Balance Bike? - Menlo Park,CA

Updated on April 15, 2016
S.B. asks from Menlo Park, CA
11 answers

Hello Fabulous Ladies!

We're thinking of purchasing a balance bike (for our soon to be 5 year old son) that is age appropriate (larger). I would love some input from anyone who has purchased one. Are son rides with training wheels and can manage at times with the training wheels "uncomfortable high."

1: Is it worth it at this point to buy one.....or do you see many other benefits than just the balance?

2: how long was the transition from the balance bike to the bicycle minus training wheels?

Thanks much in advance.

S.

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K.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Love the balance bikes. We bought my 2 year old one and loved it. He was riding a 2 wheel bike at 2 1/2. He still rides it on occasion as it is so fun and a little different than a regular bike. So worth it.

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T.S.

answers from Sacramento on

Since he's older, I'd recommend just taking the trainers off of his existing bike and lowering the seat so that he can comfortably put both feet flat on the ground. You don't even need to take off the pedals. Let him push the bike with his feet (like he would with a balance bike) and he'll put his feet on the pedals to glide when he feels ready... in the same way he'll pedal when he feels like it.

My son is 5 also, and has been riding a two wheeler since he turned 3. He still sometimes pushes his bike along with feet on the ground when he's trying to stay back with me while I walk, or just to get it going (then he puts his feet up and pedals once it's going).

I would not get him a special balance bike at this point because with him being bigger, it'll be harder to find and you'll end up frustrated when he is ready to get back on the real bike so quickly!

Good luck.

T.

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M.D.

answers from San Francisco on

i have triplets so i never had the patience to teach them to ride a 2 wheeler so the balance bike was like god sent to me, i got one bike from craigslists when my trio was 4 & half & kept it at home all the time , my boys mastered the two wheelers within 2 mths while my daughter still trying (cannot blame her since her brothers never let her ride much)...i feel its very worth buying one.

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H.S.

answers from Seattle on

We bought a "Hobby Horse" brand one for my daughter a bit before she turned four which was about a year ago (so she is also soon to be 5, well at the end of September...guess I shouldn't speed it up too terribly!). She is really tall for her age and fits it just fine. Oh, and it is the regular one, not the larger/older child one that I debated about buying, thinking she may outgrow this one too quickly. It comes with pedals too, which I thought was a good selling point, vs. having to buy another pedal bike, and it also has a hand brake which I really liked.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you how she's doing yet with the pedals, cause we have kept it as a balance bike the whole time so far. She is probably very ready for pedals, but she likes it as it is (and flies around our hilly neighborhood), and also my dear sweet hubby hasn't had a chance to figure out where he stashed the pedals in the garage--lovely :). I do remember reading some reviews on them and people were saying their kids were able to add the pedals in a matter of weeks.

Definitely worth it, in my opinion, even at this age--especially if you get one that comes with pedals--and since you probably have way better weather than us in WA, you will probably have one of the kids who'll learn in just a few weeks!

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S.C.

answers from Sacramento on

Seriously I have to say I believe most people who can ride a bike learned to ride before the invention of a "balance bike". It's like anything if you spend the time teaching your kid and working with them he will learn to ride a bike - I remember my dad spending the entire weekend with me putting me at the top of a grassy hill and then just letting me go down - it wasn't steep but steep enough for me to go without having to peddle - I think this is a memory I will cherish forever. My neighbor's got one and seriously it is ridiculous - take the training wheels off and help him out he will get the hang of it .

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J.H.

answers from Appleton on

I have heard of people taking the pedals (and training wheels of course) off and "making" their own balance bike...then your son could use the bike he is accustomed to and you save the expense of a new one :-)

My son got a balance bike at 3; this summer he is 4 and riding a regular bike. There was practically no transition at all, although he is still getting the hang of starting & stopping on his own.

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S.B.

answers from Dallas on

We looked into it for our son when he was 4. Then my sister in law suggested taking the pedals off my sons smaller bike and let him push it around that way instead. So we tried it. We took off the pedals and let him push it around with his feet. We reminded him that every time he lifted his feet he was riding a two wheeler. He did this for a week, maybe a week and a half. He practiced maybe 15 minutes a day. When we put the pedals back on, it took him about 10 minutes to start riding. Stopping took a little more time...about thirty minutes. He was all over the place in no time flat. When we moved him to his regular bike instead of his older, smaller one, it took a little while for him to feel comfortable. I think he liked being able to control himself easier on the smaller bike. For the first week or so, he would hop off the bigger bike and grab the small one. So, I think they work. My son is proof. But simply taking off the pedals of his smaller bike got us the same results without investing more money.

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N.J.

answers from Los Angeles on

Personally because of his age..I would just take the pedals off and let him push with his feet until he feels comfortable lifting and coasting. We bought my son at 2.5 yrs a cheap balance bike, he liked it so much I went ahead and invested in a Strider when he was a little over 3 yrs.

He loves that thing. He rode it for about 6 months and at 3.5 yrs he can ride a two wheeler with no training wheels. He still hasn't figured out how to start on his own so he prefers the balance bike. He gets frustrated with the 2 wheeler because he takes his feet off and wants to coast like he does on the balance bike, and unfortunately the bikes with pedals and chains just don't seem to coast as well!

In the end I'm just letting him ride the balance bike until he really wants to ride his two wheeler. I have no interest in forcing him to ride the 2 wheeler, even tho he can do it perfectly! So I'm hear to say the balance bike theory obviously really does work. But at 3.5 he really doesn't have the street smarts or any other playmates that ride a 2 wheeler so he's content with the balance bike--well except when he's around his older cousins--but that's not very often!

Just wanted to add that my 5 yr old nephew loves my son's Strider, he loves how light it is and he can do tricks on it. So to him its just another toy to play with! Wouldn't necessarily be worthless, but if you don't have the extra cash I'd just stick with taking the pedals (and even chains) off his current bike if you want to go the balance bike route....

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K.M.

answers from San Francisco on

I agree w/the other responses. Don't spend the money on a new balance bike as some of those can be quite pricey. We've known plenty of folks who just take the pedals off the bike, put the seat as low as possible & voila, you have a balance bike. Then once he's comfortable, put the pedals back on & get him riding it as a two wheeler. As far as the length of transition, it's just like anything else....all kids learn at their own pace.

C.G.

answers from Macon on

It really depends on the kid (and, sadly, what their friends do), but for a larger 5 year old I'd recommend you to buy a 2nd hand one.

There are some balance bikes, like the JD bug billy, that can incorporate pedals. Or you could buy a correctly sized regular bike (that allows him to plant his feet on the ground), take out the pedal crank, and once he learns balance, put it back.

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A.G.

answers from San Francisco on

I was able to borrow a balance bike and it worked like a charm. We went to a local park that had a well-trimmed grassy area with a slight slope. This way when he fell it was on a soft surface. We spent 2 mornings, maybe an hour or so each time, and by the end of the 2nd morning he was riding his regular bike, no training wheels, with confidence. My son was highly motivated at this point though (he was just over 5) because all his friends had mastered the 2-wheel and he was embarrassed that he still had training wheels. For the less motivated, it might take a week or more I'm guessing? But I would highly recommend one. Maybe look on Craig's list first to get a used one.

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