[Closed] Balance Bike Recommendations

Decathlon/second hand imho. As much as I'm sure a lot of people will recommend something hundreds of £, the reality is they probably won't be on it long, and it'll get thrown down/dropped/generally battered.
My son had a free hand me down and it hasn't impinged on his ability to ride bikes.
I'll now leave as the vicarious purchasers dive in and recommend Islas and the like.

A light one. You will end up carrying it. A lot.

FWIW, mine had a Spesh Hotwalk. Very light, very well put together and very simple (no brake, a divisive issue. I prefer no brake, as it's one less thing to focus on)

I sold mine for more than I paid for it after it had been through two children. Good value, I'd say! If you can find one second hand, go for it. If you're likely to, or already do, have more children, new is worthwhile as you can hand it down.

Look online for a second hand Isla Rothan. Great little things . Sold mine for same money 2 years on . Light enough to lug around or strap to my back pack with little un on the we ride till we reached bmx track . Tough enough to take my weight ( well u got to show them how it’s done )

+1 for a s/h Isla - there's a facebook page for buying & selling them, I picked up a pretty much new one for half the rrp & if the ebay prices are anything to go by, i'll get that back after a couple of years of abuse.

It's really light & is a proper little bike - even has an actual headset instead of a plastic bushing that some seem to have... wish i'd had one when I was 2/3

Got ours from the Hope Academy scheme and they were/are brilliant.
£5/month for a top end light bike and you can change it for the next size whenever you are ready.

Another recommendation for an Isla Rothan, I bought one for my daughter, only paid £70 for it from eBay, was listed as collection only in the arse end of Lincolnshire, luckily I was able to swing past on my way home from a work meeting so worked perfectly for me.

It’s a quality thing, I’ve no doubt that I’ll be selling it on once my two have been over it, a few years off yet as number 1 is only just going on to it now. I did consider the Hope bikes and early rider too as I started LittleMissMomo on an early rider spherovelo (she’s still racing around the house on it now) but the Isla was too good a deal to pass up on.

We got ours a secondhand Strider from Ebay. Plenty of adjustment for bar and seat height, ours is small as well, and they seem really sturdy so will be fine when the younger one is ready for it. We looked around at the cheaper ones but didn't think they seemed as good or they were covered in Unicorns or Paw Patrol.

buy something cheapish. They are all very similar.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-nippy-superlight-balance-bike-2019/rp-prod161502

Ridgeback scoot did my three. But as people say not much between them

Second the specialized recommendation. I think I paid about £10 second hand and it was perfect for a 2 year old. The wheel bearings are smooth and overall the bike is light. The wheels spin much more freely than the islabike she has now (not a direct comparison because she's on pedals now).

If she is small, then there is a small balance bike that Halfords do, which only costs £24:

Indi Balance Bike

Our daughter is a little pee-wee & we found this had one of the smallest standover heights of any we looked at. It is also impressively light.

The only downside we have found is that the seat post is quite short & she has now pretty much outgrown it (she's 3 and a bit), as the saddle really needs raising a bit but this will push her past the min insertion depth. By the time you look at sourcing a new seatpost/saddle etc. you are spending what you paid for the whole bike, so it starts to look a bit silly.

I picked up a LikeaBike Jumper second hand and gave it a bit of a tart up, bloody great little thing - weighs nothing and has a bit of give so great for bombing around off road.

My daughter is only small and loved it, plenty of adjustment too. She has given it a couple of years abuse and has now been passed on to here little brother.

Any excuse...

poah

Member
buy something cheapish. They are all very similar.

Indeed they are. That Vitus balance bike looks identical (apart from the paintjob) to the Halfords one I linked to above, but costs £16 more. Perhaps a bit more trendy looking, I guess.

I picked up a LikeaBike Jumper second hand and gave it a bit of a tart up, bloody great little thing – weighs nothing and has a bit of give so great for bombing around off road.

+1. I pick ours up second hand too, though didn't tart it up. Great little bike, so light and I think the squish is worthwhile.

Is it likely to be used on a slope? If so get one with a brake.

We have a sloping drive and a brake was esesential to give them control and saves on footwear if, without a brake, they just slow down using their shoes.

I have had a few but to be honest the best one was a plastic job from Decathlon. My youngest loved it I had to pull him back from trying to join the red at Sherwood on it when have as just two.

We had one of those wooden Early Riders but it was far to heavy.

Then I bought him a one with a brake when he was a bit older as he rode into a load of graves at Macc crematorium as it joins on to the local park. But he never got used to it before transitioned to riding a bike when he was just 3.

Balance bikes are the way to go my older two had balance bikes but also had scooters they spent most of their time on the scooters and as a consequence took longer to start bike riding.

there's a few threads on this if you search back but I'll throw in my standard recommendation of a Puky LRM - low standover and foam tyres so no punctures. Get it secondhand and then sell it on or keep for another child, they're indestructible.

The Isla Bike Rohan, ideally 2nd hand will be a good investment . Of the cheaper ones, those Puky things look great and I wish I'd got one of those.

I've had the Decathlon one which is OK but not the best and doesn't suit smaller kids very well due to standover and min saddle height. Also had a Frog Tadpole which is decent but I don't understand why they use adult size handlebars. On that basis alone, the Isla Bike is worth it.

We've got a Frog Tadpole, its been used by 3 boys and as you can expect it's totally battered, however it it still in one piece and all functions properly. Once the youngest has learned to pedal we're giving it to my mate for his little lad.

great info here.. my littleuns 18 months and has a "walking bike" (two sets of wheels each end) and wooden trike that converts to a balance bike. (both for his 1st bday)

the walking bike has been really good for him and gets a lot of use (indoors), the trike is fast but easy to topple if he leans the wrong way.

I'll see how he gets on with what he's got outside once the weather picks up and find this post when he gets close to his birthday (mid summer)

My two had an Islabike Rohan.  It was great.

I would strongly suggest one with a rear brake.  They might not use it initially but it will smooth the transition to pedal bike.  It can be hard enough getting their heads around pedaling let alone trying to learn braking at the same time.

Chicco Bullet has been fine for all four of mine.

Another vote for Decathlon. Cheap, light, bombproof, has rear brake for when they learn how to do skids.
You'll appreciate the lighter weight when you end up carrying it for them.
Defo one of those proud dad moments when they "get it". And then when they go up to big bikes without stabilisers.

We used a Puky bike: not too heavy, comes with a carrying strap and has a brake. The performance of the brake is ok, not stellar, but it did get our kids used to using a brake before transitioning to pedal bikes. Both went from the Puky to an Early Rider without needing stabilisers. They both liked to put their feet up on the middle bit and disappear at terrifying speed. Somewhere I have a video of a 3 yo following his brother around the training area at Kirroughtree on that bike. It is now in the loft - poss for sale if my wife is happy to part with it.

https://www.kidsbikeshop.co.uk/products/puky-lr-1l-br-learner-balance-bike-red?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjJ_8k9fK4AIVBIXVCh0RXQfwEAQYAyABEgL84PD_BwE