[Closed] Balance bikes

You cant go wrong with a Specialized hotwalk

Can be picked up for around £110 new or £50 2nd hand

They are alloy so light but very sturdy, the seat and bars can be raised as the child grows, they have a platform built in so they can lift their feet up

My boy loves his, its 2nd hand and its had the crap beaten out of it and its still in good nick and ill prob get £30-£40 when it comes to selling it

Puky. Both of mine absolutely loved ours (so much so that the lad still uses it) and pretty much rode off on their pedal bikes on day 1.

How old/big is he?

We got my daughter a Halfords Indi balance bike for £25 as she is quite small and this bike had one of the lowest saddle heights we could find.
It's basic, but perfectly decent and surprisingly lightweight.
It's basically the same bike as the Vitus balance bike, but almost half the cost.

From that one we moved onto a Banana bike GT from Amazon.
That was £45. It's a great bike, really well made, sturdy wheels and grippy tyres. It's also nice and light.

another recommendation for a Hotwalk. Low cross bar too, which helps them getting on and off.

Got mine for my daughter when she was 2, didn't touch it for a couple of months, then jumped on it and was right at home. Then for her 3rd birthday I got her a 14inch wheel Commencal Ramones, (which is a pedal bike) which she took to like a duck to water. She has been shredding ever since!

Mine both had a Hotwalk.

Used for two children, then sold for more than I paid for it! Win.

Our oldest loved his strider bike , his brother is getting good use of it now .

We have an Islabikes rothan picked up second hand. It is great, has a rear brake which miniS has picked up quickly. Only downside is that there are no foot supports which would really benefit her now as she can brake and likes downhill. If buying again I would get one with a rear brake and foot rests.

Another for the Specialized Hotwalk. Well made and reasonably light.

we had a second hand isla bike rothan. they are very pricey new (I think about £200). we bought one for £75 second hand......used it for two kids and then sold it for £80! they are very light weight (great for not only carrying but also for the young un to move around), have a rear brake which is quite handy for them to learn to pull the brake.

I think what ever you buy just make sure its very light. Isla bikes and Frog bikes will always have a good resale value. buy them second hand and you will probably always get your money back. I think that a lot of places also do a buy back scheme whereby as your child grows you can take back the old back and upgrade to a bigger one. Not sure exactly how tis works but could be useful.

We didn't bother with balance bikes. Bought a decent quality first bike and removed the stabilisers, cranks and pedals then refitted cranks and pedals once the boys had got the hang of it.

Halfords Indi (new £20) then onto a Frog Tadpole (bought new but excellent resale), then an Islabike 14 large (bought used, worth at least what I paid).

We started with a Halfords Indi for £25 or £30 to get our little girl going then graduated onto a Wiggins Pau balance bike - I picked it up 2nd hand for £35 and had it powdercoated pink and I ordered ow patrol vinyl stickers to go on it.

After a few months of lockdown and daily walks with her taking her balance bike she’s flying along on it at 3 and a half years old. Regularly see her with both feet up coasting on downhill bits of our local walking lap.

Think she’s going to need a pedal bike soon - might have to wait for Christmas / she seems to be enjoying the balance bike at the moment so don’t want to rush her.

As mentioned by others a 2nd hand 12” Isla Rothan is a great lightweight/good geometry/scalable option from age 2. The single rear brake is great for getting them used to the concept of slowing down. I sold ours for what I bought it for after both our kids learnt from age 2....and then they both transitioned on to a 14” bike with pedals off initially at age 3. If your starter is older than 3 then again good advice above.... just get a light 14” (or 16” if they’re bigger) with pedals off for first few weeks/months. Either way be prepared for the 14” to be outgrown within a year for 3 yr olds..... again, with a good brand 2nd hand buy. you’ll recoup pretty much all your outlay....I sold our Isla Cnoc for its buy price too!

If you’re off-road riding consider the new trend of burlier tyred little bikes. My 3 yr old daughter is smoking her older brothers relative (skinny tyre Isla Cnoc)progress on her Early rider 14” seeker with 2.25 trail tyres....awesome bit of learning kit! But turning 4 next week and a recent growth spurt, she’s ready for his hand me down 16” earlyrider trail bike. There is huge demand for the seeker 14” though so again, I think the apparent steep initial outlay is pretty minimal if you can wait a year of two to recoup that cost. Bottom line, size/age of your child dictates where you start.... enjoy the amazing journey of seeing them learn to love riding!

We have a Halfords Indi. For our littlun (15 months, but she's had it since her birthday) it's fine. She's *just* starting to balance on her own, mostly I just push her around on it.