Balance Bikes?

We have never used an actual balance bike, but we loved the concept.  We got a $5 garage sale bike and just took the pedals off.  Both boys have learned to ride this way.  They get so much practice steering and balancing while pushing their feet along the ground to glide.  We wait until they ask for the pedals and both learned to ride a few months before they each turned 4.  (Isaiah just got his pedals on about 2 weeks ago, and he has been doing great!)  We have never used training wheels or pushed the bike behind them. 

So, it saves money to do it that way because the bike can be a "balance bike" or a "real bike".


Edited by Selah925 - 14 Jul 2012 at 4:19pm

We got one for Christmas.  We got the Radio Flyer brand one off Walmart ship to store for $50 and my 5 year old and (then) 2 year old both fit on it fine.  We actually got it for dd, but ds really enjoyed riding it around the house all winter too.  When spring came, he was coasting all around the driveway on it with his feet up so I took his training wheels off his 2 wheeler and he was able to just take off and ride it with no spills or anything.  My dd also does really well on it and coasts around with both feet up.  I have let her try ds's 2 wheeler a little bit.  She can almost ride it on her own, but it seems like it is a little heavy for her to hold up on her own still.  I think by the end of summer she will be able to pedal his bike no problem though.  Worth the money?  Ours will probably get 6-8 months of use before we are done with it, but I think I will be able to sell it for half of what we paid for it.  We bought it for $50, so for $25 both kids will use it and gain the confidence and balance skills for a regular bike.  I don't think that's too bad, but I don't think it was a necessary purchase either.  Many of ds's friends have learned with just training wheels and parents holding onto them without any problems.  I think it's definitely one of those things that would be great to buy used if you are able.  

DD2 got one for her 2nd birthday a couple months ago.  She really likes it and wants to use it but like jessica said it is hard to find one to fit a 2 year old.  We got a wooden one and DD2 can just barley touch on her tip toes standing in front of the seat.  If she has a CD on instead of one of her trainers she can't touch.

Cool!  Thanks ladies.  I am wondering if this would be a better gift for her next bday...

That is very true Jess!!!

dd loves hers, but goes back and forth between it and her radio flyer slider rider.  sometimes she wants to pedal, i guess.  ds has been on a big wheel for years and is way too big for it and didn't want to move up until he saw dd's balance bike.  now he wants one, but we have to convert a regular bike because he is so tall.  it was worth it for us :)

and I got mine on Woot for $55 including shipping. It is a wooden once which is fun because it just looks fun too. People always ask us about it.

Are you on gravel or pavement? It has taken a long time for Abram to be comfortable on his but he's finally getting the hang of it. He doesn't like to ride it on our gravel driveway but I take it with us if we are going someplace with pavement.