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Original poster

Balance bike or standard bike for 2 Yr old?

12 replies

EyUpOurKid · 16/02/2019 23:17

Ds is 2 and a bit. Fairly competent on a scooter and I'm wondering whether to get him a proper bike (with stabilisers) or a balance bike. Would rather get him something that has a bit of longevity, I'm thinking normal bike, my dad reckons balance bike.

Would you recommended one or the other?

OP posts:

Nix32 · 16/02/2019 23:34

Balance bike, definitely. Once he's confident on that you'll be able to bypass stabilisers when you go to a pedal bike.

Camelos · 16/02/2019 23:37

Balance bike for sure. Stabilisers are the work of the devil and won't be necessary later if learn on balance bike first.

Original poster

EyUpOurKid · 16/02/2019 23:50

That's my dad's reasoning too, definitely makes sense.

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Howzaboutye · 16/02/2019 23:53

Balance bike definitely

Chilver · 16/02/2019 23:53

Balance. Then you dont have to train them twice. As an FYI, you can buy a proper bike and just take the crank shaft off (i.e. pedals) and initally use as balance bike then put pedals back on so dont have to invest twice iyswim?

StellaMorris · 16/02/2019 23:55

Balance bike. My 2 are 2 of many children I know who got bsldncr bikes at 2, and were pedaliing independently at 3, no stabilisers.

Original poster

EyUpOurKid · 16/02/2019 23:55

That's genius chilver

That's decision pretty much made then! Balance bike it is! Thank you everyone!

OP posts:

SpoonBlender · 16/02/2019 23:57

Another for definitely balance bike.

As with most other kid stuff, buy it on ebay/2ndhand and then sell it for much the same again when DS moves up to a pedal bike.

SpoonBlender · 16/02/2019 23:57

Oh, yeah - or do the pedal/whole crankshaft removal thing! Cunning.

VioletPickles · 16/02/2019 23:59

Google Little Big bike. Absolutely brilliant and can be both a balance and a pedal bike when ready.

Camomila · 17/02/2019 00:29

DS has both (both 2nd hand!) much prefers the normal bike with stablisers as he can go faster and he feels more safe. The balance bike is too wobbly - but I think is too big for him as well. He might enjoy it more when he’s taller.

gigglingHyena · 18/02/2019 10:02

Taking off the pedals and cranks wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, there are some good clips on YouTube which I managed to follow. However, the resulting bike was still quite a lot heavier than the equivalent sized balance bike. Ds found it difficult to ride and it was much heavier for me to carry to the park so didn't get much use. We ended up buying a balance bike as well as it made things that bit easier all round.

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