# First bike for a 2 1/2 year old



## Boondock77 (Jun 16, 2014)

Looked through the first page and didn't find any info. 
Kinda considering getting him a bike for Christmas although wouldn't mind waiting as he wont be able to ride it in the winter (Colorado). 
He turned two this past October and he is a bigger 2 year old (31lbs at 2 and 33" range) 

Is the balance bike all it's cracked up to be? How much use would he get
out of it until he wants/needs a bike with pedals? Is the balance bike really needed? I rode a bike without training wheels right before I turned 3. 

Any my suggestions on bike for my little fella? 
He loves bikes, I tow him around in the trailer pretty often during the warmer months and points out bikes whenever he sees them. 


Thanks for the insight


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## PMK (Oct 12, 2004)

There are always exceptions, but from what I have seen with Striders, is they do teach balance and control.

Even though the one the grandkids ride is the older steel version, the kids are still able to lift it when needed. They will crash it a bunch, but they tend to get up, pick up the bike and go back for more.

An aluminum framed Hotrock 12 is a tank compared to the Strider.

Once they have balance and steering sorted out, pedaling is pretty easy.

PK


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

At that age, I think a Strider-style bike is probably the way to go. 
Give him a season on that and see how it goes. You'll know when he's ready to work the mechanics of pedaling and braking in.


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## jonz (Mar 23, 2009)

My 4yo and 3yo boys both started on balance bikes shortly before 2, and have ridden the hell out of theirs. The bikes go pretty much anywhere we go. The new thing has become taking them to a local concrete skate park. The only downside I've seen is that my 4yo also has a 14" Commencal pedal bike, and although he's been fully capable of riding it without training wheels for about 3 months now, he'd rather ride the little 10" balance bike. I've been trying to encourage him to ride the 14", but it hasn't been going so well.


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## cstem (Jan 13, 2006)

My kid started on his Strider at 2. I also picked up a 12" pedal bike shortly after, took off the training wheels and set it aside. After a year on the the strider (and doing small jumps and "tricks") he all of a sudden climbed on the pedal bike and rode down the street. 

He is six now and still uses the Strider to play in the mudhole on the side of the house, but loves his 20 inch MTB even more.


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## oren_hershco (Mar 11, 2006)

+1 for a small and light balance bike.

At this age and height they are way too small for a pedal bike, eve the smallest pedal bikes (such as the Specialized Hotrock 12)

This is my little girl, almost 2.5y and less than 33" tall:









I managed to find a tiny balance bike for her, with small, non-pneumatic wheels. She's still too small for her brother's old balance bike (which is bigger, with 12" inflated wheels)

However, she loves the little yellow bike; after several weeks of training she can lift her feet up for an infinite time (as long as I push/ as long as the downhill is)

The bike is light, so she can easily pick it up when she faces a small obstacle.

The only reason I don't move her up to the boy's former bike (a Hotrock 12) is her size. I hope I'll be able to do it when she's close to 3y.

A remark for increasing motivation: if there is a bigger kid, who already rides, try to add some features to resemble his bike. I put F & r lights, and a bell. They're small and light, but she insists on using them every time she rides.


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## Boondock77 (Jun 16, 2014)

Awesome 
Thanks for the info guys. Was thinking balance bikes we're a bunch of hype... I guess not

Looks like I'll be buying one. 
We get some nice days in the winter.


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## MTB Pharm (Mar 10, 2007)

I had both of my kids on striders. My 3 yo still grabs it rather than his pedal bike.

There is a ski kit for the strider for the snow! STRIDER® Snow Skis (pair) - Strider Sports Canada Inc :thumbsup:


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

Boondock77 said:


> Awesome
> Thanks for the info guys. Was thinking balance bikes we're a bunch of hype... I guess not
> .


i think they're overhyped for kids a bit older than yours, but for the really little ones, they're great.


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## watts888 (Oct 2, 2012)

My story. bought a 12" bike and removed the crankset to make it a balance bike. My 3 year old was doing ok with it. Pushing around, learning balance, having fun. My inlaws bought a bike for her that she could ride at their place. they put training wheels on it. My wife encouraged our daughter that she should have pedals on the balance bike. I stupidly agreed, and my daughter started falling because the pedals would hit her legs. My wife convinced her that she needed training wheels too, so I put them. Now at 7, my daughter is still having problems riding a bike. Last month I had it and decided to start over. I've removed every pedal and training wheel from every bike, even the in-laws. She's starting to get better. Unfortunately, due to winter, can't get out as much as we'd like.

Moral of the story, if you do a balance bike, never go back to training wheels.


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## silvascape (Sep 11, 2014)

Another vote for the balance bike here. Our son rode a balance bike from about 20 months. He got a pedal bike for his third birthday and was able to ride it straight away with no training wheels and was racing bmx at 3 and 4 months but would still use his balance bike to play and muck around on - especially at the skate park til he was 4. If he is a tall 2.5 year old I would go with a bike that has 12" proper tyres - Giant and DK make good ones. The specialised is heavy, go as light as you can find if possible but look for proper bearings and sturdy construction - our son certainly gave his a good workout.


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## hobiesmith (Mar 1, 2008)

yes balance bikes are not hype. its the proper bike for them to ride. also if your into saftey, this balance bike has a brake, High quality children's bikes by Islabikes

and while you may think that is hype too, if your kid is like mine, he will take off and go faster and faster and faster, even though you told him to not go that fast!!!, the next thing you know he cant slow down with his feet anymore and eats total ****. if my strider had a brake on it, my kid would of not been in so many wrecks. luckily all his yard sales didnt hurt him.


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## Szy_szka (Oct 29, 2015)

Never tried a balance bike for my kid. Looks like a good idea but I suppose it puts a certain limit to the type of trips parent/kid combo can do together. For a longer trips I am a big fan of trail-a-bike systems.


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## silvascape (Sep 11, 2014)

For longer trips we used to take the trailer. When he got tired or we needed to travel fast he climbed in the trailer and the balance bike got hooked on to the top. 

Funny aside: we were on holidays in Perth (balance bikes strip down easily and go in a suitcase for airline travel) and found a huge skate park DS had just turned 3. He was having a ball zooming around on his balance bike. A big group of kids/young adults turned up. One of the obvious leaders of the group (one of the older kids who was pretty amazing on his bmx) decided Zacs balance bike was cool and was showing him the different lines and telling him when to take his turn. Anyway we went back the next day and he had found a old 26" bmx, striped all the sprockets, cranks, pedals off and installed foot pegs where the cranks would normally be - he had a balance bike like Zacs. They had a great time zooming around and all the other kids wanted what they were calling foot bikes.


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## Matterhorn (Feb 15, 2015)

My daughter has been using her Strider a lot and loves it. I even put in some sweet singletrack in the front yard. She rides it places where a bike with training wheels wouldn't work. She gets to practice pedaling on our Weehoo trailer. I think we are headed toward a smooth transition to a regular bike with no training wheels. 

I'd look at Kazam balance bikes, seem to be easier to use than Strider.


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## Boondock77 (Jun 16, 2014)

Matterhorn said:


> My daughter has been using her Strider a lot and loves it. I even put in some sweet singletrack in the front yard. She rides it places where a bike with training wheels wouldn't work. She gets to practice pedaling on our Weehoo trailer. I think we are headed toward a smooth transition to a regular bike with no training wheels.
> 
> I'd look at Kazam balance bikes, seem to be easier to use than Strider.


 Thanks for the additional info
How much are those balance bikes? They looks better than the other brands


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## Matterhorn (Feb 15, 2015)

Internet told me 65 with solid tires or 85 with air filled tires. Not sure about tubeless set up. Ha!

I believe, so does my daughter, that Kazam is better. She likes her Strider which was given to us but really learned to ride using the Kazam at the bike shop. We go there a lot.


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## Boondock77 (Jun 16, 2014)

hobiesmith said:


> yes balance bikes are not hype. its the proper bike for them to ride. also if your into saftey, this balance bike has a brake, High quality children's bikes by Islabikes
> 
> and while you may think that is hype too, if your kid is like mine, he will take off and go faster and faster and faster, even though you told him to not go that fast!!!, the next thing you know he cant slow down with his feet anymore and eats total ****. if my strider had a brake on it, my kid would of not been in so many wrecks. luckily all his yard sales didnt hurt him.


These ones look even nicer... 
Pretty sweet
Price on those?
Brakes seem like a good idea. Don't have any big hills near us but I recall having a ton of fun with brakes on a bike then with help with a bigger bike too.


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## Matterhorn (Feb 15, 2015)

200 dollarydoos for the Islabike. Brakes would be nice though but have not been necessary for us....yet. 

Definitely looking at Islabike for our first real bike.


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## Boondock77 (Jun 16, 2014)

Matterhorn said:


> 200 dollarydoos for the Islabike. Brakes would be nice though but have not been necessary for us....yet.
> 
> Definitely looking at Islabike for our first real bike.


Seems a bit pricey for a balance bike... Wonder if I could add a brake to one of the others. 
Like I said he is a big kid, so not sure how much use he'll get out of it. But we do have a 8 month boy that could use it also.

Thanks again fellas


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## goodmojo (Sep 12, 2011)

strider bike is really good. One issue we had was it was balanced a little weird for my son and a little too light. He rode the strider from about 1.5-2. I switched him to a hotrock 12 without pedals at 2 and it was way too heavy. He struggled with it for almost a year and instead rode a skuut which is heavier than the strider but balanced better for him.

Finally at 3 he started to pedal and is now able to ride the hotrock 12. He is tall, but light for his age. At 3 he is 40" but only about 28 pounds.


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## backinmysaddle (Jul 27, 2011)

I agree that a balance bike is a really good place to start at that age. My son started on one around 2 and about 7 months later realized he had the balance thing down and wanted to get on a pedal bike, adamant that I not put training wheels on. He just hopped on a started riding, no running along side or anything. I have another young one and have found in the winter that just bringing it inside and having it under him while he scoots around is helpful. Just getting little glides in here and there across a room will get them ready to balance on longer stretches outside. I would also work your child up to a slight hill, one that can allow them to lift up their feet for 10 seconds or so, but not get going too fast. Once they can do something like that, they'll be able to learn a pedal bike super-fast.


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## FireLikeIYA (Mar 15, 2009)

AND another vote for a balance bike. I have found the Giant Pre to have the most features for the money. Pre (2015) | Giant Bicycles | United States. It's made of aluminum, has rubber tires, raked out fork for stability, real headset with a stop that prevents the handlebars from being spun all the way around, excellent range for seat height etc...


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## Boondock77 (Jun 16, 2014)

Thanks guys
Giant one looks cool 
Not sure which one to go with but he'll be getting one for x mas.


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## ClemTiger99 (Nov 19, 2015)

I'm another balance bike supporter. I put my little boy on a Diamondback Push bike when he was just over 2 years old. He rips it up on it. My one regret is that I didn't get one with hand brakes. The bikes with handbrakes are more costly, but once they start picking up more speed they would help a good bit. There have been a few instances where my boy would just bail out in the grass because he was going too fast! You should check out twowheelingtots.com, as there is a wealth of info over there.


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## silvascape (Sep 11, 2014)

Our son had the Giant Pre as well - highly recommend it. 
In our experience brakes were redundant as little hands were not strong enough to pull them on enough to stop the bike anyway until about 3 1/2. (we had the smallest lightest easiest pull brakes in existance on his micro mini bmx, feet worked better and stopped him faster - Keen toddler shoes stood up to the abuse well, other brands fell apart in a few day)


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## Boondock77 (Jun 16, 2014)

Grandma and grandpa ordered a strider from amazon. Not sure which one but they sound pretty nice. Brake would have been nice...
Should be fun!


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## Matterhorn (Feb 15, 2015)

Strider will work fine and even better you didn't pay for it. That is exactly how we got ours and I have no real complaints. 

Get those kiddos riding and I'd say you are doing it right.


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## Boondock77 (Jun 16, 2014)

So the strider was awesome. Thanks for all the advise. I'll make a post on his new bike he received for his 3rd birthday. 
It was one of the cheaper striders, no air in the tires. Nice and light so it is easy for him to move around. 
His little brother will inherit the strider. He is 17 months now.


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## m1tch666 (Jun 20, 2014)

My son is 4 now, has had a hotrock 12 and now hotrock 16, but still goes back to his balance bike all the time......I did a bit of looking prior to buying him it and it will soon be handed down to his sister, with a couple of accessories added.
FirstBIKE


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## northernblades (Jul 22, 2011)

First bike, I would have to recommend a used balance bike. I would also personal avoid the stryder brand. As I have seen them fail to survive even a single child, let alone have any resale value. Both Giant and specialized have very nice balance bikes. 

if you balance bike them at 2.5 many by 3 will be ready for a bike. (especially younger siblings)
By 3-3.5 you can easily skip the 12 inch bike. right to a spawn banshee.
and they are not much bigger than most 12 inch bikes.

I personally do not feel the 12-14 inch bike is needed, By the time, they have out grown the balance bike, they can fit a banshee.


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## Boondock77 (Jun 16, 2014)

lol thanks but we already have moved past the balance bike. It was a grand idea and worked great. I started a new thread with his new bike.
Here is a pic


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## whybotherme (Sep 12, 2008)

Boondock77 said:


> lol thanks but we already have moved past the balance bike. It was a grand idea and worked great. I started a new thread with his new bike.
> Here is a pic


Love the smile. So cool when they really enjoy what they are doing.


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