Bicycles are always a popular Christmas present for children - but parents need to be sure they are safe and appropriate for the age of the child.

Carlton Reid, editor of Bicycle Business, believes all children's bikes should be bought from reputable sources. He says: "You love your kids, right? Nothing's too good for them, right? So, how come so many parents buy the cheapest kids bikes they can find? It's illogical! A good quality bike bought from a specialist outlet pays for itself many times over because it can stand-up to kid-abuse and will need less maintenance than a supermarket special that will have rubbishy bearings, weak components and shoddy welding. Cycling is a key life-skill, make it pleasurable for your child, don't be fooled into thinking a cheap bike is 'good enough'."

Here are our top tips for parents buying a child's bike for Christmas from Tim Peterson of The Cycle Centre London:

• Buying a bike unassembled is time consuming and potentially unsafe. Try to buy one already assembled.
• If it's a first bike, your child should be able to place their feet almost flat on the floor [not absolutely flat] whilst sitting on a bike [unlike adults who should be able to touch the floor with their toes]. This will help your child feel in control: if children feel unsafe and are frightened in the first few days of riding it could take some time to coax them back on their bike.
• When you buy a child's bike make sure the seat is at its lowest position so that you have about 10 or 12 inches of seat post left: this will make the bike usable for longer.

One way to make small children's bikes safer is easy-to-use coaster brakes. These were popular in the 70s, but over the last few decades have slowly disappeared from children's bikes. The coaster brakes work by pedalling backwards - many will remember this type of braking from their childhood - eliminate the problems encountered by small children whose small hands cannot operate handlebar brakes effectively.

Ian Beasant, marketing director of Nottingham-based Giant Bicycles UK, which uses coaster brakes on its bikes aimed at two to four-year-olds, says:

"In Europe and America coaster brakes are very popular: it's only here in the UK that they haven't been available recently. Little children have great difficulty using the traditional hand brake located on the handlebars because their hands are too little to grasp the lever and not strong enough to pull it towards them. The coaster brakes are much more child-friendly, safer and help nurture confidence because the children feel more in control".

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