Good God LIKE A BIKE is HOW MUCH??!!? what's the alternative?

[gatheringstones]

I am reeling after going into local toy shop and being told like-a-bike is £179! a few kids round here have them - i can't believe anyone would pay that.

so i'm after recommendations for better value alternatives please!

midnight - islabikes also lightweight and cheaper but beautifully made.

1ust give him/her an ordinary bike with stabilizers and don't be suckered by the advertizing industry!

We have a Scoot, cost £70 and is great.

though can't find it for £70 online

Depends on the child seeker, my DS loves his and we got it because he has always had trouble with pedals. It means he can zoom along and learn to balance, and deal with pedalling later. I think they're a fab invention.

Habbs, where were you last week to tell me this? Argh.

ROFL at 'eating the tyres'. Actually, I wouldn't put it past ds2. But he'll be fine; we have non-toxic ones. Yeay! That's got to be worth £150 of anyone's money.

seeker - you're soooo wrong. DS2 is 2 and a half and already zooming down hills on his - they are so brilliant for learning balance. The best things we've bought for the DCs, by a long chalk.

Get a normal bike that you can remove the stabilisers and pedals from.

Tesco do one for £38.97

The JoJo Maman Bebe one is £49. Can only find a pink one on the John Lewis website now. That link Phoenix posted isn't working

dd got a puky balance bike which was less than £50 when she was 2 and was riding a proper bike (Islabikes - fab ) when she was 3 - she never had to use stabilisers and absolutely loved it

the puky one's great as it has a board so your child can put their feet up on it when they get up some speed (and they can really go when they get the hang of it) instead of having to stick their legs out at an awkward angle

it's important to have the seat much lower than you'd think when they start as they need to feel really secure

we got our (like-a-bike) from www.funkymoose.co.uk and seemed to get a really good deal. it's fabulous and really helps get the balance sorted, so DS2 will never need stabilisers. hurrahh ! friends of ours also got their trainer bike from there for under £50. www.funkymoose.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_88

The thing about a balance bike is that, as well as no pedals, the steering is restricted so the handlebars turn very little. This forces child to learn to go round a corner by leaning without losing balance (like a motorcycle).

If you take pedals off a normal metal bike the child will try to turn the handlebars too sharply and fall off. The expensive ones that are meant to have pedals added, I think have must have a restrictor. Has anyone actually succeeded using this approach I wonder?

Just wanted to point this out. Cheap rip off wooden bike worked fine for us but each to their own.

Message withdrawn

I am thinking of getting DS this one

We did the taking the pedals off an old bike and it's working fine but DS doesn't go at any sort of speed. It was given to us and is very rusty so would like to get him a new and proper one for Xmas.

great posts - thanks

but hang on - what's the difference between
the tesco bike and the john lewis bikeexcept the price?!

apart from john lewis spent some money on getting a good photographer in!

Wooden bikes are fab because they are so light. If you were to try using a scaled up version of a kids bike you'd realise just how heavy and cumbersome they are.
Dd's was £10 form lidls and now used by neighbours child and will be passed on from there. She used it eveyday for 2 1/2 years and loved it.

i know i missed the lidl one. been kicking myself ever since - really wish my mum had bought it before asking me as the delay meant they'd all gone!

i'm in a quandry now. i like this one - it's yellow but can only really afford the pink tesco one. i don't like pink. i can't justify spending twice the £ just to avoid pink, can i?

Could you buy the pink one & a can of spray paint?

We've got the Ridgeback Scoot one (in lime green ) for dd. DH is a bit of a cycling freak and researched for months and decided this one was the best. I have no idea but dd seems to like it

Read the reviews on the Tesco bike - they make interesting feedback and aren't all positive. Sounds like it's cheaply made and the brakes are a problem.

That's why I decided to go for the Kettler one in Toys R Us instead.

We bought a new rothan for about 80 18 months ago, selling it for 50. Boy is now on a pedal bike doing 4 mile rides quite happily at 3.4

The current model of rothan has a brake which ours did not. Boy found he could put his feet up behind him on the wheel bolts and then found he could stand up on the rear stays. He would have liked BMX pegs.

Puky are good too, and kettler have a good reputation. The ridge back scoot looks OK, and the

I do prefer the colour of the Jo Jo Maman Bebe one though but worried that we can't try it out before we buy as no shop near us. It works out at £44.10 with the MN discount.

yes, tillyscoutsmum, i love the lime ridgeback too but couldn't find it in stock anywhere. and i wonder if blithedance has given me the excuse i was looking for to go for ridgeback. (although there is a nice pencil skirt in the new boden catalogue...but if spent more on bike no skirt for mummy...) the kettler one looks good but seems to have solid tyres. is that right nappyaddict? other than that looks great (toysrus is a bit of a treck for me to find out first hand - not to mention an ordeal with kids in tow!)