My little girl is turning 3 so I rekon now is a goo time to start training!

Looking for something very girly and pink and with stabilisers but not sure price or wheel size (12 or 14 or 16).

This from decathlon any good? http://www.decathlon.co.uk/14quot-ticha-id_8083798.html

Any advice or suggestions welcome!

Chris

What ever fits her and she likes the look off, she won’t be on it long so don’t spend too much cash

Try your local Raleigh dealer so she can try them out

You have 2 choices :

The best bike for learning to ride on is an Isla bikes Rothan balance bike – other balance bikes are available and most are cheaper, but very few match even come close to Isla bikes for quality. But it won’t be pink or girly.
Little miss trb was tearing up the local skatepark on hers at 2 yrs & 4 months.

But if pink and girly is what it takes to get her riding, then do what Frankers said

I’d trail ebay, or splash out on a likeabike jumper- my little girls has had one since she was two, and it’s ace- they are basically a balance bike, but have a little elastomer rear shock, and she’ll do a couple of miles on it, no problem.

I’m trying to avoid the stabiliser stage completely if she is ok with it. she’s ok so far- can coast/turn with feet off the ground etc a bit now.

-Whatever you get, a little basket on the front for teddies/flowers/toys/etc, is a great selling point! (for little girls, not their dads.. erm…)

Why do you want stabilisers?

Completely pointless things. Get her a trike and then a balance bike then a proper bike.

I know its a STW cliche to sing the praises of the Isla bikes Rothan. But its a cliche for good reason. The quality of them is as good as any bike you’ll ever buy. The seat height is lower than any other.

It seems like a lot for them moneywise, but when you sell it you’ll get about 20 quid less than you paid for it

The beauty of a balance bike is that when you move them on to a bike, there’s no intermediate stabilisers phase. They’re just straight off on there own

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Think i’ll have a good look around.

Might look to get a likeabike for me though!

I bought a Raleigh Strider from JE James a cosmetic 2nd for £45 delivered just so my lad can have a balance bike at his grandparents, it rides as nice as his £100 Hotwalk at home, the quality isnt the same, but its still fine.

I bought a cheapy balance bike for my daughter to see how she got on with it but it was so shoddy after a year it went in the bin so cost me £45. My son got a Specialized Hotwalk which my LBS sold me for £90 and I sold that a year later for £60 so only cost me £30 and was much more stable and fun for him to ride.

They both now have Islabikes which are expensive, but as stated above, the price of new ones keeps climbing so after 2 years you’ll probably get 85% of the purchase price back!

I will soon have a Bike Star balance bike for sale, same as here – http://www.amazon.co.uk/30-5cm-Learner-Balance-Beginner-Sport/dp/B002W4HAWS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345561708&sr=8-1

My 4 y.o. daughter used this for last few months and has since learned to bike so surplus to requirements. In excellent condition.

It’s a quality German built balance bike with proper tyres and a rear brake. Make me an offer if you’re interested before I post in ‘For Sale’ section soon – email in profile.

Just got a a cheepy from Halfords with stabilisers as she has no intrest in scooting – she wants to ride like her dad with pedals and stuff (she gets a lift to nursery on the back of my bike). I was keen to get a balance bike, but it really depends on the child IMO

one of these

It is OK quality wise and she loves it

any old excuse….. or even nearly and excuse.. 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N1Vm6kvE7U

Would highly recommend a balance bike and missing the stabiliser stage. My son has a Isla Bike Rothan and at the age of 2 is happy to go around the green route at Cannock on it, feet off the ground through the puddles and happily steering.

Thanks guys. I had got a cheapy balance bike from mate and she wasn’t sure about that but think might be worth investing in a decent balance bike and practice!

Most of us probably learnt with stabilisers, I realise they’re not fashionable, but they do work, and bikes with stabilisers are cheap.

Most of us probably learnt with stabilisers, I realise they’re not fashionable, but they do work,….

Depends what you mean by work. If you mean give the false impression of progress so the parents feel good about themselves but then hold the kids back from learning to ride properly then I guess they do.

If however you want them to learn to ride a bicycle then they’re not really of much help.

Regarding the Rothan, although I’ve bought 4 Islabikes and think they’re excellent, I wouldn’t recommend a Rothan. Just seems like too much money for something they’ll only use for a few months. The quality that you get in the pedal bikes is worth it since you’ll generally use them for a couple of years. I’d be surprised if any kid would use a balance bike for more than 6 months.

IMHO

If however you want them to learn to ride a bicycle then they’re not really of much help.

Confidence on a bike, learn to use the pedals… No, no help at all. And last longer than 6 months 🙂

If however you want them to learn to ride a bicycle then they’re not really of much help.

Oh please…

Bikes with stabilizers are just fine. get a nice 12″ wheeled bike with alloy adjustable brake levers, easily removable stabilizers, and if you can find one, solid tyres. If you want a balance bike, take the pedals off. Pink is recommended, as are streamers from the grips.

Taught my 3yo niece how to pedal a conventional bike this weekend, after a year on a balance bike, and she loves it.

I have a ridgeback honey for sale that is exactly what you need…..

Dropped you an email morecashthandash….any chance of some more details?

Cheers

Chris

my 3 year old loves her Ridgeback Honey, it’s pink, which was the main thing from her point of view.

The brakes are really good as well, I didn’t realise how important this was until I saw how much my son struggled to build confidence on a bike with crap brakes.

Those of you who bought balance bikes – at what age did your kids start using them?

Just seems like too much money for something they’ll only use for a few months. The quality that you get in the pedal bikes is worth it since you’ll generally use them for a couple of years. I’d be surprised if any kid would use a balance bike for more than 6 months.

My daughters been on hers for 1 and a half years! Just about to get her her first pedal bike. To the OP that decathlon one ticks the style box according to my daughter but I can’t help but notice how heavy it is 😯

Those of you who bought balance bikes – at what age did your kids start using them?

My daughter used hers from 2yrs and 3 months till now and she’ll be 4 in September. She is quite small though. If she had grown a bit quicker we’d probably have moved her to a pedal bike sooner.

Those of you who bought balance bikes – at what age did your kids start using them?

Tiny Tins, was on his at 18 months.

Here he is at 22 months on a Tinybike, moved onto a Hotwalk now see above post he is 2 1/2 in skatepark vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiGmWqeetx0

My daughter used hers from 2yrs and 3 months till now and she’ll be 4 in September.

Tiny Tins, was on his at 18 months.

Cheers! She’ll be 18 months this Christmas… looks like I’ve got the present sorted.

Tinybike comes in pink…. It really is Tiny 🙂

Age wise- my eldest was on her Likeabike at 2, but had been on other/borrowed ones before. As far as the longevity is concerned, the Likeabike comes with two seatposts and is recommended for up to 5 years old. The little boy whose it was before was about 5 and he still used it for “jumps” alongside his pedal bike. I think his mum just wanted more space in the garage!

Another big vote for Islabikes esp the Rohan.

Micro Stoner was scooting this summer a week before his second birthday.
Mini Stoner has been riding his Cnoc since he was three. Micro Stoner will probably be pedalling before his third birthday.

Little dancake had his Balance bike at 2 .He had short legs and a Strider Prebike was perfect for him . I can’t recommend an balance bike enough

For his 3rd Birthday, I bought a Cheapo pedal bike – the smallest I could find. I left the stabilisers on initially but that was a mistake as it was a backwards step and my boy was all over the place with them. I took them off after a couple of days and little ‘un took to the bike with gusto after that. Not many 3 year olds ride around without stabilisers and it wouldnt have happened without the balance bike training. The only trouble is the cheapo bike weighs a TON which was hard work

He is on his 2nd Pedal bike now. It is lighter than the first one and has bigger wheels. The big wheels make all the difference to his confidence BTW..29er anyone.

Little dude starts school in a couple of weeks. Its cool he can ride there!

Thanks for all of the input guys. So what i really need is an Islabike, Likeabike jump, Ridgeback Honey and plenty of time!!!

I’ve dug out her balance bike and think that will tick the balance ‘box’ for now but might combine it with a normal bike. I quite fancy a likeabike just for me!

Thanks

I really rate the strider balance bikes (strider the brand not the raleigh strider).

Very light (lighter than a rothan), pretty much the lowest possible seat height for a 12inch wheel (I think lower than a rothan), really well built, and a wide choice of colours. Particularly for small kids the weight makes a big difference.

They just seem like they really thought through what a balance bike needs to be rather than just downsi°ing a normal bike, things like having super light plastic wheels which make it easier to pick up for little kids [there is also a metal wheel upgrade so that adults can ride them too).

Oh, and the importers are also nice people, run weekly events for toddlers in Manchester and Birmingham at the big bmx tracks there, and big ‘Strider World Cup’ races which are great fun (the two year old category was a particularly comedy event!) – quite community oriented too – at the one I went to they had nearly 100 spare bikes for people to borrow who didn’t have one, and it was obviously attracting loads of local kijs who didn’t ride yet.

Cost less than the islabikes too which is nice

Hayes BMX track on a balance bike

Good excuse to post this again! He was 2 1/2 in this clip and if anyone knows the Hayes BMX track, they’ll know that it’s quite tall and steep start ramp!