Is a balance bike a waste of time?

[jollybobs89]

Looking to get my DD a bike for Christmas she's been asking for a frozen motorbike haha

Anyway she's 3 in February but should I go for a balance bike or a bike with stabilisers?

Any advice would be great!

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MNHQ

Why not buy a tricycle?

Balance bikes are brilliant

Balance bike all the way! mine had them from 2 and literary went everywhere on them. one learnt to ride a bike just after his fourth birthday and the other a couple of months after his 3rd birthday. They are brilliant!

We had both. Neighbours gave dd a pedal bike just after I got her the balance bike aged 2. She then favoured the pedal bike for a long time but used the balance bike a few times age 3. It meant she had both the balance and pedal skills and was competently riding a proper bike with no stabilisers before her 4th birthday. She was so quick - literally getting on and going that I probably could have taken them off sooner

My children didn’t have balance bikes (didn’t know about them when they were small) but the children at nursery love them and choose them over the pedal bikes because they can go faster!

Both mine could ride a pedal bike before they turned 4 after learning on balance bikes first. Our youngest has the smallest size frog bike with pedals and she used that as a balance bike from when she was a little over 3 till we put the pedals on a few months later. It worked well to get her a bit used to the weight of a real bike before also trying to learn to peddle

DS loved his balance bike.

He still didn't get a pedal bike straight off and needed a couple of months with stabilisers, but I don't regret the balance bike as it was a fantastic toy in its own right.

If you do go down the "pedals off" route, I think the lowest seat height we could find (DS v small for his age) was the smallest of the Specialized bikes. Quite pricy but v light weight and good quality.

Balance bikes weren't as popular years ago when ds1 was young. So we kind of missed out on it. But it's only part of it. It's important that children still play on other stuff with pedals, say a tractor or a trike at nursery/playgroup, so they all get used to the idea of pushing pedals round. In preparation for riding a bike.

Balance bike. Then regular bike at 4. DS was 3 and 3 months but it was a second hand 10 inch cheapy, if I was buying new I'd hold off and get a 16 inch.

*3 and 2 months. Still used the balance bike as well until 4 though, it was so easy to put in the car and carry around.

DS had a balance bike from just over 2, then on his third birthday we gave him a bike with pedals. He'd been very fast on the balance bike once he got the hang of it.
The day he got the pedal bike he just ride off!
only problem was stopping, so we had to run alongside. Which he thought was hilarious & pedalled faster & faster...

Can’t recommend balance bikes enough- DS was riding a pedal bike without stabilisers before his 4th birthday.

Balance bike all the way - DD had a bike with stabilisers, and learnt to ride without them with a lot of strops and anxiety aged 6. DS had a balance bike at 2, and was pedalling himself confidently to preschool on his proper bike by 3. Same with all their friends - DC who had a balance bike all learnt to ride a proper bike much more quickly and easily.

We’re the same as @Twobrews but mine’s only 2 so think it was maybe a bit early, you might be better with her bring that but older than mine. We both cycle so thinking he’ll warm to it in time but for now the scooter is king!

DS1 never liked his balance bike, he got a bike with stabilizers at 3 which he loved and I took the stabilizers off at 4 - took 2 afternoons to learn to ride.

I'd go for bike with stabilizers myself.

My kid was on a balance bike from 2. And then on a regular bike without trainer wheels 2 months before his 3rd birthday. Never even has trainer wheels.

And all... because...of... the.. balance bike. The things are bloody great. They learn to balance. Which is all they need to learn to be able to ride a bike (well... that and peddle.. but still 😁)

you can go from a balance bike straight to a regular bike with no trainer wheels. And that is pretty bloody great!

@MaryGubbins

Stabilisers are so old school. Do you remember being at school in the 80s and kids learning to ride bikes at age 8 or 7? You see all the 4/5 year olds cycling now. That’s due to balance bikes (and prob lighter bikes?)

My youngest balance biked from 2.5 and could go a pedal bike at 3.5.

Balance bikes didn't exist when my children were young 20 years ago (or if they did, I wasn't aware of them).

My eldest was still riding her pedal bike without stabilisers before the age of 4.

could do the monkey bars at 2

Really? Really?

Yes really, 🤷‍♀️

I know some children were still riding without stabilisers at 4 before balance bikes but DS has hypermobility so I don't know if he would have been riding at a couple of months past 3 without having had a balance bike first.

My DD had a balance bike and she loved it. It was wooden and very light weight. When she outgrew it we bought her a proper bike, removed pedals and she used it as a balance bike until she asked for pedals at age 4.

DS was later learning (he loved his scooter too much!) so he had a bike with the pedals removed to begin with. Once he got the hang of balancing we put the pedals on.

I wouldn’t bother with stabilisers personally.

Both my kids started on balance bike at age 2. When i got them the real bike they didnt need training wheels at all. They learnt it really fast, because they could balance already. DS got his first bike for his 3rd birthday and learnt it the same day. DD was almost 4 when i swapped her on the normal bike. She also learnt to ride it properly on the first day.