Which balance bike??

[jrthomas_uk]

Hi,

Am thinking of buying a balance bike for my son's 3rd birthday. Have been looking at Likeabike Jumper and Islabike Rothan.

Any recommendations for either of the above or any other balance bike would be great.

Thx (tu)

[njc97]

We got one from decathlon and my son thinks it's the best thing ever. Can't compare to those two, apart from it was a lot cheaper (?30?). Think the big difference is that it has solid rubber tyres rather than pneumatic ones. Presumably less soft ride but no punctures...

[Lhell]

We were recommended and bought the firstbike (http://www.firstbike.uk.com/) with the cross country tyres. Not cheap but amazing and we have had so much wear and it still looks good as new. So many people have stopped us and asked about it......Could not recommend highly enough!

[chantelle]

we got the islabike cnoc with the idea of taking off the pedals and using it as a balance bike until our 3 year old was ready to ride for real. His legs were just a bit too short though so we had to rush out and get stabilisers on his birthday. still might take off the pedals as soon as his legs grow ... he likes to pedal now though so who knows. This option costs about 50 quid more but means you don't have to buy a second bike in a year or two.

[Readey]

My 3 year old loves his Puky bike. We got it second hand so avoided the expense of a new one. He has lots of confidence now and rides it really well. The idea is to go straight to pedals without stabilisers & I'm sure he will be able to do that soon. The bike is very heavy but this makes it well built & solid.

[nunheadmum]

Another vote for the Decathlon balance bike. Good size, lighter than the Puky (worth thinking about if you walk to the park etc.....you can end up carrying them a lot in the early days!). Great value.

Worth considering how long your LO is likely to use the bike for before going onto something bigger with wheels. If they're a pretty active little boy, they may move onto a proper bike fairly quickly, so it may be better to wait and invest the big money at that stage.

Alternatively, there does seem to be a good second hand market in the bigger named bikes such as Puky, Likeabike etc.

[VALFR59]

Another Vote as well for the DECATHLON balance bike.

Two models offered, and Very good value for Money.

You can find a big store behind the Surrey Quays shopping center.

[Sanne Panne]

Wondering whether you can just take the pedals off a normal bike and put the seat really low to temporarily turn it into a balance bike? That would save money. Only thing stopping you would be a bulky chain cover and non-removable pedals but surely... (I must be missing something)

[akc74]

Without wishing to go off topic, could anyone advise me how early we might realistically start using one of these - in your experience? Thanks.

[njc97]

Sanne panne - you can in theory, but the balance bikes have *very* low seats, much lower than you would for a pedal bike, and are a lot lighter (because you dont have the chain etc). Someone on antoher thread mentioned getting a bike from Balfe's and they removed pedals for them.

Akc74 - we got our son his at about 2.5 but I think he would have been ok younger. They're really just running, so once they're comfortable with that you could give them a go. If you want to try out, if you go to decathlon there are a couple you can have a go on, cycling around the shop.

[fgreen79]

I rate the strider rider balance bike, i bought one of these for my son, after doing loads of research. It was the lightest and most adjustable balance bike i could find. The customer service from strider-rider was brilliant as we ordered d the bike late afternoon and it turned up the following morning.

[jrthomas_uk]

Thx for all your posts. We eventually went for the Decathalon bike but so far it's coming a poor second to his scooter, hopefully he'll show more interest in it soon.

[nunheadmum]

Hang in there - they're fickle little sods!! My daughter did the same but a month or two down the line, she started to get on it and now, a couple of months later, her only complaint is that she's going too fast!! (And my complaint is that I can't keep up!)

[TotallyMagent]

I'd recommend PUKY personally. They're all metal and built in Germany. We got our son one of these: https://www.pukyonline.co.uk/puky-captn-sharky-balance-bikes.html

I think its a special edition or something as its not part of their usual colour range but its funky and he loves it. He's never off the thing and we've had to ban him from using it in the house as he was getting so excited he was knocking thigns over all the time. lol

[Otta]

I have an "early rider classic" wooden bike for sale if you're interested.