Best balance bike for small 2 year old

[Gingerelle]

Any recommendations? Thinking about the Indi from Halfords, currently half price at £19 and gets good reviews, but I'd love to hear what other people have. Thanks

Our 50th centile DS uses a 2ND hand Magna one and has since 19/20m

For our 2 year old daughter we got her one from Islabikes. Really lightweight so she can lift it herself. Most of the 'standard' brands were just far,far too heavy.

This is the one we purchased...
www.islabikes.co.uk/products/bikes/item/rothan

The Rothan was too tall for my small 2yr old when we looked. From memory we had a choice of the Strider, the Puky or the Cruzee. We chose the Cruzee.

Measure your child's inseam, then add 1cm. They have to be able to stand over the saddle with 1cm clearance to stand any chance of getting on with one. Look at the lowest saddle height of the ones you like and compare.

Children tend to begin by standing over and walking holding the handlebar and they have to feel confident to manage it so there's no point in getting one too big - it'll just sit unused because they can't manage the frame by themselves.

Awww, that indi looks super cute! My DC got on well with the Tiny Bike, and have heard fab reviews about Puky also, but both those guys are a bit more pricy than that Halfords one.... The only thing I would say is I see it doesn't have any foot rest? Both the Tiny and Puky have feet decks for wee ones to place their feet on when coasting... Obvs not needed straight away while learning but totally used by mine before not too long!

Take a look at the Avigo in Toys R Us, it's £25 with 10inch wheels, we're getting it this year for DS 2, then we'll upgrade to a better 12inch next year if he likes it. For the price it's actually quite light. DD didn't start really riding her balance bike before she was 3 so I don't want to spend too much on it in case it goes unused.

We had a cheap one from Halfords which I hated, poor quality, weird position of handle bars.

Upgraded to a strider which is brilliant, just got the basic model which my 4yo loves and is only just growing out of and it'll be passed on to his younger brother.

Mol, I've looked at the Strider one - what age did your 4 year old have it from? I don't mind buying a dearer bike if it'll last DS for a couple of years.

If you get an islabike rothan, it will retain its value and you can sell it on in a couple if years very easily

We have the strider, bought specifically because my 2yo is really short and it was the only one we found he could fit on. Tbh although he could sit on it, he found it quite heavy to start with (not sure how its weight compares to others) and now at 2.8 is starting to be able to handle it better.

It is a nice bike though, but my advice would be pay as much attention to the weight of the bike as to the height of it

We had an Isla bike, it's good as it has a brake. ( after two children the bearings went it was used so much) expensive but so well used it doesn't matter.

My friend with a very petite 2 Year old had a puky as it was smaller.

My boy is somewhere between 9th and 25th percentiles and we got the isla rothan and it has been fab. Not just the height of the bike but with of finger grip to pull the brake lever and isla bike was the best we found.

He's had the strider from 2. He was short and most of the other 12inch ones didn't go low enough. But it's on maxium height now he's 4 and he's looking too big for it.

Love the Strider, you don't just buy a bike but you buy into the community as well and they put on lots of events and races which the children love.
When I was looking, the Strider was the lightest balance bike out there which is important when they are small as it makes them easier to handle. So I would therefore suggest looking at the weights and comparing them.
She also had a balance bike from Decathlon in Spain at her nan and grandads and to be fair this did the job and wasn't too heavy. The adjusting of the handlebars and seat was a nightmare though as you needed tools to do it, with Strider you just unclip by hand. Also with strider you can buy extra long seat posts etc to make them last longer.

Also the strider has puncture proof tyres and no brakes, there are reasons why they shouldn't have brakes when learning to ride a balance bike but I honestly can't find where I read about it and what the reasons are.

This is all so helpful thank you very much everyone!