Transition to real bike from balance bike?

[twowhat?]

How have those of you who used used balance bikes decided on when to make the transition to real bikes?

Our girls have pretty much mastered the "balance" part of their Striders BUT - they are very timid and cautious and refuse to go faster than what they are comfortable with (i.e. slow) because they are afraid of not being able to stop. So they won't ride down even gentle hills, for example. Handicapped ramps are what they are comfortable with in terms of a slope because they are short. To be fair, DD2 did take a pretty nasty spill off her balance bike trying to stop on a hill because she got uncomfortable with the speed and we have not been able to convince the girls to just coast until the hill levels out.

I am now wondering if this is a valid reason to transition to regular bikes with pedals and brakes so that they can work on control under speeds they are comfortable with. They can both pedal tricycles well so I imagine (hope?) that putting together the balance with pedaling won't be too difficult.

Thoughts? Also, where should we be looking for good started bikes? I have no idea what to look for but our girls are small - 43ish and 40ish inches tall at 5 years old. They would most definitely be more comfortable with bikes where they felt they could easily get their feet on the ground underneath them.

[abh5e8]

i think its time! what size balance bike do they use? mine used a 12 inch balance bike and moved straight to a 12 inch pedal bike. i found a couple super cheap at a thrift store. go for a bike a size smaller then the bike shop will "measure" them at, so they can still comfortable put their feet down as they transition to breaking with the pedals.

another option is to see if you can order a hand (or foot) break for your blance bikes. a lot of brands offer them. dd moved at age 5 and ds was 3.5. i actually forced ds to move to a pedal bike because he was so wild on his balance bike, i knew a bad crash was just waiting to happen.

eta: mine did not use the 12 inch bike very long at all. once they became comfortable with the pedals and breaks, i slowly increased both seat and handle bar height until it was more "normal" and then moved them up to the 16 inch wheel size. that is what they still use this summer. dd is .6.5 and ds will be 5 at the end of the month.

[georgiegirl]

My DS switched at the beginning of the summer, about a month before he turned 4. He was a pro on the balance bike and is quite the daredevil. It only took him a few minutes to catch on. If they know now to pedal well and can use the balance bike well, if should be pretty easy,

[twowhat?]

i think its time! what size balance bike do they use? mine used a 12 inch balance bike and moved straight to a 12 inch pedal bike. i found a couple super cheap at a thrift store. go for a bike a size smaller then the bike shop will "measure" them at, so they can still comfortable put their feet down as they transition to breaking with the pedals.

another option is to see if you can order a hand (or foot) break for your blance bikes. a lot of brands offer them. dd moved at age 5 and ds was 3.5. i actually forced ds to move to a pedal bike because he was so wild on his balance bike, i knew a bad crash was just waiting to happen.

eta: mine did not use the 12 inch bike very long at all. once they became comfortable with the pedals and breaks, i slowly increased both seat and handle bar height until it was more "normal" and then moved them up to the 16 inch wheel size. that is what they still use this summer. dd is .6.5 and ds will be 5 at the end of the month.

They use the Strider balance bikes. Not sure what size equivalent those are. Probably 12 inch? Very good idea about looking for secondhand bikes (if I can get 2 of the same thing!) because you are right that they probably need the smaller size to gain confidence but won't be in the smaller size for long.

[abh5e8]

we have a strider too. you can buy a foot break for it, that has a similar feel to the pedal break. but honestly, i'd just look for a couple of used 12 inch bikes. maybe not even matching, and entice them with picking out their own "big girl" bikes once they master the pedals.