[Closed] Balance Bike Query

We had one for our son and it had no brake, he learnt to balance on it obviously but he also learnt that space was important as no brake meant more involvement "somehow" and I'm certain it's helped, he now rides a proper bike and still dissent use his brakes, which is scary to watch as they hurtle off on gravel.

He bypassed the stabiliser stage and just went straight onto a little Bike.

A brake would hinder things and probably do you out of a few comedy moments

Ry33.

Have a look at strider bikes too

http://www.like2bike.co.uk/buy_strider_balance_bikes.html

+2 for strider bikes got them for my twins when they were 2. They are now 3 and use them on the pump track at bike park wales in front of the cafe. Amazing fun.

Check out the bulldog bat got my little one off eBay (ex demo) and it's brilliant like.

neither of mine learnt with the brake. TBH they were both riding long before they could stop

Jnr FD had a Ridgeback Scoot that has a rear brake. With a bit of instruction he used it instead of using his feet and wearing out shoes. I guess maybe it has helped now on a proper bike in knowing how much to use the brakes.

Plug - and its for sale on the classifieds at the min 🙂

I got my nieces all ridgeback scoots, got one second hand, great little bikes for them to learn with.

Get one with or with the ability to install a hand brake.
Your 2yo will unlikely have the hand strength to operate till much later anyway so the presence of a brake now is beside the point.
You do however want to make sure your kid has grasped the hand brake concept before you let them loose on pedals.
Remember that from balance bikes to pedals is a very quick transition so being able to stop is a very important skill to develop as once you take away the ability for them to get their feet on the ground.
Plus on the upside, you'll get to skip coaster brakes too.

Bikestar off amazon awesome for the none done 2 kids a my soon rode a 10inch one from one year old

Another vote for a strider.
We bought one of the limited edition aluminium ones which is feather light.
It's Really well built and customisable with coloured wheels, grips and saddle.

We've just sold on our Rothan. It was 4 years old and came with a brake. Can't say that it made any difference what so ever to the way my kids learned to ride.

Key features that the Rothan has (can't speak about the others):-

1. The seat can go very low.

2. It is light. Important as you will end up carrying it and the kid at times.

Strider. It's half the weight of all the other we looked isn't which means my son can pick it up himself. No brake but that's not really important right now.

My son has a Likeabike Jumper which is fantastic, but he started off on a Puky LRM which was also great and small for the tiny ones.

We did add a front brake to the Jumper (Likeabike sell one) and while it works fine it doesn't really help on steep hills as the bike just tips forward - he can come down the same hills fine on his pedal bike using just a front brake as he can get his weight back.

I do feel that just having a rear brake on a balance bike will encourage kids to just use their back brake when they start riding a pedal bike and they won't realise how much more control you have using your front brake. (or am I over thinking this...)

My little dude has a ridgeback scoot. It has a brake. He has never once used it.

My little dude has a ridgeback scoot. It has a brake. He has never once used it.

The bike or the brake?

The wee lad had a strider for his 2nd birthday - we got him this as the seat went really low and it was very light compared to other balance bikes. No brake though but I dont think it was needed. He was riding a pedal bike at 3 so it certainly served its purpose.

My little dude has a ridgeback scoot. It has a brake. He has never once used it.
The bike or the brake?

The brake.

How did he stop going gown hills then?

My lad used the brake on his rothan a lot, and therefore saved on shoes and came down long hills safely. Moved onto a pedal bike and braking was never an issue.

Uses his feet. He gets through shoes. He couldn't reach the brake on the ridgeback or the rothan little boy down the road has one.

Thanks for all the info and feedback.

It does seem to be a 50/50 out there for a brake or no brake, and the main point is with or without a brake it hasn't stopped there progress at the next stage.

Had a look at the strider bike and it also looks good, and very light 2.9 compare too 3.4kg on the isla, I am still pretty set on the Isla or Specialized but will have a better look at strider again. I contacted my local bike shop who sell the Specialized and they think they can fit a brake if required down the line.

I bought a Scoot for my grandson before he was two (he's two and a half now). the rear brake was pretty stiff and lever was too far away from the bars for his little hands. I've sorted the problems as far as possible but he still isn't ready for the brake yet, he stops well enough with his feet, he'll use it when he's ready.

My nipper has strider pro...very very light and at 19 months doing pretty well.

my 3 yo has an islabike with a brake, which she doesn't use. She just dings her bell so folk get out of the way.

Another consideration of the islabike is the resale / trade in value. Well cared for islabikes seem to have a premium price in the 2nd hand market which makes the initial investment not as steep as it seems.

my girl had a Rothan with a brake - she learned to use it. She now rides a pedal bike with brakes and i can shout to her and tell her to brake - she's fine with it.

To be fair though they don't go so stupidly fast they cant stop by putting their feet down anyhow.

But its another skill to learn.

Rothan with brake here, its just coming to the end of the 4 years use by 2 boys. When they started on it they never used the brake but didn't go too fast. When they get more confident I think its good to get them used to the brake as they can get up to some pretty fast speeds.

Yesterday we were all out on the bikes, I was riding on the road next to our 3 year old (him on the pavement) who had decided to go out on the balance bike, going downhill we were easily doing over 10mph. Doesn't sound too fast but the little wheels start to get a bit of a speed wobble on at that point. I was glad to be able to shout for him to use the brake and him to know how to use it (I thought it was all going to end pretty badly but it was fine).

Also once they get a peddle bike they just jump on and go, it's good for them to have learnt how to use a brake before that first time with peddles.

With brake.
Removed until they were 3 ish and were able to understand what it's for and use it.

Doesn't hinder them in going fast (if they are that way inclined) and out of control but adds skidding to the repertoire and for moving onto using brakes on normal bike.

In no way essential but handy if your toying between that level of pricing.

2 children skidding down one of the big lumpy dusty fireroad descents on Rothans near me was ace.

Ours used a Rothan with a brake and both used and needed the brake. There were plenty of crashes that would have been worse if they hadn't scrubbed some speed off first.

Excellent bike.

One item of note the Strider doesn't run proper tyres.
Stops you using ultra low PSi and the inevitable tyre upgrade ;0)

[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8345/8258159080_1b426271a3_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8345/8258159080_1b426271a3_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/dzKdZ7 ]Tyre Upgrade[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people// ]tomlevell[/url], on Flickr

My 3yr old daughter has a Stomp Stompee, its great, she loves it and loves pulling comedy sideways skids with the brake. Can't wait until my kamikaze 8 month old son is big enough to use it. Less than half the price of a Rothan, Scoot or Hotwalk too on eBay.

Puky are another good brand of balance bike and you can get a small one.

Isla keep their value well, so if it's not going to get battered then that might be a factor. I don't think the brake is a big thing, it might help them learn brakes when they get older but they'll pick it up eventually.

Balance bikes are brilliant, my lad is riding a proper bike now and has never had stabilizers. They also allow you to walk at a reasonable speed which is not something which happens often with toddlers.

I honestly think you can over think these things though. I'd recommend getting something a good price in one of brands recommended by people.

One of the best things about the Specialized Hotwalk is it has small platforms the rider can put their feet on, which makes it easier for tricks - saw one doing the spine at the skatepark 😀

My son's uses the "chainstays" on his Likeabike Jumper to put his feet up on.

No brakes on a HotWalk, all three of my boys graduated from that too pedal bikes @ 3 and a bit (the bit being variable), all figured out brakes easily, including the coaster brake on the 16" (which is way more effective than little hands and callipers, hence bigger skids, hence lots of determined practice done :-))

My 2 1/2 year old has a Zooom.

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/shop/clothing-accessories/zooom-kids-balance-bikes

He has had it since he was 2 and loves it. It has a rear brake but he is only starting to become aware of the benefits as he can't comfortably reach the lever. This should improve in the next 6 months I reckon.

He does noticeably back off and potter down hills when they get 'too steep daddy!' and I am hoping that the rear brake will aid development once mastered.

Both my kids used a Rothan without a brake and never had an issue getting the hang of brakes when they moved to a bigger bike.

Also as others have stated, the resale values of isla bikes can't be overlooked. Think we lost about £10 over 4 years after buying ours 2nd hand. It was proper battered but still got over £65 for it.

Thanks again for all the info and your own personal recommendations, to be honest I am now swaying more to the Islabike, mainly because the difference between that and the Specialized isnt a great deal, but least the isla has a brake if required, and he prob wont really use the brake at first and guess its good to have, I do like the fact the Specialized has somewhere to put there feet like one poster mentioned, do kids on the isla use the bars as foot rests?

Either way Im sure he will have lots of fun on either of them which is the main thing

Rothan with brake here.
My four year old uses it a lot, mainly because we live on a hill!

I'm currently trying to teach her to feather it a bit, rather than just roll down the hill at warp speed then slam on the brake for a fifty foot skid at the bottom 😀

She managed her first over-the-bars incident yesterday after she twisted the front wheel sideways in a pothole. Properly scraped up her arms, shoulder, and hands. I felt really sorry for her... but also quietly proud. Another milestone reached 😆

do kids on the isla use the bars as foot rests?

Nah she just sort of lifts them up behind her.

do kids on the isla use the bars as foot rests?

My lad didn't.

The again he didn't use the brake either this time.

Stop being a brand snob and get any balance bike with a brake - the kid will love it anyway! Save the money for when they get a pedal bike that needs to be a bit lighter to actually pedal up hills. Kids just aren't going to push a balance bike uphill for very far whatever weight it is! My nephew had some cheapo ebay buy and still used it after he was pedalling on a proper bike - until it finally fell apart after using it maybe once too often through muddy puddles in the field by his house.

http://www.frogbikes.com/lightweight-kids-bikes/balance-bikes/tadpole.aspx

[img] [/img]

Just throwing what I bought into the mix.

Kids just aren't going to push a balance bike uphill for very far whatever weight it is!

They will if you get them a decent light one. My four year old tears up and down the hill at our house and did a mile and a half on it yesterday with plenty of little hills.

And as someone pointed out, weight is very important when you're the one carrying it back from the park!

My nephew had some cheapo ebay buy and still used it ... until it finally fell apart

Another good reason to be a "brand snob" then. I bought the Rothan secondhand on ebay. I fully expect it to last both kids and then sell for pretty much the same price I bought it for.

I got my little lad a Frog Tadpole like the one above (but in red) for his 2nd birthday.

He absolutely loves it and whizzes round all over the place, it has a brake and he's started using it on down hills to help him stop - which is nice.

They're a very well put together bit of kit

Ours learnt on Early Riders from before they were two (without brakes), then skipped on to Islabikes Knoc 14 when they were 30mths. As most children learn quicker than adults, they learnt after a couple of minor spills that pulling the little lever on the handlebars slows them down. Even better if they pull the little one on the left first, cos that means cool skids!

Doesn't stop them riding into trees now and again, but they learn and adapt ie don't worry about it.

ps. Ours still ride their balance bikes, and either drag their feet on the ground to slow down, or wedge their feet on to the tyre. tbh our balance bikes look absolutely battered now!

Not as branded and bought because there was a massive offer but we got our twins the Apollo balance bikes from Halfords. Exactly the same as the carrera ones but different stickers and a lot cheaper!

Hub brake on the rear and inflatable tyres rather than hard rubber ones.

Definitely not a brand to recommend but they have been flawless!,

I'll also take a look into the Frog tadpole and thanks again to everyone else that posted.

How easy is it someone (i.e bike shop) to remove the brake on the Isla and then refit this at a later stage, if I decided this as an option?

I have no idea why you are so hung up on the brakes. Let the kid make its mind up!

There's a balance bike in Chris Hoy's new range of bikes. It's cheaper than the Rothan but no rear brake.

How easy is it someone (i.e bike shop) to remove the brake on the Isla and then refit this at a later stage, if I decided this as an option?

I would have thought you'd have to be tragically incompetent not to be able to do it yourself.

I would have thought you'd have to be tragically incompetent not to be able to do it yourself.

Wot he said. It's just a pretty normal V-brake. If you know which end of a spanner and allen key to use then you wouldn't have much trouble removing it.

No idea why you'd ever want to though?!?

Taking the brakes off would leave 2 pegs sticking out of the frame also.

Thanks, no probs if its an easy enough job, although doubt I will actually bother removing them, was just wondering how easy it was to do. Cheers for the advice folks

Remove grip and undo lever bolt.
Remove 2 bolts from brakes and it's off.
The studs could be removed but I left them in.

Probably got 18months use before she wanted a brake.
The second one wanted the brake sooner as she had one. Only really using the brake properly at 3+

He can pedal a bike but it's normally just to demonstrate to someone he can then it's back on the balance bike as it's faster and easier to control.

Realistically he'll be 4 when he uses the pedal bike more than the balance bike after winter.

Taking the brakes off would leave 2 pegs sticking out of the frame also.

True, though on a Isla Rothan (and on that very similar looking Frog Tadpole) the brakes are mounted below the frame so they'd be out the way at least.

[img] [/img]

No idea why you'd [i]want[/i] to remove them though.

How many people do you know that cannot use brakes? If the balance bike has or hasn't got brakes, I don't think it will make much difference to how well they will learn to use them when they step up to a bigger bike.

As I said before, I think you can over think these things. Kids will learn at their own pace anyway. You just need to give them a supporting environment to give them the confidence to try new things. Will a brake improve a 2-4 year old's confidence and make him want to ride it more? Or does it make very little difference at all.

To be honest, the most positive modification I made to the bike from my kids point of view was to put a bell on it.

True, though on a Isla Rothan (and on that very similar looking Frog Tadpole) the brakes are mounted below the frame so they'd be out the way at least.

They'd catch the kid's heals. Look where my lad put his feet on the video up near the top of the page.

My boys had a Rothan with a brake.

Judging by the daft speed they used to get up to on some downhills (feet on the top tube 😯 )and how fast they go on their Cnocs now I'm bloody glad they learnt how to use a brake properly before they got on pedal bikes.

Also note the use of the word properly with regard to brake use...