What balance bike or other wheeled contraption for my two year old?

Stompee ticks all the boxes still

Yep, nice. Higher standover and more limited size range though.
Stompee website says the seat adjustment is good for 35-45cm.

The Rothan can run from 30-47cm.

You wouldnt think that balance bikes could cause such a bitchfight would you..

To lighten the mood… come on lets see them kids in action. 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEfW7KmpVD4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNP5HDf9hBc

I love this one:

Jack rides a LIKEaBIKE Jumper:

http://www.likeabike.co.uk/likeabike_models/likeabike_jumper.php

“Oarsum buddy” 😀

You wouldnt think that balance bikes could cause such a bitchfight would you..

After the hassle of selling a Jumperaroo(?) on ebay I wouldn’t bother selling bikes, toys etc etc on. So if £30 equals entire loss whether its a 100 or 30 quid bike – fine. Plus I don’t have to bother bumping it on. If it falls apart within the timescale it’d get warranted anyway. I don’t beleive in expensive toys for kids. his Dad has expensive toys 😉

And Binners….. before buying the bike I spent a good 30mins outside shooting the three basket ball hoops. Mrshora was bloody angry and came outside to drag me in…so yes it was worth the petrol to Decathlon

I’m also going to buy a Basket ball hoop.

Again, I’m agreeing with Hora….. Up to a point.

tinsy – Member

You wouldnt think that balance bikes could cause such a bitchfight would you..

It’s the Cold War by proxy.

Or possibly the expensive German car vs the non-expensive one
Or the proletariat v. the bourgeoisie.

Well… if there were basketball hoops, then thats an entirely different matter. Also… did you manage to get out of there without buying yourself more stuff you don’t need? 😉

Oh…. and remember…..

😀

I bought a 2 year old Rothan off a mate for £50. It’s very well made and my daughter absolutely loves it.

I wouldn’t bother selling bikes, toys etc etc on.

LOL. This kind of undermines your “it’s too expensive” argument a bit as you clearly have money to burn.

LOL. This kind of undermines your “it’s too expensive” argument a bit as you clearly have money to burn.

You know Hora, then?

Yetiman – Member

I bought a 2 year old Rothan off a mate for £50. It’s very well made and my daughter absolutely loves it.

Somebody took a serious hit on their, at least 80quid, re-sale there 😉

You wouldnt think that balance bikes could cause such a bitchfight would you

As usual the typically polarised STW point of view comes to the fore. Just because some folks think it’s worthwhile spending £100 on a first bike those that don’t seem to take offense, really, WTF?

The OP asked for some advice and opinions and he got them (in spades from some) and will hopefully be able to make an informed decision. The responses on this thread are pretty much identical to those I got when I asked the same question a year ago. Most were useful, some not so.

I ended up going for a new Rothan because:

1) Two boys close together so it’ll get well used
2) A friend had one and it was very well built (I didn’t look at many)
3) Low standover height so could get him started aged 2
4) Light, so easier for the missus to carry around when they inevitably get sidetracked whilst out
5) They were going second hand for not far off new prices
6) I expect most on here have the most expensive bike they can afford, why would you quibble over your childs first ever bike costing the same as a new stem and seatpost?

Number 1 son only started showing much interest in it in the last few months (he’s 3 next month) but is now pretty quick and is getting the hang of the brake. Number 2 son (2 in December) is moving around on it already and often fighting his brother over it – we might have to get another soon. When we’ve got together with friends who have cheaper bikes they all end up arguing over the Rothan – speaks volumes to me.

OP – whatever you decide I’m sure it’ll go down well. I’d highly recommend a bell to get the initial interest up!

OP – whatever you decide I’m sure it’ll go down well. I’d highly recommend a bell to get the initial interest up!

I agree. A ladybird shaped bell did wonders.

Money to burn? We spent £125 on a CityJogger pushchair/pram- IMO one of the best products for ease of use from birth to 3yrs IMO! Some people spend upto a grand on a travel system as you can resell it- thats ones’ personal choice. He seems to life dismantling them as well and it’ll live outside at the side of the house. I just don’t fancy the hassle of buying/selling his stuff on. Once bitten is too much for me.

he keeps dismantling stuff? I wonder who he gets that off? Has he stripped down his first set of forks yet? 😉

A bell would certainly appeal to him and may stop him shouting’BIKE’ whenever he passes one.

I just don’t fancy the hassle of buying/selling his stuff on.

Wait.. so you’re just going to bin a £125 travel system because you can’t be bothered with the “hassle” of selling it and you’re protesting that you are actually quite careful with money? 😆

Which is best for small-for-their age kids?

Toddle North is now 2 and a couple of months. She’s v small for her age, so can;t yet reach the pedals on her Little Tikes trike.

Will the Rothan be too big? What’s smaller?

GrahamS – whatever you do, don’t try and work out what bizarre process occurs between Horas ears

That way lies madness! 😉

ourmaninthenorth – the standover on the Rothan is really low, as you can see from the piccies. I don’t think there’s anything lower. If it doesn’t fit her straight away, it won’t be long

cheers binners. will investigate.

GrahamS – MrsH doesn’t drive so its been heavily used, shopping, public transport- daily push to and back from the Nursery and it lives outside in all weathers all year round as I don’t like the thing inside.. So I imagine it wouldn’t be too saleable 😉

Islabike site states minimum inside leg of 30cm for the Rothan.

IIRC that’s pretty accurate.

Anyone want to buy a Rothan for £65 collected. A bit scratched but in full working order. Need to give it a wash and put it on the classifieds. Even comes with a change of tyres for those pushing their kids to be either a roady or mtber.

Anyone want to buy a Rothan for £65 collected.

Surely you’re underselling it massively?

Smallest one we found was the Puky with tiny wheels (no brake – feet are fine for stopping). Half the price of the Rothan but he was wasn’t two before he was scooting round on it with pride. He’s no lanky sprog either.

It’s light enough for you to cart around when child is not on board and the change to a Hotrock 12 with back pedal brake happened instinctively over a week or so and maybe 2 or 3 rides with stabilizers.

Aristotle. Okay its your for £80.

ajc – where are you?

tonyd – I’ll measure her later. Pretty sure she’s not at 30cm yet (littler legs than body, just like her shortarse dad)

tasso – I’ll have a look at that too.

Toddle North is now 2 and a couple of months. She’s v small for her age, so can;t yet reach the pedals on her Little Tikes trike.

Will the Rothan be too big? What’s smaller?

We had similar question (at 18 months though!), and the Strider was slightly smaller standover (28cm I think). It was accurate, she was just on it at 18 months. There are ones with smaller wheels that are quite a bit shorter though.

As for the whole expensive vs cheap – having gone out riding with two quite small kids, one with an 80 quid strider bike, and one with a ‘raleigh strider’ (which is still fifty quid), there was a massive difference in weight when carting it about, which you do a lot of when they’re small, plus the strider bike they could pick up, whereas the raleigh was too heavy. Oh and some (but not all I think) of the cheap ones are poorly designed with things like the massive wide handlebars on the Raleigh Strider, which makes them very difficult to steer, particularly round tight corners or round berms and on off road stuff.

Oh and shoes for brakes is great, but going to get expensive where we live – her shoes are already pretty worn down from coming back from childminders down a street which is so steep it has handrails on the pavement. She’s just starting to get braking sorted now at about 2 and a half, but still prefers shoes for anything steep.

Rothan for my little one. I paid full price (GASP!) 😀

Given how easy it is to spend more money on a new chain, cassette and rings every few months, I reckon a complete bike for the little one that she loves using is a bit of a bargain. Actually, it’s pretty much the same as a full tank of diesel. Eeeeek! I know which I’d rather be dropping the card on.

I also bought a Chariot Trailer too which at the time wasn’t cheap but it’s proven it’s worth in two years of use. Again, the cost may offend some folk but I’m happy with the amount of use it has gotten and the wee one is happy in it so why not eh? Someone has to try and prop up the UK economy 😆

Oh and

http://www.unicycle.uk.com/12-hoppley-beginner-unicycle.html

can cut down to 35cm = short enough for a 2.5 year old! Not that I expect her to actually learn to ride it while she’s two, but she quite likes pedalling round the front room while I hold the seat!

Managed to pick up a 2nd hand Rothan (the first brakeless ones) for £40, very tidy and we’ll see how he gets on without the brake.

He’s been on a Toddlebike up until now (from 12 months old), which while only £20, and to be fair he’s adored it too, has been a bit crap. By the time he properly ‘got it’ he’d effectively outgrown it. The promo stuff shows a lot of much bigger children riding them but the seat isn’t much lower than the lowest on the Rothan and the plastic wheels are a battle to move over rougher tarmac.

Still, let’s see how he gets on with the Rothan before I get too critical!

her shoes are already pretty worn down from coming back from childminders down a street which is so steep it has handrails on the pavement.

Eeek!

If I can hijack this informative thread briefly: how do you cope with her on hills joe? Do you run along in front/behind? Or just teach well and hope?
Interested cos our street isn’t nearly so steep but our little un (2.5yo) has still had a few nasty spills on it. All part of learning I know, but I don’t want it to put her off so I tend to carry the bike down to the park where it’s flatter.

If I can hijack this informative thread briefly: how do you cope with her on hills joe? Do you run along in front/behind? Or just teach well and hope?

On roads, running shoes on, and I usually stay quite close to her.

On the really steep hill, I started off by holding the bars while she zoomed down it, and sometimes do still if she’s tired or something. Nowadays she’ll usually go down it herself, quite gingerly on the really steep bit, then shouting ‘zoom’ on the slightly less steep rest. I’ve taught her to stop at the side streets and only cross when I say, and to stop any time I say to stop.

I can just about run fast enough to stay in front, so traffic on cross streets permitting, I’ll just run in front and tell her it’s okay to cross, so she just keeps going all down the hill (unless there’s something shiny and interesting like a slug, in which case we stop for a while).

I also bought a Chariot Trailer too which at the time wasn’t cheap but it’s proven it’s worth in two years of use. Again, the cost may offend some folk but I’m happy with the amount of use it has gotten and the wee one is happy in it so why not eh? Someone has to try and prop up the UK economy

Adding up Rose’s balance bike and her (Croozer) trailer, they cost about the same as my mountain bike. Which is quite a painful thought, but I’m still glad we got them. I reckon they’ve had more use in terms of hours than my mountain bike over the last couple of years – we use the trailer an awful lot, and she rides her bike most days, whereas I mostly ride the road bike.

Sounds cool joe. (And you sound like a properly fun dad).

I tried holding the bars, but she tends to get a bit miffed and shout “NO daddy! I want do it all by’self!”… then promptly falls over 😕 Ah well. These days I try to just stick near enough to catch her or pick her up 😀

Oh, FFS. Considering the amount of money you end up spending on your kids, the cost of a balance bike is neither here nor there, especially if you can re-sell it.

Given that I’ve managed to buy a second hand pram, cot and croozer, I reckon I can cope with the idea of buying and selling an Islabike.

Ransos – You fool!!! Are you mad?!!!! Don’t you realise that boxing up and posting a two-wheeled object about a foot long is faaaaaaaaaar beyond the capabilities of most mortals!!!!

*wonders how many full sized bike frames and sets of forks, hora has ever bought, sold, and posted?*

Ransos – You fool!!! Are you mad?!!!! Don’t you realise that boxing up and posting a two-wheeled object about a foot long is faaaaaaaaaar beyond the capabilities of most mortals!!!!

😀

I even managed to get her to nursery this morning. In the croozer. On my own. If we’re really lucky, I may even manage to get her home again.

For those having trouble keeping up with toddlers on balance bikes, I reccomend a stunt scooter.. Just spend a lot less on the balance bike, its only a child, & get yourself a decent stunt scooter, £200 should get something nice like my MGP. 🙂

They are rubbish offroad though.

Oh, FFS. Considering the amount of money you end up spending on your kids, the cost of a balance bike is neither here nor there, especially if you can re-sell it.

The expense is to come….Our duty is to give our sons and daughters exposure to as many hobbies and interests as possible isn’t it. If he likes Karts I’ll have to fund that etc etc.

Ideally though I want hora junior to get into guitars and surfing 😆

I also bought a Chariot Trailer too which at the time wasn’t cheap but it’s proven it’s worth in two years of use.

Me too – though we’ve now had ours 5 years. Multi functional as well – can be used as a pushchair (we’re relying on that if we need one now, as we’ve already sold our other chattering-class essential – a Phil&Teds), and here’s another way to use one:

A quick check on ebay suggests that with the price of new ones having gone up so much since we got ours, we’ll get most of what we paid for that back too.

Our duty is to give our sons and daughters exposure to as many hobbies and interests as possible isn’t it. If he likes Karts I’ll have to fund that etc etc.

Worringly there are a lot of horse stables and riding schools round here and MiniS has already expressed an interest.. 😯

Ideally though I want hora junior to get into guitars and surfing

Are you trying to breed a replacement for SurfMat?

Ideally though I want hora junior to get into guitars and surfing

You fool! Whatever you push them towards, they rebel against. If you’re not careful he’s going to end up being into boys and cross-stitch 😆