Reply With QuoteAnd they switch to normal bikes much more easily when they are used to balance bikes.
What a great invention !
He spent the best part of an hour terrorising the local Decathlon and was fully up to speed by the time we got back. Bought him a helmet as well.
Only 2 but loves it and nothing has had a look in since.
And they switch to normal bikes much more easily when they are used to balance bikes.
Of course, being a boy, you can imagine what happened 5 secs after the second photo !
By far the best way to learn to ride. MY daughter was in a proper bike at 3 after 12 months on a balance bike.
Hope he enjoys it!!
Both of ours used a Puky balance bike to race round on from about 3 years. They went straight on to a peddle bike without stabilisers in about 6 months.
Best £30 we ever spent, and used Puky's still go for silly money on eBay.
Last edited by Onelasttime; 4th June 2016 at 18:08.
First time I had ever gone to Decathlon at a weekend and ... mayhem.... in a good way. Kids riding bikes, playing table tennis, hiding in tents.
He just learned what the brake does.... very confused :-)
Got one for my boy and he just won't touch the thing, really gutted. I'm going to keep trying though
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Ditto my son...Originally Posted by StuS
Mine too, although he prefers the balance bike as he can go faster!
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Bought a couple for two of my youngest grandsons and they love them
Had 2 for my twins - had a bit of a bike hiatus but they get real bikes this month - will be interesting to see how they do
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Just got my youngest daughter on one (from decathlon as it happens) my eldest had one for just over a year and is almost riding a proper bike unaided now, she just struggles starting off. Sadly the youngest is just a bit too small for the balance bike we have hence buying another, watching them around the garden has left me in little doubt the youngest will follow suit and not need stabilisers at all when it comes to a proper bike, a much easier transition.
We got our son (4yr old) one of these, it is tremendous. Goes to School on it everyday: http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/pr...bbgaAg-h8P8HAQ
Bought my boy an isla rothan when he was 2 at great expense.
Never even tried it, just played with it upside on the living room carpet spinning the wheels. Never showed any interest in sitting on it. Turns out he's probably autistic, he's now 5 and still won't sit on a bike.
Anyone need a mint unused rothan? Lol
Brighty
I meant to add we bought my eldest this one
http://www.firstbike.com
Absolutely superb the only downside was its a little bit too big for our 18month old who didn't grasp that and still tried to ride it at any given opportunity, given a couple of months it would've been fine but for £30 it was easier to buy a smaller one for now, having the brake meant nothing at first to my eldest however for the past few month I've been encouraging her to do skids with it on our gravel drive way (I now have to get the rake out when the bikes are out) but it's meant she could already balance and brake once on a proper bike just the pedalling left to learn which took 10 minutes
I've got this problem with my wee girl. Over £100 on an islabike balance bike, and she's used it once. The only consolation is they hold their value pretty well when I come to sell it.
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My daughter (who's nearly 3) has a really nice LikeAbike balance bike, but never uses it. She prefers her scooter. I keep trying to get her to try the bike but she isn't interested :(
I bought an Isla single speed for ours when they were young and simply took the pedals off
They used it for a balance bike for about 10 minutes and then the pedals went back on, worth a go for those who want to avoid the need to buy a bike with a very short life span!
Actually Balance bikes aren't the best way to learn to ride (although they don't really hurt).
Years ago I learned a technique to teach kids to ride a bike confidently in less than five minutes - I used it on my own children and have done it with 100% success for many friends kids since.
If you want to learn how to do it - here you go. Best money I ever spent on anything.
http://pedalmagic.com/
So clever my foot fell off.
Having moved out of London, into quite a rural area I assumed all the kids here would ride to school on bikes - but I've not seen more than a couple of kids on bikes up here in over 6 months - very weird. Mind you, when they hit 16 they all seem to get scooters, then at 17 it's cheap cars - insurance is a fraction of the equivalent in London I guess. But really find the lack of cycling kids odd. Maybe it's an urban affectation for middle aged men in Lycra?!😉
An old friend of mine set up this bike company which sells balance bikes that 'grow' as your kids do and they can then have pedals added etc.
https://www.littlebigbikes.com/
I don't have kids, so have never tried one myself!
Very cool - hope your friend does well with that!
They are great, my son loved it although even at the seat the lowest he could not reach down properly (he had just turned 2). He did learn to cycle more easily as well.
We got my son a balance bike when he was 2. Didn't take long before he was charging about on it everywhere. We got him a proper bike with stabilisers for his 4th birthday but he just never took to it. He just couldn't get pedals (insisting on pedalling backwards and wondering why it didn't move). The bike lay in the shed until just a couple of weeks ago when he came to me and asked me to take the stabilisers off the bike. I took them off and with one push he was off. It was really quite amazing to see. Within the space of a week he's riding at a level where I can take him out a ride.
His little sister, currently 3 just would not entertain the balance bike. She found it too scary. She's on a bike with stabilisers. I'm hoping her horse riding gives her the balance to take to the bike without the stabilisers.
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