Balance Bike Roundup: Three Great Options

Balance bikes are a great toy to help kids transition from a trike to a bike. They give small kids the feel of a real bike and teach the balance and coordination required to ride one. My hope is that, when the time comes, we’ll be able to transition to a pedal bike without using training wheels. Maybe next summer!

Whether your taste goes to the old-school, wooden bike for your kid or a shiny, silver model, we’ve found several great pedal-less bikes that fit the bill.

• Prince Lionheart Balance Bike: An Old-School Styled Balance Bike
• g-bike by Kickboard USA: A High Tech Balance Bike
• LIKEaBIKE: It’s Like a Bike, Only Better

– Kristen

Comments

we have ‘wishbone’ bikes which start out as trikes…
then turn into something like this….
and my twins LOVE them!
the balance bike concept is brilliant,
we will skip training wheels all together now.

- twin mama on June 20th, 2009

The Boot Scoot isn’t mentioned here…

It is another pedal-less bike that runs about $80.
http://www.bootscoot.com

My daughter loves hers. It took her a little while to start learning the balance part though. At first she was just walking with it, which I was a little frustrated about. I guess I figured she would learn how to find her balance right away. So, I had to be patient. Once she did finally learn to find her balance though, it was really exciting for her (and me!).

She won’t have to use training wheels now!

- Evie on June 20th, 2009

I’m surprised the Skuut isn’t mentioned! It’s what we went for when we saw the price of the LIKEaBIKE.

- stacey on June 21st, 2009

We love the like-a-bike! And our son transitioned to a real pedal bike amazingly fast. http://www.baroquebabies.com/2009/04/from-running-bike-to-pedal-bike.html As soon as baby brother is old enough he will also get to try the like-a-bike; you see them all over here… we’re in germany

- Laura on June 21st, 2009

I wish everyone would realise that there is a free option to these “pedal-less bikes”… you just lower the seat and unscrew the pedals from the bike!!! I did this with the 5-yr-old I nanny for and after 3 afternoons it was clear she was ready to put the pedals back on. And off she went!

All you need is a 10mm wrench!

- Kat on June 22nd, 2009

Don’t forget the PV Glider bike. I bought one and am very happy with the quality and geometry of the bike. I like the brake (son doesn’t use it yet) and the foot pegs that can be used or turned sideways to be out of the way.

- Jeremy on January 3rd, 2010

There are so many of these out there. I bought the kinderbike laufrad because it was the most highly rated by the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/10/26/fashion/20091027-physical-slideshow_2.html It is aluminum, very well made and carries a lifetime warranty. There are also many other metal bikes out there that are quite a bit lighter and more durable than the wooden versions.

Kat wrote that you can do this with a “free” bike where you simply remove the pedals and lower the seat. You can’t do that for a 2 year old because the bike will be too tall and heavy. I guess if you’ve waited for your child to turn 5 then it would work. The beauty of the balance bikes is they will work for toddlers (18 months+).

- Gail on June 13th, 2010