Which balance bike??

[Rosebud1302]

Could I please have people's balance bike recommendations?

Toddler is 2.5. Not particularly tall or large - average build etc. Would be used mainly on pavements but would also be nice to have one that can maybe handle slightly more uneven terrain as we do a lot of dog walks in the woods, grass etc.

There are so many out there I can't seem to decide!!

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Don't worry too much which brand, just get one that is as light as possible (much easier for the child to manuevre and for you to carry when on a walk and they've had enough riding) and that has air tyres, not solid ones (so the child can ride off road a bit).

We had a Carrera coast which ds2 loved. Ds1 had an Islabike, standard bike which I took the pedals off, made the transition to pedalling very easy. I got both second hand from Facebook. Islabikes are expensive but have a good resale market.

Something very light with a steering limiter. We had a Early Rider wooden one (3kg), which was great. You can pick them up second hand. When he outgrew it, we got a larger metal bike without a steering limiter and it took him a while to get used to it, slowed him down a fair bit. He’s used to the steering bow but can still struggle with the weight (5kg).

The lightest you can afford
The frog tadpole or the strider 10/12 are the two we were recommended, the strider is about 3.5kg and rrp is over £100 but they come up on the Facebook market place often, we paid £30 and it’s brilliant. Came
With an extra seat post to make it bigger too.

We got a Strider as it's so light.

We use a scoot n go strap on our kids' bikes. They are made for scooters but really easy to pull them along on bikes too, plus you can loop the strap under the seat to make a carry handle for if they don't want to ride anymore.

Realise this doesn't answer the question of which bike but if going for walks etc is was super helpful!

Almost any balance bike will do. I got the smallest Puky on Gumtree for £5 and it was ace, but you could get a Strider or Scoot secondhand for a tenner. I wouldn't bother paying the extra for a Rothan or Frog, or buying a new one - keep the money for a pedal bike later.

I don't think the weight actually matters that much unless you are worried about having to carry it yourself. Just make sure you get one with an adjustable height seat (i.e. not the wooden ones) so you can get his feet at the right height. We had a second hand zoom one that was reasonably heavy but ds did really well with it, as have the two toddlers who inherited it from him. Balance bikes do tend to be a bit marmite though - some kids seem to take to them instantly while others never do.

Thanks guys, good to hear different opinions and good idea about looking for one second hand. I was drawn to the Strider but maybe the wheels aren't the best for more uneven terrain....

We had a strider and were happy with it

My son had an Apollo wizzer and he thought it was great. The wheels are proper wheels and not plastic which I liked. It was on the heavier side though (I was using a double pushchair that I could hook it on the back so wasn't an issue for us)

Try Puky. German brand, hold their value amazingly to resell too

@ellenpartridge did you ever take it off road and did it cope ok?

@han01uk will look at Puky and @Babyfg thanks I will check that out too!