Balance Bike to 2-wheeler transition

[LaCostaMom]

Just wanted to post this in case anyone is considering balance bikes.

We bought one for DS/DD to share around Sept/October 2010. DS was coasting inclines within a few days. What with inclement fall/winter weather & then a horrendously hot & humid May-September 2011, DS didn't ride it much.

We bought him a used Specialized Hotrock 16" pedal bike in November 2011 but with little use on the balance bike for the previous several months, he didn't want much to do with the pedal bike. Of course, I was disappointed because I've been such a proponent of balance bikes over the traditional 2-wheeler with training wheels.

We put him on the balance bike for about 2 weeks and on New Year's Day, he saw me wheeling out the pedal bike. He asked what I was doing with it & I said I had wanted to ride it but it was too small for me. He asked if he could try and before I could answer, he hopped on and was pedaling down our driveway. I couldn't believe it!

He's been flying on his pedal bike ever since. Word has spread around our neighborhoods and our friends who bought traditional bikes for their 2 & 3 yr olds for Christmas have returned them and bought balance bikes for their kids. We heard from a friend that their neighbor, after hearing about DS, took the pedals off of their 7 yr old's 2-wheeler in the hopes he can balance. I heard he's doing pretty well now & they'll be putting the pedals back on.

DD, who was more hesitant about the balance bike & has Dyspraxia, is now coasting around on the balance bike. I can't even begin to express how happy I've been with our balance bike experience. I am so glad we didn't have to go through the stress of training wheels that I experienced as a child and that I'm currently seeing in other kids in our neighborhood.

Also, don't be discouraged if you get a bb and your child seems ambivalent. DS took to it immediately while it took DD several months to even be remotely interested. I'm guessing we'll be buying her a pedal bike by late spring.

[weech]

That's awesome! I've been eyeing a Strider PreBike for DS's 2nd birthday. What kind of balance bike do you have?

[okinawama]

I have to echo was the original poster said!

We got my son the Strider bike for my son when he was 18 months old. He initially showed occasional interest, but within in 3-4 months he was flying around on it! Recently we noticed that he had excellent balance on the Strider and decided to snag a 12 inch pedal bike and just see what happened. To our total surprise, he took to it pretty quick! At 2yrs 9months he went straight from a Strider to a two wheel pedal bike. He loves it and gets around amazingly fast! I can't sing the praises of a Strider enough!!!

[edurnemk]

Glad to hear this! DS has a Strider, and DH has always been skeptical about it. My parents just got DS a pedal bike last week for his bday, but when I saw it had the training wheels on (my mom assembled it) I asked my mom to please take them off before giving it to him. My parents freaked out (can't understand why, since they gave him the Strider as well, although it was my suggestion), I explained that's the whole point of balance bikes! If he can cruise around in the Strider, why would he need training wheels?

Anyway DS has been sick this week, so we'll be trying out the pedal bike tomorrow and I'll let you know how it goes.

[LaCostaMom]

weech - we have a Specialized Hotwalk that we got on clearance. It was a 2009 model. I love the Hotwalk - it's built like other Specialized bikes. I was trying to decide between the Hotwalk & the Strider at our local bike shop (a Specialized store) and ultimately went with the clearance Hotwalk as it ended up being only $20 more & on the floor whereas they would have had to order the Strider.

Our friends just bought a Strider for their 3 yr old on Amazon and she is zooming around like a pro. Our neighbor has a Mini-Glider bike but I think the construction and the proportions of the Strider are much better.

edurnemk - Good call on having your mom remove the training wheels. DS's pedal bike came with training wheels but we never put them on. I have to admit that when I first put DS on the pedal bike (without a refresher on the BB), I would not let go of the back of his seat & was running along with him. Horrible!

What really ended up helping, I think, is that over the 2 weeks that we had him on the BB recently, DH made him go down our sloped driveway. He used that slope on the driveway to give him momentum. With the speed, he was able to stay upright & pedal. It took him about 10 take-offs down the driveway before he felt confident to start from level ground.

Hope your son is feeling better soon. Can't wait to hear how it all goes.

Okinawa - he must have looked so cute at that age to be flying around on a pedal bike! If it's ok with you, I'd love to share with others that a 2y9m old went directly to a pedal bike from a BB. That is so cool!

So many of our neighbors with older kids have said it's too bad balance bikes weren't the thing when they and their children were kids. Would have saved a lot of tears AND parents' backs! LOL

ETA: one of the things that helped prior to putting our kids on the balance bike was to show them kids on balance bikes on youtube! There are hundreds of youtube videos and I think seeing some of these clips inspired mine.

[okinawama]

LaCosta, share away :) We're proud of him, but like I said, we attribute his success to the Strider (he most definitely doesn't excel at very many gross motor activities...we joke that he'll probably be sticking to more cerebral pursuits in life :) ).

[edurnemk]

ETA: one of the things that helped prior to putting our kids on the balance bike was to show them kids on balance bikes on youtube! There are hundreds of youtube videos and I think seeing some of these clips inspired mine.

:yeahthat: I did that with DS, too, when he got the balance bike.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

wow, that's pretty cool, thanks for sharing. we just got DS a balance bike for his 2nd birthday last week. He hasn't really tried it much since we just got him a helmet today. But he seemed very interested in it when he first saw it. I can't wait to have him try it out.

We had gotten him one of those push tricycles last summer (the kind that has a long handle in the back for the parent to push), and while he liked it at first, the pedals were a pain..he didn't really get the concept of having to pedal to go, and they would keep hitting his feet. plus, it wasn't nearly as fun since it could only go as fast as we pushed him. I think he will have a lot more fun with a balance bike!

[vonfirmath]

Is the Specialized bike pretty light?

My son has been using a balance bike (A specialized) on and off for 2.5 years now, but still has problems with his pedal bike :( I'm wondering if its too heavy -- so the change from one to the other is too hard. Because he's great at every other gross motor skill he's tried.

[twowhat?]

Thanks, this gives me hope. I've only ever seen little boys really using their BBs. And interestingly if you look at the Amazon reviews, MOST of them are from parents of boys.

My DDs JUST (as in literally within the past few weeks) started riding their trikes. We've had the trikes for a whole year! LOL. Right now they will walk around the house with their Striders between their legs but only for a couple min at a time and then they lose interest. I do like that the Striders are so light and easy for them to carry around on their own.

A little OT, but how should the seat be adjusted? Low enough that the child can take full running strides without hitting it?

[LaCostaMom]

mrs. pacman - we did a trike for a few months but it was a dismal failure for us. They kept tipping over when they tried to turn & would get tangled up & just cry. And they weren't very good at pedaling either.

I hope your son has lots of fun with his BB!

vonfirmath - how old is your son? The Specialized BB is pretty light in comparison to DS's pedal bike but it could be the weight difference. I actually first bought a used Trek Jet 16" off of Craigslist. Even though it's the same wheel size as the Specialized Hotrock 16" we currently use, it's much heavier & everything about it is longer including having to reach further in front for the handlebars.

DS has great motor skills, too. He'll be 4 in March and is about 43" tall. He is really rocking on his Hotrock 16" but when he tried out the Jet 16" the other day, you could tell it was harder to pedal & he was pretty wobbly on it. He even noted "this is heavy! It's hard work!".

So, I think the pedal bike might be too heavy and pedaling too tight for him? I don't think it was that the BB was too light because everything I've read says that you want a lightweight balance bike. Another friend bought a BB recently for their 2.5yo DS but it's pretty heavy in comparison to the Strider or Specialized and he can't manage it.

twowhat - DD & our friend's daughter (they are both due to turn 4 in March) are both great on balance bikes! :) But, DD did walk her BB for a long time. We finally got her to put her bum down on the seat Christmas time and now that it's exclusively hers, she's really made strides.

Kevin at Bikesthatteach.com gave me a lot of info on seat height. The info their site provides is what we followed:


CRITICAL FITTING NOTE by our Fitting Experts: Your child’s balance bike seat height will need to be set .5-1.5” below your child’s inseam therefore your child can place both of their feet flat on the ground while straddling the seat. A slight bend in their legs are required for overall stability, confidence that they can place their feet flat on the ground to keep themselves from falling over which is an effective confidence and security booster for your child’s relationship with their balance bike and a slight bend in the legs are required for a natural and comfortable walking and running motion.

[citymama]

That's awesome. I also wanted to flag that a scooter can have a similar effect, or at least did in our case. DD1 has been infrequently riding her Razor Scooter for the last 4 months. Well, the *first time* we put her on a pedal bike - and this kid has never sat on a balance bike in her life - she was able to balance herself on it! She is still pretty tippy and has to master pedaling, but we are pretty certain that balancing on the scooter is what enabled her to figure out the bike balance.

[vonfirmath]

He's almost 4.5.
I'll have to check the pedal bike he has. I think its a Walmart special. (the other grandparents got it)

[edurnemk]

So here's the promised update. We finally got to go outside today to try DS's pedal bike. I still can't believe how well he did. I held the back of the seat while he got going, I let go and off he went! Pedaling and steering like a pro! And when he felt he was falling he promptly put his foot down. His only issue is getting both feet on the pedals and taking off so that's he only moment I have to hold the seat and run a few feet alongside him before letting go. I feel the pedals are a little stiff, I'll have to ask DH to take a look. I was worried that the bike is sooooo much heavier than the Strider, but DS had no problems. I ran beside him the whole time, just to feel safe, but he didn't really need me there. We had to come back inside after a short while because it was getting too windy and DS is just recovering from an awful cold, but we'll go out again tomorrow for sure!

I'm so proud of him! And so glad he started with a BB, especially after seeing my neighbors struggle with their kids and training wheels. Oh, and he's dying to show DH how he can ride without training wheels (he's out of town).

So to anyone on the fence about BB's, I can say this: BEST.INVESTMENT.EVER

[LaCostaMom]

edurnemk - yippee!!!! Glad to hear your son had a great experience with his pedal bike! Love reading about another success story!

[niccig]

We had similar success story with the balance bike. Friends got one for their DD at same time, but she wasn't as into it as DS was. It took her a little longer to start to use it, but once she did, she moved on to a pedal bike pretty quickly.

I agree, it's such a non-stress way to learn how to ride.