Balance bikes

[balalalala]

What's the best option for a balance bike for a just turned 2 year old? I love the strider ones but they seem so expensive for something I imagine will only be used for a year or two! DD is very little and slight however she happily hopped on a friend bike with stabilisers the other week and cycled off despite barely reaching the pedals. Brakes or no brakes?

Smallest are strider and Puky. And another brand I can't remember. Don't really need a brake in my experience!

We had puky one here and would highly recommend it! Progressed to isla bikes but whilst expensive I actually managed to sell for more than I paid initially! Def worth investing in a good brand

We have a LittleBigBikes one, it starts off as a balance bike but can be changed when they're old enough and ready into a pedal bike. The pedals come with the bike and it's really easy to change. My DS went straight from the balance bike to pedals with no stabilisers and only took about 45 mins to get the hang of the pedals.

We love our strider - mostly because it's so so so light weight, that it doesn't matter one iota if we need to carry it to or from the park etc

I like a brake on a balance bike so that the child is used to brakes when they move on to pedals.

we have a cruzee balance bike, its very similar to the strider & one of the lightest out there. chose it specifically as DD was very petite & it had one of the lowest saddle heights we could find. She rode it from age 2 & got the hang of it very quickly. She went on to master her islabike cnoc 14 pedal bike aged 3.5 but still often chooses to use the cruzee as its so easy to ride.

We had the chicco - used from about 2.5 until 4.5, it was great - superb value!

Cruzee - that was the brand I couldn't remember!

The cruzee looks gorgeous! But even more than the strider! Typical!

I have seen a couple of second hand Specialized Hotwalk balance bikes for sale recently for about £30/40

Another one to consider may be a LittleBig bike. This starts off as a balance bike, but you can add peddles as they get older, so it should last you from 2-7 years. Slightly pricier than an Isla bike at £225 with the pedal attachments, but worth it IMHO as will convert to a normal bike once they can ride

Frog tadpole. There is a company that you can essentially hire frog bikes and upgrade when needed to next size that starts at a fiver a month so really reduces the cost of them. Have always had frogs for DS. A light bike will make all the difference. They do hold their value and most independent bike shops stock them unlike Islabikes that only have one physical store.
We initially started with an early rider. Wooden and heavy but looked fab. Nearly as heavy as DS so soon changed. Lots of children's bikes are heavy or out of proportion for children, just 'smaller' adult bikes IYSWIM and can make riding difficult.
Do look on EBay, it has some in great condition.

The company which does long term leasing of Frog bikes is The Bike Club.

Thanks for the advice! I've managed to pick up a perfect condition strider for £15 so fingers crossed she gets on with it.