Balance Bike

ukjoel

The mrs has decided in her wisdom that the kids need a balance bike. Gone are the days of stabilisers follwed by the historic first journey down the hill resulting in either success or a trip to A&E.

Anyway luddite that I am, I had a look at one of these bikes on the net and they want £50 -£100 for what is effectively a bike but without the pedals and chain.

I can pick up a kids bike at the boot sale for a fiver. I dont see why I cant just remove the pedals, chain, and save myself some hard earned money.

My question is (yes I get there eventually) - Is this feasible? has anyone done it? and is my above logic totally flawed or am I onto something?

Many thanks in advance for your responses which I am sure will put me right.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Sounds like a winner to me. Once your wife has decided that some of the cotton wool can be removed, you can bang the peddles back on!

Quicker they fall off, the quicker they learn not to!!

the_big_fact_hunt

i bought one from Lidl for£10,my son loved it

Billy-no-Money

Seems a perfectly sane thing to do for an MSE'er - might be best to take the chainring off as well - you're likely to need a 'crank puller' to do that.

And for a true 'balance bike', take the brakes off as well! Adds to the thrill apparently.

I fondly remember each of my kids' first non-stabiliser rides, it's a rite of passage for a dad and child - seems a shame if that's a thing of the past!

Mankysteve

I'm sure you can get them for a bit cheaper. Second hand ebay ect. There's was a article in the guardain a while back saying they were great. Got no experience though.

goldspanners

Billy-no-Money wrote: »

And for a true 'balance bike', take the brakes off as well! Adds to the thrill apparently.

keep the brakes on,when he ends up getting a real bike he will then know how to use them rather than trying to break the habit of using his feet to stop.

Rolandtheroadie

goldspanners wrote: »

keep the brakes on,when he ends up getting a real bike he will then know how to use them rather than trying to break the habit of using his feet to stop.

The amount of shoes I went through as a kid lol. Nothing worked better than the toes of a pair of new shoes.

goldspanners

scotsman4th wrote: »

The amount of shoes I went through as a kid lol. Nothing worked better than the toes of a pair of new shoes.

i only used my trainers to jam the rear wheel so i could carry out a more impressive skid than any caliper style brakes could muster.

my sister always used her feet to stop,it really iritated me,i recently watched my fiancee on her bike and she did the same, the irritation came flooding back.

merlie

take the pedals off.... they'll get the balence in no time and you'll save £ ' s