Balance bike - Puky or Ridgeback or other??

[callmekirst]

Hi,

Please can someone help me. I want to buy my 2.4 month old son a balance bike with brake for Christmas. He is very advanced for his age, mastering the mini micro scooter before the age of two. A friend lent him a Cheap Puky Replica of which he mastered straight away although I'm not keen on the bike as too heavy, poor positioned brake. I have done my research and although my favourite, the islabike rothan is out of the question due to price. I am considering either the Puky lr1 br or the Ridgeback Scoot. The latter is more appealing as slightly cheaper but happy to spend a little more if the Puky is remarkably better. Or advise on any other recommendations most welcome.

If he is very advanced for his age and has mastered a scooter have you considered going straight for a bike, rather than a balance bike? Ridgeback's first bike is brilliant and I highly recommend it. I tihnk their balance bikes are very good too, and it sounds like you might be overthinking things a little, .

Ds had a Ridgeback Scoot. Can highly recommend it, and when we sold it on eBay we didn't lose much on it.

Islabike Rothan! Islabikes are amazing. Company started by a champion bike rider mum who was fed up of not being able to find a decent bike for her kids.

The Rothan is the balance bike. Light, brake, brilliantly well built, lots of growing room. Not the cheapest bikes on the market by any means, but well worth it.

DS got the Rothan for his 2nd birthday, got really into it by 2.5 or so. He rode it pretty much every day for 18 months, but it still looks brand new. DD is getting it for Christmas! DS got the first Isla bike with pedals when he was 3.5 and will be getting the next one (pedals and gears) for Christmas. They are proper good bikes, hold their value really well.

DH and DS (now 5) both race with local bike club - the kids races look almost as if they are sponsored by Islabike, so many people have them !

Have you considered a second hand islabike? If you found one in good condition at an affordable price you could expect to get something back for it when you move up to a pedal bike.

If a second hand islabike is out of the question, then I'd recommend the ridgeback as the puky is better for taller children and will be heavier.

Also, you should prob measure your child's inside leg (get them to stand against a wall, put a book between their legs and mark the top of the book) and check against the manufacturers recommended sizes. I had to wait AGES for DS1 to have long enough legs

Second hand off eBay and/or your local sites will get you the best deal.

Thank you all for your advise. I'm looking on ebay for islabike and likeabike. There is not much difference between second hand and brand new once you include petrol to collect as they hold their prices really well. Fingers crossed i will grab a bargain soon.

Puky is great.

Not sure what they're like on eBay.

Have you got a local gumtree page OP, worth a look there too, that's where I sold one recently.

Hi all, thanks again for advise. Managed to get second hand islabike in red and very good condition off eBay. Very happy and hopefully will have happy son chrstmas morning too. ;)

Ah, that's good. You'll probably be able to sell it on again too when he's done!

go puky i'd say. i got ds one at about the same age. later when he got a 'proper' bike he pretty much just got on and rode it with a few verbal pointers so i have no regrets - not much of the running along holding a bike up type person

they're really sturdy and i resold ds's on ebay for £35 despite it having some kind of puncture and needing repairing.

Have fun!

sorry - hadn't read to end.

We had the smallest Puky btw and it was fab. But I do think once they get bigger there are other option.

My son has the weeride balance bike which he loves. He's had it since he was 2.3 and at 3.2 is still the right size with growing room. We got ours from Asda which was only £50 - direct.asda.com/WeeRide-Balance-Bike---Red/000969756,default,pd.html

We'd definitely recoomend it, but there are other reviews here too -
www.mumsnet.com/reviews/on-the-move/balance-bikes/9743-weeride-first-balance-bike