Hi - I was a bit sceptical and so did not buy one for my first son. However we got one for our second son when he was 2.5 (he is quite tall for his age). He absolutely loved it and would race everywhere on it. Unfotunately we had bought one of the cheap wooden ones on Ebay and one day when he was playing on it in our kitchen it fell apart! We always kept it inside and looked after it. It could have been v dangerous if he had been out on the pavement.

We then decided to buy him a "Puky" balance bike (german) from our local bike retailer in Putney - Putney Cycles. This bike had brakes and a stand. It was fantastic and taught him both to balance and use brakes. As the previous poster said that when we gave him a bike with pedals when he was just 4 he got straight on and started riding - no stabalisers at all. I can't praise the balance bike highly enough although i would recommend getting a metal one with brakes - the second hand value of them is pretty good too so you can get quite a bit of the cost back when you sell it.

My daughter was given a like a bike for her 3rd birthday and after initially refusing to even get on the thing because it was not pink she soon got the hang of it and was bombing round all over the place.

I was very unconvinced by it as I would have gone down the more traditional tricycle/then stabilisers route but my husband is into his cycling and I was told in no uncertain terms that I should keep out of things I know nothing about.

It was her 5th birthday yesterday and she was bought what looked to me like an absolutely huge, non-stabilised bike. She was riding it totally independently within about half an hour. I'm not normally one to admit when I'm wrong but clearly in this case he might have had a point! My younger daughter has inherited the like a bike and is totally in love with it. I warn you though, they can go amazingly fast on those things!

I think they are great. My nephew had one and when he moved on to a pedal bike he just got on and cycled off in 5 mins. I remember months of trying to learn to ride w scrapped knees...

However, 2 is probably too little for them. We got our boy one for his second birthday as the bike says from 2 but he's only really getting the hang of it now and he's 2 3/4. We have a little rider wooden one. Maybe other makes are easier. The scooters which are supposed to be from 3years are great from 2.

Hope that helps

We got our son a likeabike Jumper for his third birthday a few weeks ago (metal frame not wooden) and he just LOVES it! They are not cheap and I dont think I'd have been comfortable with him having one any earlier as he zips about on it - he got the hang of balancing very fast and now loves going down hills on the common!

My only concern is that it has no brake - they are supposed to use their feet. On a recent holiday my son picked up a bit too much speed and then was scared to stop, he baled out and got quite badly scraped - I shudder to think what could've happened if he had been near a road. For this reason I'm quite selective about where he rides it and he always wears a helmet. Having a scooter first has definitely helped him build up some road sense but essentially I think this type of bike is best used on the commons.

(BTW.. Likeabike do sell a brake separately that we are considering buying.. plus check out this video on youtube if you want to see what the bikes are capable of... enough to turn a mum grey!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxp4TjAkSL8

All depends really as all children are different, however worked a treat for our son, he zipped around on it and when he got a bike for real he just started cycling without any help! like a bike are probably best, but you can pick up a woody for about £30 on ebay

Hello

I was wondering if anyone had experience of balance bikes and if they are worth it or if it's better to wait until they are a bit older and get a bike with stabilizers?

I was thinking of possibly getting one for my son's 2nd bday.... He has a micro scooter so not sure if he will get the use out of a balance bike. Does anyone's child own one and would you recommend it? And which brands are good ones? or should i just wait and get him a big bike???

Decisions, decisions :D

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