Which Balance Bike?

As above really? Are they all much of a muchness? Liking the look of the £100 Specialized one at the moment. Islabike Rothan is obviously on the list.

Anything else I should look at?

Don’t forget your Power Balance band!

My lad’s got a Ridgeback Scoot. He’s 2 1/2 and has just mastered it.

Saw a kid a lot younger (18-24 months perhaps) on a puky the other day and he was doing well. Much smaller.

Personally if I had to do it again I would buy the Cnoc14 and just take the cranks off!

Rich

Like-a-bike Jumper.

Avoid plastic wheels. Gran purchased the one Little Uwe rides and the wheels are gash – a WeeRide. He loves it though.

Very happy with Islabike Rothan here (older one with no brake). Used for a long time by no 1 son from 20 months, with lots of overlap with pedalled bike. No 2 son is just showning an interest – 17 months and just able to straddle it sitting on the top tube 😉

Another vote for Rothan here. Super little bike, my 2 1/2 year old wants to go everywhere on her’s now. Plus you get a rear bake which you don’t on the Spesh – once they get the hang of the bike they get moving pretty quickly and a brake is needed sooner than you might think.

The Specialized one is really nice and also pretty light. Real tyres with puncture protection, proper spoked wheels with alu rims, cup and cone bearings. Very nicely made 🙂

Plus if you get it in red and white it looks just like the pro bikes 🙂

The Halfords balance boy one is good BUT it’s big – my son didn’t fit it until he was 2.5 and he’s very tall for his age.

Oh yeah – Lil Grips is huge at 2 and I still had to trim the seatpost.

Looked at the Halfords one at the weekend and noticed how big it looked. Even with the bars slammed etc it looked really tall.

Still thinking the Spesh or Islabike then…

Geordie Gran bought this for her grandson – clicky[/url] – and he loves it. Angus is 21 months old and he’s already getting the hang of it. The seat’s wound down as low as it can go, but he’s already lifting his feet off the ground once he’s got enough momentum. And, in a fabulously anally retentive way that ticks my boxes, it matches his old man’s Blue Pig in skwosh (more of which later).

Which is nice.

I’m in the same boat with my 20 month Daughter she loves bike rides with Daddy now, and her trike, time for a balance bike I think, quite fancy the Speccy or the Isla, any other front runners?

Personally if I had to do it again I would buy the Cnoc14 and just take the cranks off!

+1

My nephew had a Puky that got handed down to his younger brother. Seemed like a great little thing – you could hardly prise them off it.

Personally if I had to do it again I would buy the Cnoc14 and just take the cranks off!

+1

Think of the extra weight!

Rothan is listed as 4lbs lighter than the Scoot.
That’s only about £10/lb saving.

Amazing value compared to the XTR cranks I bought on the cheap the other week to save some weight on the SS ;0)

How do the Specialized, Ridgeback and Isla size up, my little girl isn’t quite 2 yet, I think it’s worth getting her a balance bike, but I don’t want it to Dwarf her and be unmanageable, she’s taller for 20 months, but not a giant, I’m guesing she’ll be at the bottom end of the available adjustment to start with…

Also whats the thinking with regards to brakes? some seem have them, others don’t what sort of age do they start figuring out how to use them?

Actually I think she needs a new helmet too, any recommendations? finding one that fitted when she was 10 months was a total ball ache!

Looks like another £150 spend this weekend… on a worthwhile cause at least.

Lil Grips is 95cm tall, just two a few days ago, and the Spesh is only just small enough. The frame was ok but I had to trim about 1.5″ from the seatpost. Bizarrely it has a 18kg weight limit, which is daft as she’s only just tall enough to ride it but already weighs 17kg. And to be fair, it’s so well made that I’m sure I could ride it.

Btw the smallest pedal bikes are quite different in shape and standover – taking the pedals off one would probably not work for smaller kids (ie 2yo) in my opinion.

Get a proper one with proper wheels.

We got our Son an Isla bike at christmas when he was 18 months. He’s fairly tall but at first the seat was all the way down. He had the balancing sorted at 20 odd months and used it round the house to gain confidence. A month of chainsing the dog aroudn the kitchen Island and he was ready to go to the park on it. We could’nt get it off him. Yesterday at 22 months, we went for a walk along a local bridleway – he did about 2.5km’s off road and loved riding through all the horse poo. He still hasn’t worked out the brake which gets a bit scarry at the speeds he goes downhill.

Remember that if it’s around it’ll get used for things it’s not designed for – hence it has to be strong. Ours gets dragged to the table so he can stand on the wheels to help climb up.

EDIT – Little lucas (not that one)got his when he was 87cm tall and it was fine with the seat right down, now he’s 95cm and I had to put the seat up so it sounds a bit smaller that MG’s Spesh

The Early Rider[/url] bikes are good for 20months+
And they look lovely.

We bought a wooden Early Rider, my daughter loved it (still does but a bit too old).

Lucas – interesting, there appears to be more than one version. The blue one with pirates on it had a slightly different frame (no foot-rests), but they looked the same size. Perhaps they weren’t…

Hmmm,

Just found some cheaper “bike star” jobbies on Amazon, they do both a 12″ and 10″ proper spoked wheel version, where everyone else seems to only either do only 12″ pneumatic tyres or else crappy Solid plastic wheels. It also seems to have some sort of Drum brake fitted…

I’m actually liking the look of that for standover, fit and having proper wheels/tyres compared with, speccy, Isla, etc – twice the price…

That and I reckon the Pink version will keep the missus happy…

The Speccy really looks the business, but I’m not sure it’s actually going to fit her…

Just rang Evans they have a ridgeback in she can sit on this weekend, no bloody way I’m buying from them though…

I might take a punt on the Amazon one, £50 and it actually might be a better fit…

Not sold on Wooden Balance bikes, She’s a mean Toddler reckon it’ll have to be steel or maybe Ti! 😀

We just Noel a Bell lid from Halfords. £25 and fits perfectly (18 months old). Can’t remember the model but its got a little ratchet system at the back and everything!

+1 on Ridgeback scoot.

Avoid wood. Brake is good. My 3yr has been scootin around for a while but now learning how to use brake…

Evan’s price match so if your LBS has nothing worth a go

I’d avoid wood too – got a cheapy one from my daughter and whilst she learnt to balance on it just fine, it soon got very loose and wobbly and looked tatty when it got wet.

My son has a Hotrock and it’s a fantastic bike – no brakes but at 2 years old that isn’t an issue. He was 2 1/2 when he got it but didn’t have the seat anywhere near its lowest. At 3 1/4 it’s now at full extension so I’d be surprised if it didn’t fit.

He’s about to get a CNOC16 so if you are interested I’ll be selling it pretty soon. It was new last August and has the usual scuffs and scrapes but is mechanically perfect and technically still under warranty.

Think I paid £110 for it so I’d be looking for about £70 posted. It’s blue and black.

The CNOC14 is considerably bigger and heavier than the Rothan, so for first bike just go with a normal balance bike I reckon.

The advantage of the brake on the Rothan is that you can teach them how to get it sideways by locking the back wheel, skids may be for kidz but teh iz koolz! 😉

Decathlon have some good value ones. Not for downhill or competition, but very good value nonetheless. They were adequate and given that they have short interval of applicability, they were a good buy

Check the size and fit. JUst like any other bike the reach and the standover vary and not necessarily in proportion. If you can try a couple, then do so.

12″ bike from skip with cranks removed.

Anywhere near a Decathlon? One of my boys takes his one of these round GT green regularly and has no problems with it..

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/b-bip-34963413/

I bought my eldest a ply one and it got left outside too many times and died. Was going to go posh and get I’m a middle class biker Rohan, but spent £25 on fleabay and got some cheap piece of gas pipe from the Czech Republic and my daughter loves it!

To summarise the cheapo Czech balance bike it

is light
has ugly but effective welds
has bushes not bearings for the headset
has all in one (think Klien style mission control) stem and bar
has the cheapest hubs ever
single back v brake
slicks stolen from a pram

She rides it to nursery everyday and is ready to move on up to a proper pedal cycle – her big sisters lil’ Hotrock.

I think the Specialized, Ridgeback and Isla bike are all fab bits of kit but given the use we’ve had out of something just as light and functional and safe I really don’t see why you’d splash out on one.

decathlon metal
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/run-ride-175387600/

Personally if I had to do it again I would buy the Cnoc14 and just take the cranks off!

Depends how young you’re starting them. Ours isn’t exactly small for his age, but the saddle on a Cnoc14 wouldn’t have gone low enough as standard for him to use as a balance bike at 3 (in the event I adapted something with another seatpost to get the saddle low enough that he could, but only just).

hughjayteens – interested. Ping me some details to dirtscene@btopenworld.com and I might take it.

Dave

Charlie,

What’s the head angle on that?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/firstbike-street-with-brake-pedal-free-kids-bike/%5B/url%5D

We bought my daughter one of these about a year ago.

It is very good quality, well made and importantly – LIGHT.

Still in perfect condition despite regular use. Brake works well and allows proper control.

Charlie,

What’s the head angle on that?

there isn’t one. in fact given that you have a kid, i’d be surprised if you got any at all!

Easy rider, one of these :

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/early-rider-classic-pedal-free-bike/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=products

Superb, wooden means light, real light. Front wheel is a 14″, rear 12″ meaning front bumps over things well like kerbs etc. Have tried a small 12″ metal bike but this wins hands down. Has height adjust seat, is just ‘cool’

Highly recommended 😆