Balance bike recommendations?

[CandleRigg89]

My son is 2 in May and we’re getting him a balance bike. I’ve been googling and it’s a minefield - and the price varies soooo much, from like £25-£260!!

I think our max we’d like to spend is about £120, but ideally less. Does anyone have any real life recommendations?

thanks 😀

Bear in mind you're likely to end up carrying the thing around, do yourself a favour and go for a lightweight one. This is also helpful for children using them as it's less weight for them to steer/haul around. We got a Hornit AIRO which is great; they're a little above your preferred budget but they do have an 'ex display' section on their website.

We got a strider one which my son absolutely loved. It's for sale if you happen to be in Buckinghamshire 🤣

It’s a long time since we had one but the thing to check is the weight as you will inevitably at some point end up carrying it and possibly your DS as well. Have a look on your local gumtree as you might get a good quality one second hand. This also looks interesting:

bikeclub.com/collections/balance

Frog tadpoles are awesome. You can find them second hand if you have a look around :)

We had an Islabike Rothan, which was amazing, but there was far less choice 10 + years ago. Both dc ride that balance bike, and both transitioned seamlessly onto a pedal bike at 3. (NB: pedalling is an intellectual skill they need to develop as well, so riding pedal trikes etc at nursery etc will still be really beneficial to moving onto a pedal bike, whilst they learn the balance bit from the balance bike).

Since the original rider of that balance bike is now 6'2" I am a little out of touch with what is currently on the market. For several years, I was involved in youth cycle coaching, including learning to ride a pedal bike from scratch, so I can only offer general advice:

• Get a metal framed bike (I have seen many wooden ones suffer from rain damage or split in crashes)
• Get one with proper pneumatic tyres, which are more comfortable than solid wheels, and can be repaired.
• Get one with brakes. Those things can move really fast once the rider gets the hang of it! - this will also save their shoes and be good discipline when they move onto a pedal bike.
• the big names - Isla, Frog, Stryder - have a good resale market. There are Facebook preloved pages for all of them.

Thank you so much for all the recommendations everyone, I really appreciate it! I’ve spent some time reading and think we’ve settled on the Hornit ARIO recommended by @Persipan Looks like a nice balance between quality and cost!

If you buy Frog and Isla second hand they are still £££ but they hold their value for when you resell them.

We have a Frog Tadpole that we picked up second hand for our 2 Yr old, really easy to adjust the seat and light enough to be carried by us when he grows tired of it. We will probably sell it for what we brought it for and get the next size Frog or Isla.