Squish Bikes Review 2026 | Honest UK Dealer Verdict
Parents ask us the same question about Squish more or less every week: it's a kids' bike, they'll outgrow it in two years — so why does it cost twice what the supermarket one costs?
Fair question. The honest answer isn't "because it's better" — it's one word: weight. Here's the full picture, with real weights, including the situations where we'd tell you to buy something else.
What Squish actually is
Squish is the lightweight kids' range from Tandem Group Cycles — the British company behind Dawes and Claud Butler. The whole brand exists around one design principle: get the weight down.
A typical supermarket 16" kids' bike weighs 10–11kg. A Squish 16 weighs 6.3kg. For a child who weighs 20kg, that's the difference between riding a bike that's half their body weight and one that's under a third of it. A heavy bike is harder to start, harder to stop, harder to pick up, and much harder to control — kids on heavy bikes tend to conclude cycling is difficult and stop asking to go out.
The range — real weights and prices
| Model | Weight | Age guide | Gears | Our price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squish 12" Balance | light alloy | 2–4 | — | £165.99 |
| Squish 14 | 5.83 kg | 3+ | Single | £273.99 |
| Squish 16 | 6.3 kg | 4+ | Single | £279.99 |
| Squish 18 | 6.66 kg | 5+ | Single | £294.99 |
| Squish 20 | 7.79 kg | 6+ | 7-speed | £324.99 |
| Squish 24 | 8.63 kg | 8+ | 8-speed | £334.99 |
| Squish 13/26 & 15/26 | 9.3 kg | 9+ | 8-speed | £367.99 |
All models in stock in multiple colours at time of writing.
MOST POPULAR SIZE
Squish 16" — the classic first proper bike
£279.99 £329.99
6.3kg, single-speed simplicity, child-sized brake levers, ages 4+. The weight difference vs a supermarket bike is obvious the first time your child sets off unaided.
View bike →What you're paying for
✅ Aluminium frame. Steel is cheaper and heavier. On an adult bike that’s marginal; on a child’s bike it’s most of the point.
✅ Child-specific brake levers. Short-reach, adjustable-span levers a six-year-old can actually pull hard enough to stop quickly.
✅ Narrow Q-factor. Pedals sit closer together to match narrow hips, so legs track straight instead of splaying out.
✅ Lightweight wheels and tyres. Rotating weight is the weight a rider feels most.
✅ Gearing for short legs. Single speed on 14–18", 7-speed on the 20, 8-speed from 24 up — low enough to climb without getting off.
Squish vs the alternatives
vs supermarket bikes (£100–£150). No contest on weight or brakes. If budget is the hard constraint, a cheaper bike still gets a child riding — our best kids' bikes under £150 guide covers the good ones — but expect it to be harder work for them.
vs Shyre. Our own Shropshire lightweight brand sits right between the two: the Shyre Hopton 16 is 7.5kg at £279.99 — the same price as the Squish 16 with a slightly plusher, hybrid-style build (the Squish stays the lighter of the two at 6.3kg). Genuinely hard to pick a wrong answer between them.
vs Frog. The closest competitor; both are good. Frog has the bigger brand and stronger resale. Squish is consistently cheaper for a comparable weight — especially discounted, which is the whole point of shopping with us.
vs Hoy. We stock both. The Hoy Pentland 20 is a lovely bike at 8.95kg / £417.99; the Squish 20 is lighter (7.79kg) and £93 cheaper. Hoy answers with a plusher trail-ready build and stronger resale. Full head-to-head in our Hoy review.
vs second-hand. A used Squish at half price is often the smartest buy on this page — alloy frames don't degrade and lightweight kids' bikes hold value well.
Who shouldn't buy one
❌ If your child rides twice a year. The weight advantage pays off with regular use — something cheaper is fine.
❌ If they’re about to jump a wheel size. Measure first: eight months on a Squish is poor value, two and a half years is excellent value. Size guide here.
❌ If the bike lives outside, unlocked, in a shared space. Buy something you won’t mind losing.
❌ If they need real suspension for trail-centre riding. Squish are lightweight rigid designs — brilliant for parks, paths and pump tracks, not black runs.
The honest verdict — 4.5/5
Squish makes some of the best-value lightweight kids' bikes sold in the UK, and weight is the single biggest factor in whether a child enjoys learning to ride. The finishes are functional rather than flashy, and you're paying for engineering your child will never notice — but their legs will. At our discounted prices, it's an easy recommendation.
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