Balance Bike - Is it useful in flat terrain?

[Melbel]

With all of the threads on balance bikes, I am intrigued and am conisidering it for DD2 this Christmas. I tried doing a search, but could not find the answer to my question.

Would the balance bike be fun/useful in an area with very flat terrain (no hills or slopes whatsoever)?

Thanks in advance!

[brittone2]

ABsolutely. In fact, I think in some ways it is even easier to use that way.

My kids learned to ride on our very very flat neighborhood street and cul de sac at our old house. There was a *very* slight hill and DS1 could build up some substantial speed on it...he had one crash when he first started actually "gliding" for prolonged period. If it was *really* hilly I'd be nervous about my kids riding their balance bike and not building up too much speed.

They can get a feel for gliding without hills...they run and then lift their feet.

Have you ever watched a youtube video of kids using one? It might give you a better idea. They definitely will work on a level surface and allow the child to learn to gilde/balance. They just have to build up a little speed by running and then lifting their feet.

We've had great experiences w/ our balance bike and it is now waiting for DS2 ;)

[vludmilla]

Agreeing with PP...
My neighborhood is very flat and DD uses her balance bike as much as she can. She loves it and gets some decent speed just by "running" and then pulling her feet up.

[1964pandora]

Absolutely. My son rarely went down even a slight hill and he loved his balance bike. He just started riding his "real" bike a month ago and he was immediately able to ride it without training wheels. I am a true believer in balance bikes because I have seen the evidence they work with my own eyes!!

[Smillow]

What age is good to introduce the balance bike? I see that the OP's DS is about 2 1/2...

[brittone2]

DS1 got his balance bike (puky brand) for his 3rd birthday. He was pretty cautious by nature at that age, so that was a good time for him to get it IMO. He was gliding within a few days.

DD has always been earlier with gross motor stuff and kind of fearless. She was riding it by a little over 2 I'd say. She switched to riding a 2 wheeler without training wheels by 3.5 without any problem at all.

I think how much a 2-2.5 year old will be able to use it will vary depending on the kid. I don't think my DS1 would have been ready at 2, but his sister was. I'd say 2.5-3 would probably work well for most kids, but some may be ready earlier.

HTH.

[Melaine]

Ya'll think my girls are too old at just turned 4?

[WatchingThemGrow]

DD got it at 2, started riding it at 2.5. DS1 got it from her at 2.5 and completely mastered it that week. Our neighborhood is mainly flat, with a slight incline. I would hesitate to put my DC on it on a hill, actually.

[Smillow]

DS1 got his balance bike (puky brand) for his 3rd birthday. He was pretty cautious by nature at that age, so that was a good time for him to get it IMO. He was gliding within a few days.

DD has always been earlier with gross motor stuff and kind of fearless. She was riding it by a little over 2 I'd say. She switched to riding a 2 wheeler without training wheels by 3.5 without any problem at all.

I think how much a 2-2.5 year old will be able to use it will vary depending on the kid. I don't think my DS1 would have been ready at 2, but his sister was. I'd say 2.5-3 would probably work well for most kids, but some may be ready earlier.

HTH.


DD got it at 2, started riding it at 2.5. DS1 got it from her at 2.5 and completely mastered it that week. Our neighborhood is mainly flat, with a slight incline. I would hesitate to put my DC on it on a hill, actually.

Thank you! I think I will consider getting one next summer. We live in a VERY hilly area, but we also live close to a park with a huge, flat, usually empty parking lot. We also travel to flat places & it would be fun to have this kind of a toy for that.

[brittone2]

Ya'll think my girls are too old at just turned 4?

I don't think 4 is too old at all. We just had a friend here for a playdate recently. He's almost 4 and is riding with training wheels. He is tall for his age so ours wasn't sized great for him (but there are options for taller kids). He was really enjoying working on gliding a little bit.

If they aren't close to being ready to ride on their own and you want to avoid training wheels, I think there's value in a 4 yo riding them, but I think some people wouldn't want to spend the $$ for a balance bike and then a regular two wheeled bike w/ pedals a year or so later (or maybe even less time). If you aren't opposed to training wheels that might make more sense financially.

In our case, the cost of the balance bike has worked out well because it has already been handed down to one sibling and will go to DS2 in the future. In your case I assume you'd be buying 2? I don't know if you want to spend that amount of money or would prefer to just do an appropriately sized bike w/ training wheels?

But yes, I think if you can find one the right size a 4 yo could enjoy and learn from it. Whether it is something you want to spend the $$ on it is another story.

eta: there's also the option of something like the Trek Float where you can add pedals later on but the Trek float is expensive (and I think the reviews are that it is rather heavy). We never got to try the Float out in person so I'm not much help there.

[Melanie]

Flat is perfect. Dd got hers at age 2 but was a bit small for it (She could't sit on the seat and reach the ground with her toes), so her 6 yo brother took it up (he was a tiny bit big for it, but hadn't lost the training wheels on his bike yet - boy I wish we'd had one for him when he was little!).

He rode it for a few months, found his balance and took off on his bike sans training wheels. Then we adjusted it back down for her. She could fit it between 2.5/3 yo.

She got her first regular bike, without training wheels, at age 4.5 and rode off (okay, it took an hour or so). It's cute to see such a pint-sized kid riding a bicycle.

LOVE the Balance Bikes!! It's such an awesome, yet obvious, concept.

[wimama]

A balance bike is still lots of fun on flat terrain. My DS had to master flat terrain before he would go down hill.


Ya'll think my girls are too old at just turned 4?


I don't think 4 is too old at all. We just had a friend here for a playdate recently. He's almost 4 and is riding with training wheels. He is tall for his age so ours wasn't sized great for him (but there are options for taller kids). He was really enjoying working on gliding a little bit.

If they aren't close to being ready to ride on their own and you want to avoid training wheels, I think there's value in a 4 yo riding them, but I think some people wouldn't want to spend the $$ for a balance bike and then a regular two wheeled bike w/ pedals a year or so later (or maybe even less time). If you aren't opposed to training wheels that might make more sense financially.

In our case, the cost of the balance bike has worked out well because it has already been handed down to one sibling and will go to DS2 in the future. In your case I assume you'd be buying 2? I don't know if you want to spend that amount of money or would prefer to just do an appropriately sized bike w/ training wheels?

But yes, I think if you can find one the right size a 4 yo could enjoy and learn from it. Whether it is something you want to spend the $$ on it is another story.

eta: there's also the option of something like the Trek Float where you can add pedals later on but the Trek float is expensive (and I think the reviews are that it is rather heavy). We never got to try the Float out in person so I'm not much help there.

We bought DS a Strider balance bike for his 4th birthday. We took him to a store that sold Trek Floats, which are a 16" frame. The Float frame was much too big for my DS to use as a balance bike. He couldn't even get his feet on the safely ground. DS is big for his age, but has shorter than average legs. I talked to someone at the website Bikesthatteach and he recommended the Strider with an extra long seat post. He felt the other balance bikes would be too small for my DS. The Strider with the long post is perfect for him. He loves it. He is already requesting a pedal bike for his next birthday.

Maybe buy one Strider and one traditional pedal bike with training wheels and they can switch off between them?

[brittone2]

A balance bike is still lots of fun on flat terrain. My DS had to master flat terrain before he would go down hill.





We bought DS a Strider balance bike for his 4th birthday. We took him to a store that sold Trek Floats, which are a 16" frame. The Float frame was much too big for my DS to use as a balance bike. He couldn't even get his feet on the safely ground. DS is big for his age, but has shorter than average legs. I talked to someone at the website Bikesthatteach and he recommended the Strider with an extra long seat post. He felt the other balance bikes would be too small for my DS. The Strider with the long post is perfect for him. He loves it. He is already requesting a pedal bike for his next birthday.

Maybe buy one Strider and one traditional pedal bike with training wheels and they can switch off between them?

Great tip about the longer seat post!

[Melbel]

Thanks for all the replies. I was concerned that kids may get bored once they mastered flat terrain. My big kids went the training wheel route. I think a balance bike would have really helped DS because he had a rough time with balance on a 2 wheeler.

Now to find a deal....

[mytwosons]

We got DS1 a balance bike for his 6th bday. He was very cautious and I knew learning to ride a bike would be an ordeal. He had the balance bike down in a few days and moved to a regular bike after about 6 weeks. Best money ever spent!

[wimama]

Great tip about the longer seat post!

The guy I talked to from that website was super helpful in helping me chose. I thank him for the tip. Striders really are flexible on range of sizing.

[LaCostaMom]

A round of dittos to what's already been written: DS spends most of his time zooming around flat terrain. At 2.5 yrs old, he's so fast that I am thinking of getting my own bike again because I can't keep up with him even running and he's just getting too far ahead of me.

4 is not too young, imo. One of our neighbor's nieces who is a tall 5 yr old (struggling with training wheels) rode DS's balance bike even though it was too small for her. She loved that she could whizz along and really attempt to balance herself.

There are BBs that are now being made geared towards bigger/taller/older children. I think Kinderbike (sorry - I didn't read all of the replies so sorry if this has already been mentioned) has a larger bike.

We LOVE our Hotwalk and will be getting another one for DD this holiday.

[Dr C]

Ya'll think my girls are too old at just turned 4?

Four is a GREAT age, but they'll probably learn to ride a real 2 wheeler FAST. I'd borrow one if you can because they won't use the balance bike for very long. We got our Skuut for DS around age 3.5 but after he learned to ride his regular bike (after a couple months on the Skuut), it has been passed around the neighborhood and each kid (they are all around 4) has it for about a month and then they are ready to pass it along to the next kid. The peer pressure does help.

To answer OP's question, no, flat terrain is no problem and may be an advantage. I would think riding a balance bike in Seattle or San Francisco might be a bit dangerous for a little one.

[baileygirl]

Four is a GREAT age, but they'll probably learn to ride a real 2 wheeler FAST. I'd borrow one if you can because they won't use the balance bike for very long. We got our Skuut for DS around age 3.5 but after he learned to ride his regular bike (after a couple months on the Skuut), it has been passed around the neighborhood and each kid (they are all around 4) has it for about a month and then they are ready to pass it along to the next kid. The peer pressure does help.

To answer OP's question, no, flat terrain is no problem and may be an advantage. I would think riding a balance bike in Seattle or San Francisco might be a bit dangerous for a little one.

I agree with pp that a 4 year-old wouldn't need one long. DS1 (almost 4) has hardly touched his strider bike in the past year. I got out the balance bike and in less then a week he was riding a regular 2 wheel bike.

OP, kids can still ride on flat terrain, but my son had a lot more fun when I took him to a place that had some small hills.