http://www.frogbikes.com/lightweight-kids-bikes/balance-bikes/tadpole.aspx

Just throwing what I bought into the mix.

Kids just aren’t going to push a balance bike uphill for very far whatever weight it is!

They will if you get them a decent light one. My four year old tears up and down the hill at our house and did a mile and a half on it yesterday with plenty of little hills.

And as someone pointed out, weight is very important when you’re the one carrying it back from the park!

My nephew had some cheapo ebay buy and still used it … until it finally fell apart

Another good reason to be a “brand snob” then. I bought the Rothan secondhand on ebay. I fully expect it to last both kids and then sell for pretty much the same price I bought it for.

I got my little lad a Frog Tadpole like the one above (but in red) for his 2nd birthday.

He absolutely loves it and whizzes round all over the place, it has a brake and he’s started using it on down hills to help him stop – which is nice.

They’re a very well put together bit of kit

Ours learnt on Early Riders from before they were two (without brakes), then skipped on to Islabikes Knoc 14 when they were 30mths. As most children learn quicker than adults, they learnt after a couple of minor spills that pulling the little lever on the handlebars slows them down. Even better if they pull the little one on the left first, cos that means cool skids!

Doesn’t stop them riding into trees now and again, but they learn and adapt ie don’t worry about it.

ps. Ours still ride their balance bikes, and either drag their feet on the ground to slow down, or wedge their feet on to the tyre. tbh our balance bikes look absolutely battered now!

Not as branded and bought because there was a massive offer but we got our twins the Apollo balance bikes from Halfords. Exactly the same as the carrera ones but different stickers and a lot cheaper!

Hub brake on the rear and inflatable tyres rather than hard rubber ones.

Definitely not a brand to recommend but they have been flawless!,

I’ll also take a look into the Frog tadpole and thanks again to everyone else that posted.

How easy is it someone (i.e bike shop) to remove the brake on the Isla and then refit this at a later stage, if I decided this as an option?

I have no idea why you are so hung up on the brakes. Let the kid make its mind up!

There’s a balance bike in Chris Hoy’s new range of bikes. It’s cheaper than the Rothan but no rear brake.

How easy is it someone (i.e bike shop) to remove the brake on the Isla and then refit this at a later stage, if I decided this as an option?

I would have thought you’d have to be tragically incompetent not to be able to do it yourself.

I would have thought you’d have to be tragically incompetent not to be able to do it yourself.

Wot he said. It’s just a pretty normal V-brake. If you know which end of a spanner and allen key to use then you wouldn’t have much trouble removing it.

No idea why you’d ever want to though?!?

Taking the brakes off would leave 2 pegs sticking out of the frame also.

Thanks, no probs if its an easy enough job, although doubt I will actually bother removing them, was just wondering how easy it was to do. Cheers for the advice folks

Remove grip and undo lever bolt.
Remove 2 bolts from brakes and it’s off.
The studs could be removed but I left them in.

Probably got 18months use before she wanted a brake.
The second one wanted the brake sooner as she had one. Only really using the brake properly at 3+

He can pedal a bike but it’s normally just to demonstrate to someone he can then it’s back on the balance bike as it’s faster and easier to control.

Realistically he’ll be 4 when he uses the pedal bike more than the balance bike after winter.

Taking the brakes off would leave 2 pegs sticking out of the frame also.

True, though on a Isla Rothan (and on that very similar looking Frog Tadpole) the brakes are mounted below the frame so they’d be out the way at least.

No idea why you’d want to remove them though.

How many people do you know that cannot use brakes? If the balance bike has or hasn’t got brakes, I don’t think it will make much difference to how well they will learn to use them when they step up to a bigger bike.

As I said before, I think you can over think these things. Kids will learn at their own pace anyway. You just need to give them a supporting environment to give them the confidence to try new things. Will a brake improve a 2-4 year old’s confidence and make him want to ride it more? Or does it make very little difference at all.

To be honest, the most positive modification I made to the bike from my kids point of view was to put a bell on it.

True, though on a Isla Rothan (and on that very similar looking Frog Tadpole) the brakes are mounted below the frame so they’d be out the way at least.

They’d catch the kid’s heals. Look where my lad put his feet on the video up near the top of the page.

My boys had a Rothan with a brake.

Judging by the daft speed they used to get up to on some downhills (feet on the top tube 😯 )and how fast they go on their Cnocs now I’m bloody glad they learnt how to use a brake properly before they got on pedal bikes.

Also note the use of the word properly with regard to brake use…