Balance bike for a 2 yr old
Discussion
My little one turns 2 next month and I want to buy her a balance bike for her birthday. She's about 28-29cm inside leg at the moment so on the shorter side.
Islabike is £150 which seems a lot for a bike with few moving parts. They seem to have gone up significantly in price since a year or so ago which leads me to look again at something under £100..
The Striderbikes caught my eye but they've got foam tyres at £80. Kiddimoto also sell them and are significantly cheaper.
Can anyone recommend any other brands which might fit her?
Islabike is £150 which seems a lot for a bike with few moving parts. They seem to have gone up significantly in price since a year or so ago which leads me to look again at something under £100..
The Striderbikes caught my eye but they've got foam tyres at £80. Kiddimoto also sell them and are significantly cheaper.
Can anyone recommend any other brands which might fit her?
Chicken Chaser said:
Islabike is £150 which seems a lot for a bike with few moving parts.
We had an Islabike Rothan balance bike. I too balked at the price but we used it for both our kids and then got just short of £100 for it on ebay so the real cost was around £50.Islabikes are expensive, we've bought four of them now but they'll always go for strong money used so the costs are mitigated.
Balance bikes are great, out daughter was riding a two wheeler easily before her third birthday.
Fastpedeller said:
Why bother buying a balance bike? Just take the pedals off her first bike and jobs a good un! Yes it works, and they can learn in 10 minutes. Happy Christmas £150 saved.
Because a balance bike seat height is lower. I can't get a half decent pedal bike with a sea height low enough for her little legs.Fastpedeller said:
In that case what do you get once she learns to ride the balance bike? ps not trying to be contrary, just curious.
Something like an Islabike Cnoc.I was sceptical about balance bikes too but having watched both my kids progress from balance bikes to 'proper' bikes with absolutely no problems at all I'm sold on them. Seeing kids on bikes with stabiliser wheels when they're 5 or 6 years old is strange when I think both my kids were on proper two wheelers at 3.
The theory is simple, they learn balance on the balance bike so when they get on a proper bike all they have to do is peddle, everything else is second nature so there's no falling off, no panic and no drama.
I have one of these brand new (in green) which is about to go on eBay if it's of any interest
http://wishbonedesign.com/#!/products/bike/details...
We bought a cheap Wiggle balance bike and it's garbage - seat post and bar clamps are useless and impossible to tighten without shearing the bolts so I'd avoid them unless you only have £30 to spend.
We ended up buying an Early Rider but that'd be too big for most 2 year olds.
http://wishbonedesign.com/#!/products/bike/details...
We bought a cheap Wiggle balance bike and it's garbage - seat post and bar clamps are useless and impossible to tighten without shearing the bolts so I'd avoid them unless you only have £30 to spend.
We ended up buying an Early Rider but that'd be too big for most 2 year olds.
Islabikes have really good residuals, so the cost isn't that bad. I bought mine for £130 (inc delivery) and sold it for £80 + £20 delivery. Plus they have a brake, which becomes very useful once the kid starts getting fast. Otherwise, you'll lose more money on replacement shoes when they keep wearing the soles away.
Deerfoot said:
Fastpedeller said:
In that case what do you get once she learns to ride the balance bike? ps not trying to be contrary, just curious.
Something like an Islabike Cnoc.I was sceptical about balance bikes too but having watched both my kids progress from balance bikes to 'proper' bikes with absolutely no problems at all I'm sold on them. Seeing kids on bikes with stabiliser wheels when they're 5 or 6 years old is strange when I think both my kids were on proper two wheelers at 3.
The theory is simple, they learn balance on the balance bike so when they get on a proper bike all they have to do is peddle, everything else is second nature so there's no falling off, no panic and no drama.
Fastpedeller said:
Yes I get the theory - Something I was alluding to with my first response which was to just take the pedals off a bike.
I can only imagine that then, as has been mentioned above, the seat to ground height is too much if you use a normal bike with pedals removed but if your child managed in this manner fair enough. My kids loved scooting the balance bike along, they both took to it in minutes.
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