Little miss unknown is coming up for 2 soon and it will be time to graduate from plastic trike to a balance bike.

I like the idea of this growing with her, but it seems a bit on the spendy side at £225.

https://www.littlebigbikes.com

Or is that a decent price if you think of it as buying the next 3 bikes at once?

Anyone tried one of these for their offspring? Any other recommendations?

I’m not convinced by the ‘adaptable’ concept of it.
I’d buy a decent balance bike, and then at about 4 buy them a decent pedal bike.

Our daughter has had a Decathlon balance bike – Decathlon balance bike – since she was 2. Excellent value at £40. It has been well abused and has coped with off-road and pump tracks, etc.
She’s nearly 4 now, and very confident on it, so we’re just about to buy a pedal bike and (I think) we’ve decided on a Frog 43. £205, and seem very well built – a proper ‘little’ bike!

Buy a cheap ass balance bike. Sophie has just started with hers, a Verenti Nippy, £45 from CRC. It’s light and does the job.

You’re both probably right. Anyone actually tried on of these though?

Nope wouldn’t waste my money

The big problem with littlebig is that the wheels don’t grow too. Our kids went straight from balance bike to an Islabike with 16″ wheels (age 4+, say Islabikes), and when you’re that little the wheel size makes a big difference. Littlebig say the bike will last until the child is seven but my 6yo is on a 20″ bike with gears.

Get a cheap-as balance bike (we had a Zoooom on amazon was 40 quid I think) then swap it as soon as possible with a reasonable pedal bike that *just* fits and do the no-pedals-no-stablisers thing.

Thread hijack… I’m selling a Strider balance bike if you’re interested? Email me for photos 😉

Hi All, I just came across this thread so wanted to respond to the comments.

Threadstarter @Unknown!, you can see lots of customer reviews on the links below…

https://www.littlebigbikes.com/reviews/

https://www.facebook.com/littlebigbikes/reviews

http://www.twowheelingtots.com/littlebig-bikes-convertible-balance-bike-review/

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/friday-five-a-side-this-weeks-new-bike-gear-43749/

@ajantom the LittleBig costs less than the two bikes (Decathlon & Frog = £245 in total, LittleBig = £225) and it’s a higher quality than either. We also ensure that our customers are happy with a personal service (unlike Decathlon)

@rossburton the wheels don’t need to grow as the frame flips over which changes the reach and saddle height (as well as head angle). You can see how it all changes here https://www.littlebigbikes.com/features/sizing-geometry/

Cheers, Simon

I love the concept, but in my case, my eldest was riding trails on a pedal bike at 3, on the bike park at 4. There’s a genuine risk that you’ll only get 1 or 2 modes out of it.
Same 14″ wheel size from 2 > 7 years old? both my kids still ride their 16″ bikes like bmx’s, but 5yo now on 20″, 7yo up to 24″.
Once you’re kids wants to do sick jumps.. I’d be nervous about that mechanically fastened junction too..
my (read as ‘all Squamish BC’) kids are different to most though.

Don’t forget the advantage of easier rolling bigger wheels for offroad riding. I’m local to the cobbles of Swinley and my younger one noticed a big difference on this when moving up to bigger wheels.

@Bearback I guess your kids are more advanced and adventurous than most!

The junction has a tight fit and a big overlap between the two tubes and has nylock bolts holding them together. Same idea as a shock mount/ linkage on a full suss bike which only have two bolts holding them together.

@AdamT indeed, for off road bigger wheels can be better (but lets not get into 26,27.5,29er debate!) and as a balance bike the 14″ wheels are bigger than typical starter balance bikes (earlyrider. islabikes, strider etc) which use 10 or 12″ wheels. Yes for older kids the wheels are smaller than some bikes but then it’ll be nice and agile.