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Was in decathlon today and julian junior showed quite an interest in the balance bike they had in,but before i go and buy that one i was wondering if there is another i should get instead.
Cheers all
Puky.
They do proper diddy ones.
I got a horrid little Thomas the Tank 10" wheel thing with pedals on the front wheel and built in stabilisers for my just 2 yr old grandson. I attacked it with a hacksaw and made a tiny balance bike which he gradually picked up. He's belting around on it now.
Puky
my little one loves his specialized. Seat doesn't go very low so I removed the seatpost and ziptied an adult seat directly to frame to make it super small.
+1 Puky.
Also Ridgeback Zooom
My 2 yr old rides a Ridgeback Scoot.
Norco / Adams runner bike. Light and simple - loved by both my boys.
Hora bought a Decathlon one after poo-pooing spending £100 on an Islabikes. He soon realised the error of his ways when it fell apart and now owns an Islabikes (I think).
Enough said really. Spend proper money on a good one. We have an Islabikes and its on its second little boy owner that doesn't care for tossing it on the ground. It's scratched up, but works brilliantly. They hold their values really well too.
We have an Islabike, but the Scoot and the Spesh Hotwalk amongst others are worth a look. People used to swear by Likabike.
The best answer I have is get the one that fits best. Some are longer, some lower, some have more adjustment available.
Getting one that fits well is key because they'll use it more and be more comfortable on it etc.
Islabikes Rothan for my wee man. He loves it. Looked secondhand but prices were still pretty high so bought new instead. Had looked at ridgeback etc and they are pretty close actually but won't have the name for resale.
Look for lightweight (you will end up carrying it on walks when they decide they want to run around instead), a steering limiter is very useful and pneumatic tyres. A brake that can be taken off initially is handy too.
Junior won't really mind which 1 to be honest but is more likely to use it if has right sized grips etc
I have a used specialized hotwalk for sale if you interested, it's what my boy learnt on from about that age, pretty good for his age on a bike now, highly recommended.
Email in profile of interested
Islabike.
Adams Runner from CRC did a fine job with my lad, and is now doing the same for a friend's kids.
I just took the pedals of a hotrock and put the sadle right down so no extra money on a balance bike.
Scott Voltage Walker.
12" pneumatic, front brake mountable, low slung frame, comes packaged just like a real bike too.. so cool experience for the little ones.
Fit out kid from 20months mucking about inside with the seat slammed and 22 months outside with good fit (short legs)
Lasted him well with the addition of a front brake and now hes swapping between his voltage and 14" wheeled Spawn Gremlin (freehub and both hand brakes) at 30 months. He'll still ride it now on the pump track/skate board park as he's not quite ready to pedal more than flat simple trails on his 'big boy bike' without a boost.
Run bikes... priceless!
Same as Bryang- pedals, crank and chain removed from hotrock 12 and as soon as our three year old got the hang of the balancing and was ready everything went back on and she was pedalling in no time. Made a big difference that she already had the confidence on the bike when the pedals went on, and of course saved on the cost of the balance bike.
Seems worth having one with at least one brake. Ours didn't which meant he would drag his feet to stop. By 4 he had moved on and was pedalling confidently but is still using his feet to stop at 5. Cue frequent shoe purchasing!
Combination of some of the points above - my youngest was on a tiny Puky from about 2, and a Ridgeback Zoom about a year later. Brake was definitely a bonus! The transition to pedalling his first proper bike was amazing - holding on for about 20 feet before he was away just before 4th birthday. Way better than stabilisers!
Just got ours an Adventure Zooom for her 2nd birthday (last Wednesday). It's a little too big for her in terms of standover, so I'm thinking of fitting an old SLR saddle to drop the height by a good 2", which should see her right. Might not be as forgiving, mind.
I noted the seatpost diameter is 27.2, which means it would accept a dropper post / child launcher 🙂
Ridgeback Scoot here.
Balance bikes a a rip off and over engineered for what they need to be. The ridgeback is strong enough for me to ride it which is silly...
Id half be tempted to go for as cheap as possible
Thanks all.
Will check out the decathlon bike for fit etc. The decathlon bike looks remarkably similar to the ridgeback scoot, but is less than half the price.
Rothan + 1
Sold for £10 less than the purchase price four years and two kids later
STRIDER ALL THE WAY BABY!
His third time ever on a Strider. The fit etc gave him alot of confidence. See here- hes balancing (second visit to the BMX track):
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/30625376@N06/8272214721/in/photostream ]Strider[/url]
[img] 
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Sold for £10 less than the purchase price four years and two kids later
Unlike mountain bikes I don't buy anything for my son with a mind on resale. He can batter it (and boy he does) as much as he wants.
Rothan +1.
It's not the main thing to consider, but resale should be in there. My two are 13 months apart, number two is starting to eye up the Rothan. No matter how battered it ends up in a year or so it'll be surplus to requirements. I reckon we'd be able to sell it for half the new price easily, which will then go towards the cost of the next bike.
btw, anyone selling a Cnoc 14 in a boys colour, please PM me 🙂
Zooom/Scooot or Isla if you're minted. I have 2x Zooom/Scooots (pink/silver) soon for sale as my 3 1/2 yr olds are now riding with pedals!
btw, anyone selling a Cnoc 14 in a [s]boys[/s] girls colour, please PM me
+1 for the Islabike Roth an.
My son has been on his since he was 18 months old. He is now taking it on red mountain bike trails and honestly don't think a cheaper bike would still be working as well.
Another one to look at that I think is a new company is frogbikes.com not seen one but look like they might be good.
Anyone selling a Rothan in Nr Doncaster? I would love my lad to sit on one to see if he likes it with view to buying. Cheers, John
Another vote for the strider - we tried a few for the wee lads 2nd birthday and we thought this was the best. The seat goes really low so great for 2 year olds and the wheels are made from hard foam so the bike is really light. The chain stays are wee foot rests which are great for going down hill.