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Original poster

toddler bike without pedals

13 replies

snotbuster · 27/03/2008 11:00

Does anyone know where to get these from and roughly how much they are? The ones that help them learn to balance without pedals/stabilisers.
I probably can't afford an expensive wooden one but have also seen metal versions. Thanks

OP posts:
SheherazadetheGoat · 27/03/2008 11:09

lidl sometimes do nice wooden ones. or look on ebay.

throckenholt · 27/03/2008 11:11

lidl wooden ones are great - but as with everything in lidl you have to grab them when they are there.

SheherazadetheGoat · 27/03/2008 11:18

i know, when i went to get dd's there was a quite a queue of middle class parents waiting before the shop even opened. the security guard opened the door and silently directed us to the huge pile of wooden bikes.

Whooosh · 27/03/2008 11:42

I've got a brand new German one with a character on it (will need to check as hidden in the loft).
We bought dd one and then she was given another so am happy to sell it for £25 plus postage or pick up from Herts.

Original poster
snotbuster · 27/03/2008 11:50

Wow! Would never have thought of Lidl - presumed all the ones I've seen around were vastly expensive. Whoosh - thanks very much - will check out local lidl and ebay and then get back to you.

OP posts:
Smee · 27/03/2008 12:02

Try Islabikes (they're on the net). Not the cheapest, but once you've got one, they'll part exchange it if you upgrade. Also, they go second hand for only about £10 less than you originally paid for it. Metal and funky. Our DS had the pedal less one first, and now at 3 is easily onto a pedal one and not a stabiliser in sight.

cornflakegirl · 27/03/2008 14:56

I've been looking into these - and my current plan is to buy a normal bike and get the shop to remove the pedals and cranks (or not put them on in the first place). Will then put the pedals on when DS is ready. Just a thought!

itwasntme · 27/03/2008 15:06

I'm overseas and have only recently heard about these.

What is the advantage? And what is wrong with the traditional bike with stabilisers? Surely learning to pedal is an important part of learning to ride a bike, and balancing comes afterwards.

My brother has just bought one for his nearly 5-year old, just as we were takng the stabilisers off my 4-year olds bike. Aren't they just a gimmick to make parents shell out more cash?

I'm genuinely interested, and don't intend to offend anyone.

aefondkiss · 27/03/2008 15:19

tesco do one, my mum bought one for my ds at xmas, it has a side stand and brake and was about £25 I think.

Smee · 27/03/2008 16:49

I was sceptical too itwasntme, but they're great. At two then can scoot along and learn balance easily as their feet can reach the floor, so they don't worry about falling. They start slowly, then learn confidence so pick their feet up in between scoots and whizz along. DS at three then got on a normal bike (ie pedals, brakes and no stabilisers) and rode it straight away. In other words, there's nothing wrong with the old way of stabilisers, etc, but this way they learn to ride more quickly and it's far more fun as they can zip along. I'm a complete convert.

throckenholt · 28/03/2008 13:06

I think they work because they get the balance first - without having to worry about the pedals - and then learning to turn the pedals later is the easy bit.

The problem with stabilisers is they can happily pedal along leaning over because the stabiliser is holding them up. Once you take them off they find they can't balance - and then all the pedalling in the world is not going to help.

My boys all used these and all learnt to ride with pedals in about half an hour after having whizzed around on the pedalless bike for a few months.

I am guessing it would be fairly effective just to take the pedals and cranks off as cornflake suggests.

grannyslippers · 29/03/2008 22:07

I noticed a metal pedal-less bike in the Tesco Direct catalogue about £30. Also in the Next directory (but presumably available elsewhere) is a bike with removable pedals and stabilisers so can convert from balance bike to normal one. Although DH has pointed out that ALL bikes have removable pedals, if you have a spanner!

We got one of the wooden ones from ebay, about £50 when DS was nearly 3. It took about 6 months before he was tall enough to really get the hang of it but now there's no stopping him on his "scooting bike". He will easily scoot along surprisingly quickly for up to a mile, such that I have to almost jog with the pushchair to keep up. Other friends have found the transition to a pedal bike goes very quickly, so I'm hopeful.

missymum · 29/03/2008 22:18

there are lots of metal ones on ebay, search for training bikes. can recommend the mini viper which my dd loves

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