Himiway C1 Kids E-Bike Review, 2024

Equipped with a 350W brushless, geared hub motor powered by a 360Wh battery, the Himiway C1 will give kids hours of riding on a single charge. Himiway estimates a kid will get up to 50 mi. per charge. Considering a typical child’s weight range and the distances they ride at that age, it’s likely most parents wouldn’t need to charge it more than once a week, and that’s only if the C1 is their kid’s favorite way to have fun.

The absence of any reason to suffer second-hand range anxiety is pretty handy considering that the rider of the Himiway C1 won’t be able to pedal home should the battery get drained. Of course, not needing to charge it daily could result in forgetting to charge it at all.

There’s always a chance we will get 100 comments asking us to take this up Hell Hole and if we do, we will, right after I eat my words.

In an effort to do something reasonable, I rode this up a .29-mi.-long 2 percent grade. In order to create a frame of reference, I performed the same test on a cruiser on throttle.

The ADO Cruiser ascended in 1:16, for an average speed of 13.7 mph. By comparison, the Himiway C1 climbed the hill in 1:30 for an average of 11.7 mph. I was plenty impressed with its performance, and let’s remember, I’m not remotely the target market. Put a child on this and it will keep up just fine, and may even ascend at its 15 mph limit.

Hydraulic disc brakes handle the stopping duties for the C1. If it seems surprising that a kid’s e-bike would include such a premium component, the choice makes terrific sense. They made two great choices, in fact. Not only did they choose a hydraulic disc brake, they chose only one and mounted it in the rear.

One of the benefits of hydraulic disc brakes relative to all other kinds of brake is that a hydraulic disc brake requires less force to operate. Put more simply—your hand doesn’t need to be as strong to generate sufficient stopping power. The 160mm rotor provides plenty of stopping power for a 16-in. wheel.

Placing the brake in the rear also means that the rider can’t lock up the front wheel and catapult themselves over the bar. They might skid a little if braking hard, but kids are bound to find that entertaining and do it deliberately, so it might as well be an effective brake.

Standover height for the Himiway C1 is a nick under 20 in. at 19.7. Himiway suggests that’s small enough for a four year old to ride, but most growth charts for kids suggest that the average six year old has an inseam of 20 in. Kids smaller than that can buy themselves some extra height by reaching for the ground with their toes, though.

The question of how old a kid can be and still ride the Himiway C1 is something of an open question. The answer runs along the lines of waiting for your kid to complain because it has a weight rating of 165 lbs, so the bigger problem may be keeping adults off of it.

The Himiway C1 rolls on 16-in. wheels bearing 3-in.-wide tires. With such big tires, parents can run surprisingly low pressure in the tires which will increase traction and reduce the likelihood of flat tires.

Because it lacks a drivetrain, the Himiway C1 weighs just 32 lbs., which will help keep it manageable for kids. In place of the drivetrain, the C1 features footboards much like a motorcycle has. These are appropriately narrow for a kid’s feet.

The obvious question here is: Should you get the Himiway C1 for your kid? It’s a question that deserves a straightforward answer.

Here’s the best answer I can give: Justin’s six year old absolutely loves this thing. I’ve got a four year old and in another year or two, I think I’d let mine have a crack at it as well.

There’s no doubt the Himiway C1 is well-made, though the price does seem a bit high. If you have multiple kids and can anticipate passing it down through successive kiddos, that helps spread the cost out. For those families with only one or two kids, they will be able to sell the C1 and get a solid price for it because it’s so well made.

What’s stopping me from putting my four year old on it is that I can’t adjust the speed settings on the C1. I might feel differently if I could cap the speed settings and my child couldn’t exceed a limit of my choosing.

With the Himiway C1 we do wonder how you ever get a kid interested in pedaling after an experience with such a surplus of yeeha. Yes, it might take a little while to teach your kid how to use a hand brake, but again, PAS 1 = jogging speed.

We would like to see an app to allow parents additional control over the Himiway C1. First, it would be nice to adjust the PAS levels. A setting of 4 or 5 mph would be a great place to start and another setting that’s 9 or 10 mph would be great. Also, being able to lock the PAS level so that your kid can’t decide that 13 mph would be more fun than 7 mph would give parents of pint-sized stunt performers a degree of comfort.

For parents who want to scrub some speed off the higher PAS levels, running low pressure in the tires (low being less than 20 psi) will help slow the C1 by increasing rolling resistance. Low pressure will also increase traction and unless there’s no air in the tires at all, a pinch flat will be unlikely thanks to those wide tires.

People say it’s hard to be a kid today. With the Himiway C1, being a kid just became more fun.

Happy Riding! Make sure to let us know if you have any questions or if you think we left anything out in this review of the Himiway C1 down in our comments section.