Ok so after reading what others have said in another post Im now wanting one for DD I was looking at Hip Kids 2 in 1 Balance bike anyone know anything or think it looks good.
Last edited by Amity; August 14th, 2011 at 10:27 AM.
: removing commercial link - please see guidelines
Hiya, those ones look pretty cool - just be aware that most children wont have the strenght to grip and use the hand brake until about 3 years old or so. My 2 yo has a 'strider' balnce bike and they frame looks very similar to that in the pic except we dont have brakes nor does it convert to add pedals later. I got mine off Amazon dot com for an amazing price (and esp more so now since the aussie $ is so strong) compaired to what they sell for in australia. Another reason i went for the strider bike over another brand is that my ds is quite short and this one was able to be adjusted low enough for him to use it straight away.
Anywya - just my experience but as i said, the one you have linked to looks quite similar
That is the one we have and I was just saying to DH today it is one of our best buys. The only thing to think about is the height though. DS got one when he was just turned 3 (about a year ago). He could just use it as a balance bike on tiptoes and he is tall for his age. Once the seat goes on it has to go a bit higher than for just the balance so we didn't put them on until a few weeks back and he is 108cm.
We're getting one soon that folds up like a scooter for portability - looks really cool - can't wait til it gets here! It's aimed at ages 2 - 5 so CJ is a bit young still but we might keep it for his birthday or something it's called a FlipBike - google it, or they have a FB page too I think. Comes in seven colours :P we're getting a blue one
I have a cheaper one off eBay that is used inside our house. Not sure how it would stand up outside though. DD goes pretty hard outside on her run bike. No fear that child.".....
We got ours from Aldi just after DS1 was born! It was around $50 i think. It was well worth it. He learnt to ride a proper bike at 3.5 without ever using training wheels, and this is all down to the balance bike. It was initially used inside (to get the confidence up) but then it got a thrashing outside and we have done a lot of kms on it! Now it's DS2's turn and it's gone a tiny bit rusty on the screws, but nothing structural, so i think it was a $50 very well spent.
We LOVE our balance bike DD1 is 3 and riding a normal bike now without training wheels, all because of the balance bike. Got ours second hand for $20 I think.
We still love our balance bike here - it's Aldi one. I think the key to the cheaper ones is just to take good care of them. A friend of ours hates them because theirs fell to pieces when their daughter was riding it but it was left outside in the rain all the time. Ours is always kept undercover, and DS knows if it starts raining to check outside to make sure it isn't getting wet. He also knows not to be too rough with it and throw it on the ground after he gets off. It is still in great condition and gets used every day (even though he has a 'big bike' now, he still prefers the balance bike).
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