Balance bike or ordinary bike with stabilisers?

[wondersparkler]

I'm planning to get DS (2.5) a bike for Christmas but no idea what sort I should go for.
Balance bikes seem to be the in thing at the moment but I'm thinking if I go for one of those I'm still going to have to buy a proper bike as soon as DS wants to pedal. I'm thinking that stabilisers can come off and the bike will last a bit longer if it's just an ordinary bike, but is there something about balance bikes which makes them better for learning on?

Going from our experience, I'd go for a balance bike - or just get an ordinary bike and take the pedals off. Stabilisers were useless for dd - they ended up destabilising her! In the end we used an old balance bike my dad rescued from the tip. Within a month, dd could ride her proper bike.

Balance bike. Definitely.
Then proper bike at about age 4.

paddingtonbear can I ask how old your DD was? Getting a balance bike and then needing a proper bike a month later is pretty much exactly what I want to avoid!
If the balance bike is likely to last til 4 I'd be a bit more inclined towards it...

hi, sorry yes my dd had already been riding a normal bike with stabilisers for ages. She's 7 and has only started riding without in the last few months, so her age probably comes into it! Since your ds is much younger, a balance bike should last much longer.

i bought my daughter the PUKY balance bike which she loves...... She can go pretty fast on it as well!