Balance bikes for toddlers - recommend

masterlumps

we got a normal bike and took the pedals off until ds was ready to try with them on

ymcas

p1tse wrote: »

Thanks , but little lad is smaller and generally these cheaper ones I can imagine be heavier. If he was 3+ maybe, but at 2 thinking of lighter ones

I was set on the lighter Islabike rothan but unfortunately for us it was too big for our 2 year old... has 12" wheels. I was in Toys R Us and saw the magma one and let him have a go and he fit perfectly as it is a little smaller with 10" wheels. He's been flying around on it ever since, but at 2 years 9 months it is now getting too small and we need a 12" wheel bike. We tried him on a 14" hoping we could get the cnoc 14 but he couldn't touch the ground so am now thinking that another 12" cheap balance bike is the way forward for the few months until he is big enough for the cnoc 14.

Just as an aside, the 10" balance bike has never caused him a problem weight wise, and seems quite light to carry for me, however the "real bikes" of similar size seem to weigh a ton. Guess its all the extra bits on a real bike that add a lot of the weight. So to me it seems that the cnoc 14 stage is possibly the time to pay the money for an isla bike.

p1tse

thanks all

strider, not heard of that one.

shame not many places stock these type and brands

i'm thinking 12" wheels if i can, so i don't have the same issue as above.

ymcas, why was the rothan too big?

minnie123

You can actually buy a seat with a longer post for the Strider bike so it can last them a lot longer for about a tenner. I did a lot of research before I bought mine. I think you can buy an add on brake too.

Also I don't think you can go by wheel size when looking for bikes to suit small kids as the Strider has 12" wheels and the lowest seat height is 28cm maximum seat height 40.6 without extension 48cm with extension, that Magma one from Toys R Us has 10" wheels but it's lowest seat height is 32cm and it only rises to 38cm.

I was sure the Rothan had a similar low seat height as I narrowed it down to the Rothan and the Strider as they were the only 2 small enough for my boy.

AllyBabe

We bought DS2 the Puky LRB1 with brake for his 2nd birthday and it's been fantastic. Still looks like new now and he's 6! He doesn't need it now, as he has been able to ride a bike without stabilisers since his 3rd birthday, but refuses to part with it as it's so much fun! I'm not sure what the weight is, but it has never been a problem.

p1tse

Minnie123, be interesting to know why you went with strider instead of rothan islabike?

Heard puky on a few searches will have a look

Next question to myself do we spoil him with his birthday present or wait until Xmas lol

p1tse

AllyBabe wrote: »

We bought DS2 the Puky LRB1 with brake for his 2nd birthday and it's been fantastic. Still looks like new now and he's 6! He doesn't need it now, as he has been able to ride a bike without stabilisers since his 3rd birthday, but refuses to part with it as it's so much fun! I'm not sure what the weight is, but it has never been a problem.

Thanks
They look good but prefer the others as they look a but wider in the middle which could effect the little legs in motion

minnie123

I chose the strider for a few reasons :

It was £40 cheaper
It came in Orange - my little boys fave colour
It was a bit lighter and my boy is very small
It didn't have a brake but you can buy a foot brake for a tenner to add on if you want as they get better
The option for a longer seat unit
It has foot rests (I don't think the Rothan does)

I'm not cheap, if the bike had been £40 rubbisher (is that a word???) I would have got the Rothan but they seemed pretty well even.

I think the Strider & Rothan are the two coolest balance bikes you can buy.

minnie123

You won't be able to wait until christmas!!! I gave the Strider to my little boy a week before his birthday because I was too excited, then I felt guilty on his birthday and bought him lots more presents - he thought it was his birthday all week long!!

Have a look at this sooo cute : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO74hCxOLBU (Monster Jam Strider Racing)

rachbc

we had a firstbike for dd - used it from 2 til 4 - it was the smallest lightest one we could get as she was teeny. We got the lowering kit to make it even smaller. It was nicked from our front garden 3 months before christams (when we planned to get a 'proper bike') and we borrowed a wooden one from a freind think a joey bike or somesuch) and she didn't like it as much - seat was a on dd shape and she couldn't get a good push off and was much heavier - no wonder their daughter never got on with it! Thoroughly recommend them http://firstbike.com/