First bike after balance bike

[shufflebum]

Ds1 is ready for a pedal bike now, are there any that are lighter/easier than others? His balance bike is so light that anything else seems so heavy. The Islabike seems to be recommended a lot but it's above our budget.
He's quite tall so probably a 14inch and hoping to do without stabilisers.

I got my ds a cheap bike from a car boot sale after his balance bike as I was convinced he'd fall off a lot and didn't want to wreck a new one. This was a mistake though as it wasn't very good. The chain kept falling off and the brakes needed adjusting all the time.

We didn't bother with stabilisers and he was speeding off really quickly!

You're right about getting one that's not too heavy, look for an aluminium frame not a steel one. I also prefer direct pull or v brakes rather than caliper brakes as they're easier for little hands to use. If you can, find a bike that has an adjustment on the brake lever to make the reach smaller too. This means that they're not struggling to pull the brakes with the ends of their fingers IYSWIM.

How about something like this

Sorry just realised I linked to the 12" bike, they do a 14" one too :)

We went to a ridgeback from a balance bike with no stabilisers and it was great.

Anything with an aluminium frame will be lighter, the iskabikes of course, the aforementioned ridgeback range and the Dawes blowfish are all good.

Specialised do one too but I believe it has back pedal brakes which is matter of opinion!

We have been very happy with the ridgeback- got it 2nd hand. One thing to bare in mind is that the iskabikes have amazing resale value so you would get about 75% back

ISLAbike not ISKAbike

Another vote for Isla bikes I'm afraid. Our son has a Cnoc 14. I argued the toss with my bike-crazy hubby over it ("it's too expensive,why the hell would we spend that on a bike for a 3 yr old??") but for once, he was right...aforementioned 3 yr old jumped on and was pedalling away within 15-20 mins. They are really light and the brakes are perfect for little hands. It seems such a well-made bit of kit. hope to god the stuff about resale values is true though.....can you get grandparents etc to chip in with vouchers towards it for xmas/birthday? Or check out eBay for second hand ones? I'd sell you ours but think he's got a good 6 months left in it!

Thank you all, I'm watching a few Islabikes on eBay ATM but good to know there are other options. Grandparents are paying for it but don't want to push my luck!