a huge thank you to whomever originally posted about Balance Bikes!

[LD92599]

I picked up a clearance balance bike in Target i'll say maybe 2 years ago? DS rides it at my moms quite often. We took the training wheels off his bicycle on Saturday night. Ever since...he's just taken off as though he's been riding w/o training wheels for quite awhile. Several neighbors have commented on how good and smooth he is. He can start off perfect, balance and do burn outs (!) with ease. We didn't need to "teach" him how to ride...no hand holding, etc. We're working on going up hills and such, but it's been an incredible breeze and one i'm attributing to the balance bike. It was the best $12 i've spent in Target in a LONG time!

So...thanks!

[Wife_and_mommy]

That's awesome. :) My DD is just interested in it recently so I'm hopeful she'll be able to ride a two-wheel bike by her 5th birthday or soon after. Congrats to your DS. That's quite an accomplishment.:cheerleader1:

[KrisM]

Yep, I agree! We bought a balance bike for DD this year, but she's not very interested. DS had a small bike with training wheels from last year. DS loved the balance bike and 3 days after turning 4 years old, he was riding a 2-wheeler.

[Melanie]

I agree, these bikes are awesome! Especially for $12.50! My Dd was too small for hers when we bought it so her nearly 6 yo brother was using it. After a while with training wheels on his bike that he relied on heavily. So one day we noticed he was balancing really well on the balance bike. Off came the training wheels on the regular bike, he got on and rode right off! Now dd is 3 and she's getting interested in the balance bike. :cheerleader1: I'm not planning on bike her a bike with training wheels at all.

[Maxlee]

I have one of those bikes from target. DD is 2 1/2 and i think she is still too short for it. What age/height do you think it is good for?

[LBW]

We had the exact same experience. DS1 has been using a balance bike for a couple of years. He got a hand me down bike this summer, and started riding it right away with no problems. He rode it for 2 miles on a trail his second day out - with his 2-year old brother following along on his own balance bike!

[kcimato]

I bought my 3 y/o grandson a balance bike on recommendations here and in about 2 weeks time he was a pro. He comes down his street at lightning speed and balances so well. When I was visiting this summer we kept it in the car and he rode it everywhere. He loves it and is a very cautious child, so we were quite surprised.

[amandabea]

what brand of balance bikes do you all recommend? and what age is best to start -- 2, 2.5 or 3? did the balance bike take the place of a tricycle as well?
TIA,
Amanda

[niccig]

what brand of balance bikes do you all recommend? and what age is best to start -- 2, 2.5 or 3? did the balance bike take the place of a tricycle as well?
TIA,
Amanda

We got a puky balance bike, it's from Germany so more expensive. We got it because DS has short legs and I was worried other bikes wouldn't fit. Of course between getting the bike and giving it to him, he had a growth spurt! We gave it to him at 3 yo. He's had it for 1 year and this year we're getting a bike with pedals and no training wheels. I'm not sure if he'll be fine on the pedal bike, it might take a couple of months for him to get used to it. He also has a tricycle, but was never into riding that much, but it does help with the idea of pedaling.

[brittone2]

DS got his balance bike at 3 and IMO that worked out really well. He was able to glide on it within 2 months or so for 20 second periods of time, and he's a pretty cautious kid.

He still rode his trike some, and it is still a nice alternative. THe trike is nice for teaching pedaling (which many kids can't do well until age 3 or so anyway), and if they can learn that skill in addition to learning to balance on a balance bike, they are pretty far along in the process of learning to ride a two wheeler without training wheels.


DD now rides the trike most of the time and DS pretty much sticks to his Puky bike.

[kcimato]

We bought the Strider balance bike. Love it. It has foam tires that do not puncture which is great when you take it to a park. Also has a foot rest for when you are coasting. It adjusts quite a bit too. Take a look at it at this site

www.stridersports.com


I got his at


www.bitterbrushcycles.com

When you go to checkout they give you a code for 10% off so it is about $90 shipped.

[kitmama]

A balance bike for $12.50?? I missed that one. . . I don't see it on Target's website, is it a long-gone deal?

Are there any other great deals out there for balance bikes right now?

[caheinz]

A balance bike for $12.50?? I missed that one. . . I don't see it on Target's website, is it a long-gone deal?

Are there any other great deals out there for balance bikes right now?

They had them last summer... and 12.50 was the end-of-summer clearance price. I didn't see any this year...

We got the Target one last year. DS outgrew it by this summer, so we got a Trek Float. He rode it as a balance bike intermittently for a month or so, and a few weeks ago, started riding with the pedals!

I love having skipped out on the whole training wheels phase!