Balance bikes

[luckyjames]

My son is 3 and has recently started asking for a bike. He's a bit on the small side so i'm not sure if there are any which he could ride. I'd like opinions on balance bikes. Are they better or the bikes with stabilisers better? My son started using a scooter at a young age and learnt to balance very quickly, therefore my partner seems to think it's best to give him a bike with pedals. Could children get used to riding balance bikes and then struggle to ride with pedals?

[thisisyesterday]

we have a puky bike, the smallest one they do and it's great! ds2 got it when he was 2 and he is just over 3 now and not that tall and he really loves it.
it's adjustable so you can raise the seat/handlebars when necessary

[PigeonPie]

We're fans of the Puky too. We bought the middle size one for DS1 when he was 2 and DS2 now has it at 3 and is a demon on it hurtling round after DS1 on his pedal bike.

DS1 had a little trouble getting started when he got his pedal bike, but we took the pedals off a bit so he could get used to the weight and then when he got used to it, put them back on and DH raced round after him for a couple of days. However, he was riding properly by 4 1/2 and we do put it down to the balance bike and DH's persistence!

Worth the money.

[kalo12]

I had same dilemma. ds really good on scooter, but we kind of missed window of opportunity with balance bike as I think at 3 he would grow out of it so quick.

I have heard good things about balance bikes but think they also look like hard work.

In the end we bought a puky z2 bike with stabalisers. DS (3yrs) loves it , its very empowering and he thinks its really cool. its got brilliant reviews and plenty of people have learnt to ride bikes from stabalisers

Think borrowing a balance bike for a month or so would be good, but didn't want to waste money.