So my dad is insisting on buying my little one a balance bike which of course is fine by me 🙂

which one should i go for?

Strider?
ridgeback?
specialized?
isla?

Pick one that allows your child to sit comfortably with both feet flat on the floor. That’s the important thing.
I picked a Rothan because it was the only one I could find that was small enough for my daughter, but other models will be just as good if they fit your kid .

Had a specialised one for my lad, got him riding well enough. Seems to have a good resale value as well.

Isla as they are the lightest to carry when child goes off to investigate something and the brake will come in handy for skids when they get older :0) Remove it to start with.

Mind the others will be fine too.

The EarlyRider is by far the best looking bike ever. My daughter at 2-3 found it quite clumsy so I thought it was a bag of scanners. My 2 year old boy is all over it though….so I love it again.

Bought an Islabike as low standover, good saddle for them to scoot on and it is nice and light to carry when the sprog decides he wants to run around instead. Liked the steering limiter as does help them getting on.

It should have good resale value too.

Most of the others will be absolutely fine though.

My vote goes to Spec Hot Walk because it is build like a real bike.
My daughter is almost 2 and loves it.

My day but our first son a Rothan and it’s been superb, light, well made and he’s now bombing around on it. Would recommend but I’m sure the others would be fine too

Little ones got a zoooom here, nice, well built, picked it up from Winstanleys for a good price bout £60-£70 solid little balance bike, would recomend it, seen others, much of a muchness, they provide 2 length seat piss too so when they’re little can slam it but got the height when they get bigger.

Both my kids used an Early rider.

Changed the grips and seat to pink when my daughter inherited it

One push on a pedal bike and they were straight off.

MM

thanks guys 🙂

Mine started on a Stryder bike, as he’s pretty small, and it was the only one he could get to the floor on (aged 18ish months).
He didn’t ride it a great deal, but “knew it was the” type thing….

Fast forward to 2.5 years and he suddenly took to it brilliantly….entered a few races (seriously! Big bike bash) and won an Early Rider wooden one – it’s absolutely brilliant! Slack head angle, so really forgiving and stable (though had a few speed wobble stacks!), and looks ore-sum! Plus… The pneumatic tyres, especially the phat rear, make it comfy too!
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDEip0QLgk4&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

DrP

My son rides a Scoot/Zooom. Its taken him until about a month ago to get used to it properly but he won’t get off it now. Sending himself down stuff that makes me wince but its got a brake and he knows how to use it (current record is about 6ft for a skid – he’s not even 3 on a tiny bike and he’s pulling 6ft skids!).

When I first got it for him it was a touch too big. But flipping the seatpost guts sorted that easily enough… Really good little bike. Islabike or Specializeds were top of my list but couldn’t find a dealer locally whereas the LBS was only too pleased to help with a Scoot and from reading various reviews found that to be honest, the Spesh/Scoot/Rothan are all much of a muchness. Can’t go wrong with any of those (but does the Spesh come with a brake? If not, I’d rule it out… they need brakes!).

My boy it 2 and a half and has an early rider. First few minutes he was a bit wobbly, but now he can roll around on it easily enough. The pneumatic are a bonus as you can run them a bit lower at first to help balance.

Looks cool too!

I bought my daughter a rothan, which seems pretty good, but the only issue i can see is that the spare seatpost sticks out of the bottom of the frame & she keeps cathcing her heels on it & the same thing happens with the cable noodle on the v-brake. Which means she’ll have a go on it for a bit but once she hurts her ankle it gets dropped. With that in mind i may get her something else as its just not getting used. That hot walk one above looks a better option.
The 2 main faults the my daughter can find are; A, its not pink & B, it doesn’t have a seat at the back for a doll.

I have got the spec hotwalk for both my kids, they love it.

Well build and withstands the neglect a child drops on it!!!

We have a Hotwalk & a Raleigh strider (at nanny’s) (not to confuse with Strida) one was £100 the other £45 both are similar geometry but obviously the Hotwalk is a way nicer bike.

If you have the Hotwalk indoors add another £10 for some decent grips that dont knock the ends out in 10 minutes, or decent and plugs.

When he was first off we had a Tiny Bike if your child is small..

Rose has a strider [the brand not the raleigh strider)

It’s brilliant – lighter and lower seat than the other 12″ ones, and just seems really well designed – things like perfectly sized grips, good stepover so it is easy for her to pick up, and a special child friendly brake that she is just starting to understand at 2 and a half.

Small enough that she was standing over it at 18 months, although she only got into it at about 21 months, was riding fine by 22 months, nowadays she rides to and from childminders on it, and is good for a couple of miles riding on a good day (and loves the bmx track!).

Oh and it comes in lots of colours and you can get a bar bag for putting important stuff (sticks and pine cones at the moment, but sometimes small bears and ambulances)

Oh and strider also run events for kids, races and bmx track sessions and things, which I can really recommend, even if you have a different brand of balance bike.

The best IMO is the Kokua Jumper.

Very, very light and a wee bit of sprung elastomer which makes bumpy tracks a breeze. Just try rolling over a bump without any pedals to stand up on!!

A low standover, lightweight, two post lengths (and springs), proper schwalbe tyres and virtually indestructable.

Have a look at decathlon I bought my little girl a btwin one and it’s pretty good and only £30

Just get him a pedal-bike and remove the pedals.

Dedicated balance bikes are a good idea but a waste of money imo.

Just get him a pedal-bike and remove the pedals.

Dedicated balance bikes are a good idea but a waste of money imo.

A 12″ wheeled pedal bike that has low enough standover for an 18 month old with the seat at it’s lowest? Not going to exist is it?

Not many bikes that are low enough for much under a 3 year old.

So only a waste of money if you don’t want to buy a bike when your kid is that young. And if you’re going to say wait longer before getting a bike, you might as well say that any bike for a kid younger than 15 or so is a waste of money, as they’ll only grow out of it.

Bought our wee man a cheap 19 quid 1 from toys rus when he was 20 months.
At 2 and a half he had a 12 inch halfords bike and went straight to cycling it with no stabilisers
It was a heavy thing tho so hes no got a 14″ Islabike

I’m going to go for the Decathlon one for our wee girl.

I wouldn’t spend much money on the balance bike as most are pretty light and theres not much to them.

Save your money for a good first pedal bike as the cheaper ones are very heavy and components aren’t as good. We couldn’t get him to work the brakes on the Halfords bike but as soon as we got the Islabike he was able to use them no trouble.

A 12″ wheeled pedal bike that has low enough standover for an 18 month old with the seat at it’s lowest? Not going to exist is it?

I bought one so it exists.

A point which you acknowledge here –

[list]Not many[/list] bikes that are low enough for much under a 3 year old.