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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to skip balance bike

78 replies

blondieblonde · 27/09/2016 14:03

Our DD is nearly 4 and wants a bike. She's never had one before, though at playschool they have tricycles she can ride.

Would I be unreasonable to buy her a proper bike and start teaching her to ride on that? Or should I buy her a balance bike to get her started, though she's quite old and might not need it for long.

Anyone taught their kid on a proper bike and skipped the balance stage?

OP posts:

swissy56 · 27/09/2016 17:33

Yes I did look into taking the pedals off but it seems like a faff and the bikes are still quite heavy for little ones starting out. We got a balance bike in July and will move her up soon I think she would ride a pedal bike now but we are saving it for Christmas!

Miloarmadillo1 · 27/09/2016 17:35

How is a scooter an alternative to a balance bike? Possibly as a 'small child mode of transport' but not as 'precursor to a pedal bike'.
Balance bikes are great, but if your DD is nearly 4 just get a pedal bike and remove the pedals for a few weeks until she gets the hang of balancing.
Our balance bike was £90 7 years ago, there are much cheaper options around now, it has been used by 4 family children from approx 2-3.5 when they all went straight to pedal bikes. It is waiting for DD, then I think having provided 7 or so years of fun it can probably be gracefully retired or passed to the charity shop. It's been the best thing we ever bought for the children by a country mile.

bruffin · 27/09/2016 18:12

Scooters work,that's how dd learnt to balance and it is still useful once they have learnt to ride bike.

bruffin · 27/09/2016 18:13

They carry on playing with a scooter.

5moreminutes · 27/09/2016 18:55

bloody look up the mini Puky balance bike - DD was small for her age and it was the right size on her 2nd birthday, DC2 who was taller claimed it at 16 months and was inseparable from it til he stole and rode off on DC1's pedal bike at 2.5, by which point he was outgrowing the tiny Puky (there is a bigger model better suited to 2.5-4 year olds available, the tiny one is sold as suitable from 2 and only the tiniest 2 year old would be too small).

kippersandcurtains · 27/09/2016 19:01

Amused by the split of opinion - and inspired to add my own. Two boys, so balance bike bought for ds1 at 2 years was handed down to ds2 (and will be kept for dc3 currently bump). Pedal bike bought and mastered in 20 mins at 4 years, never needed stabilisers.
Chap at Isla (yes, sales so clearly biased) said the BB to pedal was the easiest and most intuitive for children. Certainly it was the case for both my boys.
Each to their own - but to suggest either way is less fun (?!) or a waste of money is just daft.

Catsize · 27/09/2016 19:09

Save the money you'd use on a balance bike and buy an Earlyrider bike instead. DS didn't really do balance bikes but was riding this before I could go and get the camera (literally). It is super light and easy to fling in the boot or whatever. Yes, it's more expensive but totally worth it. His friends who have been struggling on steel frame bikes have taken to his brilliantly. And there is no oily chain! Love it and have bought the next size up too.

NuzzleandScratch · 27/09/2016 19:09

God what a drama on this thread, this is as bad as toilet brushes! Does it really matter how quickly they get to ride a normal bike? In my opinion, children have to be quite fearless to get on with a balance bike, as they have to go quite fast to be able to take their feet off, and my dds never wanted to do that, so they'd just walk along on the balance bike, which was pointless. Don't see the issue with stabilisers, we took them off dd1's bike last summer, when she was 5, and she mastered normal cycling in about half an hour. Dd2 is still happy on her bike with stabilisers.

thelostboy · 27/09/2016 19:10

As a keen cyclist I'd suggest avoiding stabilisers as it can make them too reliant on them and doesn't really teach them to balance.

At 4 though, she may be too old/big for a balance bike, as they are often pitched at younger ones, but you might find that she will still fit on one.

With my eldest (after a failed attempt with his original stabiliser bike) I got him a proper bike when he was about 5 and took the pedals off, then got him coasting down a gentle grassy slope till he could balance properly. After a few sessions of this, he started pretending to pedal, so the pedals went back on and he was away! You could see the freedom and possibilities opening up in his mind.

8 years later he is as tall as me, rides one of my old mountain bikes, but still can't quite beat his old dad.

Catsize · 27/09/2016 19:11

This is it...

Very expensive but worth trying to get a 2nd hand one...

fab bike

Natsku · 27/09/2016 19:13

2 wheel scooters do help with learning to balance, I reckon that's part of why DD mastered the bike so quickly as she had been using the scooter for a few months already.

FrameyMcFrame · 27/09/2016 19:14

I've done both with 2 children.

The one who had stabilisers took an age to learn, clunky, heavy... She hated riding her bike because it was too hard.

The one who had a balance bike first learned to ride in 20 minutes on a normal bike and still goes for bike rides now voluntarily...

I'd recommend Islabikes, fabulous bikes.

AllTheShoes · 27/09/2016 19:15

bloody, I just wanted to second what 5more said - I had a tiny dd1 (still very small for her age) and had to do tons of research to find a small enough balance bike, and the smallest Puky was it. It did her, her sister on occasion DH for a laugh and is still going strong with a friend's daughter. I'd really recommend it.

Paddingtonthebear · 27/09/2016 19:24

Ridgeback scoot is a great balance bike. It's a bit heavier than most balance bikes which actually worked out well as my DD was used to the weight when she moved up to a pedal bike age 3 and was able to ride straight away. We got her a 14 inch bike from decathlon which is not the lightest thing but she's managed it with ease. She's such a happy rider that we've bought her a bigger secondhand islabike which is lighter. Think she will enjoy longer rides and find it easier to go uphill on that. She will be 4 soon and has been riding several miles a day for 6 months. Balance bike definitely inspired her!

hazeyjane · 27/09/2016 19:26

Dd1 and 2 both learnt to ride on bikes with stabilisers, they loved their bikes with stabilisers, but learnt to lose them pretty quickly, and both were riding their bikes confidently by 5/6

We have balance bikes at preschool and some children really struggle with them, others absolutely fly! I guess they suit different kids.

Ds has the most awesome trike, it is a thing of beauty!

aquawoman · 27/09/2016 19:36

Stabilisers are completely useless.

DD was riding a balance bike at 1 and a normal bike without stabilisers at 2. Not even joking.

It's all very well saying kids can pick it up quickly after stabilisers but how old are they? 5/6/7?

hazeyjane · 27/09/2016 19:40

Dd1 and 2 weren't even walking at 1!

Most or the kids I know end up riding a bike around the same age whether they had a balance bike or stabilisers

And as far as I am aware there are no medals handed out for youngest bike rider ever!

aquawoman · 27/09/2016 19:42

No, I accept that. DD is fearless and just couldn't be stopped.

I was gobsmacked when it took her half an hour to master pedals at 2.5 though. The balance bike is just a much smoother transition to proper bike rising than those strange stabilisers.

aquawoman · 27/09/2016 19:45

riding

Her cousin, two years older, had been riding with stabilisers for a while. I let her try the balance bike and she was all over the place on it. She just had no concept of not being able to just plonk herself on something and go, no sense of balance at all.

Stabilisers just seem to teach all the wrong things. Turning the pedals around is the least of it.

SlinkyB · 27/09/2016 19:50

I bought a second hand balance bike for ds1, a decent Raleigh one which was immaculate. Cost me £20. He loved it from age 2.5 to 5, would take it everywhere and would go incredibly fast down hills no problems. The tyres were bald when he finally started riding his peddle bike at 5.

Dh insisted he had stabilisers, despite me having read on here they were a backwards step. Ds struggled as his bike is a relatively cheap one from Toys R Us, so weighs a tonne. The stabilisers made it more cumbersome.

He finally mastered riding it without stabilisers a few weeks ago at 5.5.

Just trying to get ds2 interested in the balance bike now (we spent £20 getting new tyres and brakes for it). Will def skip stabilisers with him.

Would love to be able to afford Frog or Isla bikes for them, but they're around £300 new and like hens teeth to find second hand.

Love that video posted above

hazeyjane · 27/09/2016 19:54

My dds liked playing on balance bikes, and riding their bikes with stabilisers and scooting on scooters and skateboarding and ripsticking (they like wheeled stuff!)

I don't think iit is as black and white as 2 wheels good 4 wheels bad.

Like I say I see kids of all different abilities, some struggle with balance bikes, others don't.

Ds has just learnt to pedal at 6, he hasn't got a hope of balancing for a good while yet. But his pedalling is awesome!

NuzzleandScratch · 27/09/2016 19:57

Exactly hazeyjane, no medals! Although obviously all children on Mumsnet are very advanced in all respects. Dd2 also walked late, at 18 months, so she didn't hop straight on a bike!

Believeitornot · 27/09/2016 20:01

My ds had a balance bike and the first time he got on a pedal bike (no stabilisers) he rode it within two minutes and has never looked back.

Dd didn't have one (ds's was too big). She has a bike with stabilisers and hasn't got the hang of it. It's an Isla so not cheap!

BikeRunSki · 27/09/2016 20:05

I am a huge advocate of balance bikes, and have seen many children progress onto pedal bikes from balance bikes almost seamlessly, including my own.
But, at 4 I'd get a decent pedal bike and take the pedals off and use it as a balance bike until she gets the hang of balancing.

Artandco · 27/09/2016 20:10

Balance bikes are Great. But they at what you buy an 18 month old, before a bike with pedals and no stabilisers at 3. At 4 years they are past the balance bike age so you will need to get a regular bike and run behind helping her learn.
Those who usually hate the balance bike and say a waste usually are buying them way too late

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