With the recent launch of the most advanced Kids BMX Freestyle bike yet - the Wethepoeple Aerox - I thought now would be a good time to do a bit of history on 16" and 18" wheeled BMX bikes.
I am going off what I remember, it is limited to what we had here in the UK, so if I left something out, just let me know!
Rightly ho. The original 16's I remember were in the 80's, there were "Pit Bikes" for adults (with Pro size bars) mostly to ride around in the pits at the races back them. GT, CW and many others produce these and they had quite a following and I remember them being raced for fun as well.
I guess there just wasn't much demand for smaller freestyle bikes at that time, or the industry hadn't quite figured it out yet. Kids race bike were well catered for, but freestyle... nothing.
An outlier here is the Ammaco Freestyle 18. Based in Kent, UK, Ammaco were the Mongoose importer and Malcolm and Sue Jarvis bascially brought BMX to the UK in 1979. These bikes are very rare but here is one beloning to Mark Broadway that Google found me on the AMMACO FREESTYLER BMX BIKES Facebook group:
"Here are some pics of my Ammaco freestyle 18, it's all original except the back tyre, I've only ever seen 2 and I own both of them"
Mark Broadway
From what I remember it wasn't then until the late 90's that 16's started being added as an afterthought to the lineups. Like this 1997 Dyno VFR 16:
This circa 1999 General Lee 16" from DK was a more serious proposition. The full-size General Lee was a big seller at that time, so a scaled down version was a no-brainer.
Next IIRC came the "Prodigy Series" Hoffman Condor in 16" and - get this - 18/20. This was an 18" wheeled bike that could be upgraded to full-size 20" wheels. The frame design was a scaled down version of the Condor but it was HEAVY. Even the 16" had 14mm axles front and back and of course were were just coming the huge dropout era. Although it was great idea, the 18/20 didn't actually work with 20" wheel as the brakes didn't work on it...
Next we have to give huge props to the late, great Dave Mirra's Mirraco brand who were years ahead of their time. The alloy kids freestyle bike can be dated right back to the innovative Mirraco Project 16 & 18 bikes from 2008. These Project series bikes were by far the most expensive kids BMX bikes we'd seen up to that point, retailling at £549.99. Rumour has it that Dave Mirra wanted to create a line of pro-influenced kids bikes and - boom! - they got it right first time. Anyway, despite the you-will-never-sell-those-at-that-price ticket, they sold out right away! Then Trek (who Mirraco were partnered with/distributed by at that point) wouldn't get us any more, but while at Interbike that year I spoke to Mirraco CEO Jim Ford and we managed to get a few more brought over somehow. Unfortunately, Mirraco discontinued the Project 16 & 18 bikes and the brand faded away, leaving a gap in the market for years to come.
Mirraco Project 16 from 2008.
BTW, I knew back then that there was demand for a lighter/better kids bike after I built a lighter Hoffman Condor 16" with alloy 3pc race cranks and Tuff Wheels for my son Ralph (which we used in an ad in Ride Magazine titled Northern Ralph, a spin on the famous full-page Northern John ad we'd ran).
It then took around a decade for Cult to launch their Juvenile line of bikes featuring alloy frames and expanding to include 12" and 14" wheel sizes as well. The Juvenile line then had a major upgrade in 2024 with a new frame, you can tell the difference with the much beefier downtube, on the pink bike.
Check the out the Cult Juvenile bike here
Original Cult Juvenile 18"
2025 Cult Juvenile 18" with larger downtube
In 2021, Radio Bikes came up a line of alloy-framed bikes called the Dice. Radio is Wethepeople's sister brand and while these were OK they never really took off like the Cult Juveniles. Maybe this is why it took so long for WTP to switch to alloy?
Check the out the Radio Dice models here
The Cult Juvenile was our best selling kids BMX BMX until the Colony Horizon bikes came onto the market. The light weight and super-dialled the Horizon came in 12", 14" 16", 18" & even 20" sizes.
Check the out the Colony Horizon models here
Bringing us right up to date, Wethepeople have just released info on the new Aerox 16" and 18" bikes, high-end complete with not just an alloy frame but also alloy bars, forks and cranks! Weights are still TBA, but these things look TRICK!!!
Check out the Wethepeople Aerox models here
If you are looking to buy a kids BMX bike, here at Alans BMX we have you covered. Here's a handy guide from Colony to help you choose the right size:
