking trail emergency is a flat tire, so I’m always prepared for that. In my biking pack I carry a spare tube for everyone, a bike pump and a set of tire levers. That’s it!
I keep things light because I typically never bike farther than a few miles with kids and I figure that in the worst case scenario I can walk my bike back to the trailhead the few miles we biked if there’s a bigger problem.
Watch this action-packed, critically-acclaimed by us YouTube video to see our essential gear for biking with kids!
Once you watch the video, you’ll see that Mountain Dad likes to be prepared. He does a lot more mountain biking and has experience with bike maintenance so his pack includes everything on the following list.
What to Pack in Your Bike Pack
- BIKE PUMP – we like this one that supports both presta and shrader bike tubes
- SPARE TUBE FOR EACH BIKE – This can take up a lot of space in your pack. Watch this video for a great space saving trick!
- TIRE LEVERS – It’s tough to change a flat tire without them.
- HEX SET MULTI-TOOL – A hex set multi-tool with 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8mm keys, phillips and flathead tips, and possibly torx (star) head tip depending on your bike. You may already have a set of allen wrenches in your garage or toolbox at home – those work great.
- BIKE TIRE PRESSURE GAUGE – This one is light, accurate, and supports both Presta and Schraeder valves.
- ZIP TIES
- SPARE MASTER CHAIN LINK
- TUBELESS SYSTEM SUPPLIES – Mountain Dad rides a tubeless, full-suspension bike so he carries a tubeless tire plug kit, valve core tool, and replacement valve cores.
- DOODADS – Doodads (yep, that’s the official term) like cable end covers, tire valve covers, and a presta valve retaining nut.
Links in this post are affiliate links, meaning I make a small commission on qualifying purchases. We purchased almost all of the gear listed in this post ourselves and would purchase it again in a heartbeat.
One item we typically don’t carry but that you might like is a bike tube patch kit. If you get a flat tire a tube patch kit can fix it quick. They’re lightweight and easy to carry. However, we choose to carry replacement tubes for emergencies instead because patches can be finniky, and replacing tubes is typically faster, easier and more reliable.
One pro tip for storing family biking gear emergency essentials is to strap that spare tube and set of tire levers right to your bike frame! We use these granite gear straps and they work like a charm.
Outdoor Family Adventure Essentials
The reason I’m a lightweight when it comes to packing biking gear emergency essentials is that I’m typically carrying EVERYTHING else. For ANY outdoor family adventure certain items can make the experience better for everyone, like food.
If you’re not sure what to pack for an outdoor family adventure use the Ten Essentials for Families list as guide. Sign up for a FREE printable of the ten essentials for families in the box right here, below this sentence.
Here’s a list of some of the essential gear I bring for outdoor family adventures:
What to Pack for EVERY Family Outdoor Adventure
- FOOD – I bring SO MANY SNACKS whenever we’re hiking or biking as a family. They offer nutrition, distraction and a reward system, plus my son has food allergies so I like to always be prepared.
- WATER – We love camelbaks in our family so I typically have a quart or two of water in my pack as well as a sippable water bottle with a top my youngest can manage without spilling all over herself. Like these or these.
- DIAPERS/WIPES OR A WAG BAG – When nature calls, you answer, and nature tends to call for my kids about a mile and a half away from the trailhead. An extra diaper is essential when hiking, biking, or doing anything with a baby or toddler, but for older kids we use these waste disposal bags. We’ve tried digging holes to bury poop, but these wag bags are cleaner and easier in my opinion.
- HEADLAMP – It’s nice to always have one in case you get lost, have a bike maintenance issue or there’s an injury that keeps you out on the trail longer than you’d like. This little headlamp is tiny and amazing.
- FIRST AID KIT – For me my trail first aid kit usually consists of just a few bandaids, a handkerchief, and my son’s Epipen and asthma inhaler. I keep a larger first aid kit in the glove box of my car for bigger emergencies.
- MORE TEN ESSENTIAL ITEMS – Don’t forget to download the free Hiking Ten Essentials for Families pdf for a complete list of items to bring on family adventures. You can also read this post about the Hiking Ten Essentials.
Family Bike Helmets
The final family biking gear emergency essential is a helmet for every member of your family, even if they’re riding in a bike trailer. Sometimes it’s hard to find helmets small enough for babies and toddlers, and then making them wear them can be even harder. But don’t be tempted to think that a bike trailer acts like a roll cage in case of emergencies. While that might be true, that’s not what they’re designed for and it’s better to protect those little noggins with helmets.
For older kids and adults riding more daring, mountain bike trails, you may want to get full face mountain biking helmets. Protect your pretty face from nasty falls with a full face set up.
Click here to see all our family biking gear recommendations.
That’s it! When you head out for your next family bike ride don’t forget to take a photo and share it in the FREE Helping Families Explore Outdoors facebook group.
See you in the outdoors,
~Mountain Mom
