bike advice for younger children, please

[tarafitness]

We bought our (now) 3 year old a really gorgeous bright red strider balance bike the Christmas before last. He has zero interest in it, and makes a halfhearted effort to ride it - at best - then gives up.

I think we made a bit of an error of judgement, as he really seems to prefer things he can sit on and pedal - and that are a bit more stable (he's quite risk averse).

Can anyone please recommend a good first/starter bike (with stabilisers!), that might suit a reasonably tall 3 year old?

Many thanks, Tara.

[Convex]

i would recommend you try him on something at evans, he can try it out in the shop and they will be able to advise you on the right size etc.

islabikes get a good rep, as do hoy bikes.

we have a dawes one which is great but we have a reluctant cyclist so we don't get out on it that much.

[goldilocks]

Before you switch to a bike with stabilisers you could consider taking him to the strider bike sessions at the velodrome. They have them in the week and on a weekend so check the schedule. Its nice as there are lots of kids doing the same thing which usually encourages them and the coaches are lovely.

[BeccaL]

Blowfish bikes are very good at that age - take him to Balfe's and they can help. Our daughter had one with stabilisers on which came off easily when necessary - she didn't like her balance bike either!

[ARF]

I second the recommendation to go along to one of the sessions at the velodrome. We too had a balance bike for our daughter which she was never that interested in and always preferred her scooter. She had probably been on it literally a handful of times before we gave her a bike for her fourth birthday. We went for a Frog bike from Balfes - cheaper then Isla bikes but still fairly lightweight and manouverable. We didn't get stabilisers. We took her out on it once ourselves - more or less just holding her on it the whole time - and then I took her along to a velodrome striderbike session on it. I was really after tips on how to help her but by the end of that session she was able to ride on her own. Starting, braking and steering took a bit longer to master but once she had got the hang of balancing and pedalling we could just take her out to practice. I was surprised how quickly she got the idea. I think the minimal time she spent on her balance bike must have still helped. And she probably took on board the advice from the staff at the velodrome more readily than from us...

[Convex]

edited to say... found it!

[tarafitness]

Thanks for all the advice!

He doesn't really like his scooter either ;-)

The Strider sessions at the Velodrome sound perfect. Unfortunately they're only run during the week, and not on the day we have off together, what a shame!

We picked up a Specialized Hotrock 12" starter bike from this forum. It needs a fair bit of work to make it rideable again, but it's a nice bike, and my son already looks a lot keener on it than he did his shiny new red Strider... typical!

If we're off on a Tuesday or Wednesday at some point, I'll be sure to take him to the HH Velodrome.

Thanks again, Tara.

[LouiseSF]

hi Tara,

we're interested in trying a strider bike for our 2yo if you're interested in selling it?

many thanks

louise

ryan