After seeing Khai’s post, I am curious what others have done.
I have a very athletic/coordinated 22 month old son. Looking to get him on some sort of wheeled toy soon. What do you think of the following options, any thing I am missing?
Thanks in advance!
My youngest first rode without training wheels about three months before his thrid birthday. He’s short on the size chart, so that and having a big brother really helps.
He also had a bike my mom got him that was low to the ground and had fatter tires on it and the frame was thicker, more sturdy. I bought my oldest a trek for his first and the tires were probably 3/4 the size and it was higher off the ground. The other difference seemed to be that the steering was a lot more loosey goosey on my older son’s bike.
The only warning is that he was so young and he has a short attention span (he doesn’t have ADD, is just very active) anyway that he ran into everything… You had to really watch him. He could ride all day, but every little thing distracted him and his mind would be on something else other than what was in front of him. He ran into bushes, fences, the garage, etc… not from losing his balance but from looking at me or his older brother. So my wife put a stop to it for a few months as it scared her when I wasn’t around.
“He could ride all day, but every little thing distracted him and his mind would be on something else other than what was in front of him. He ran into bushes, fences, the garage, etc… not from losing his balance but from looking at me or his older brother.”
LOL! I can’t wait till my daughter gets to that age - sounds like a blast!
I’d go with a runbike. Strider, Kazam and all the big players (Specialized, Trek, etc) make them and they’re the best at teaching a kid to balance and steer.
Once your son gets a little bigger and is very comfortable on the runbike/looking for more speed, you can transition him to a regular bike without training wheels. If you want an extra insurance policy, maybe see about renting a Gyro wheel.
I think it’s a great concept, but I don’t really see the benefit in purchasing one - especially for an athletic kid.
I’m a huge fan of option 1. My son is 30 months and he loves his “motorcycle”. We’ve had the bike since he was about your son’s age and he didn’t show any interest in it for quite a while. (He was really into a small trike he had and loved. http://www.radioflyer.com/ride-ons/classic-tiny-trike.html ) So we were happy to let the Strider sit in the garage and one day he decided he was interested in giving it a try. That afternoon he was moving around very well on it and the next day he was out on dirt trails.
It seems like the biggest barrier to kids learning to ride is interest. Once they decide to give it a try they tend to pick it up quickly. It’s amazing how fast kids learn to ride them, but definitely not something that can be “forced” as I see some parents trying. My son often rides with bigger kids in the neighborhood with them on all manner of toys, bikes, scooters, skateboards, and striders. I’m always amazed at how they will ride in tight spaces and collisions almost never happen. I’m a huge fan of how Striders teach proper balance. Now he rides off curbs and can track tight turns really well. Of course now he keeps asking for a “pedal bike.” This video was about a week or two in…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hctxTbpcA20
The big wheel will help him at all for learning to ride a bike, but he may love it. As for training wheels, I’m really against them. IMO they make it harder for kids to learn proper balance. Lots of people get a 12 inch bike and remove the drivetrain… that way you don’t have to buy a bike and a strider.
After seeing Khai’s post, I am curious what others have done.
I have a very athletic/coordinated 22 month old son. Looking to get him on some sort of wheeled toy soon. What do you think of the following options, any thing I am missing?
Thanks in advance!
#1 without a doubt and based on experience. It also teaches skills that will last. Congrats and best wishes,
It was awesome. It was fine where we used to live as there wasn’t a lot of traffic, but we moved and the only place for him to ride was on the sidewalk and there was a lot more traffic. He never got going fast enough to hurt himself and the bike was so small he wasn’t in any danger of really hurting himself. So my wife had to watch out for my then 5 year old and the younger one. He refused to ride it when I had to put the training wheels back on. After about 6 months she got more comfortable and he was able to ride again. By then, he paid more attention to what he was doing.
The bike was perfect, small compact and wide tires. My older one probably would have been riding sooner if that had been his bike when he first started.
My soon to be 4yo will be getting his 3rd bike for his birthday on Saturday. This was our progression
~15mos Specialized hot walk (balance bike - 12" wheels). He fiddled around with it until ~20mos, and then was off and running. He rode that through the next summer, right up until 3yo3yo Specialized 12" hot rock. It took 3-4 5min sessions of “trainer” riding for him to figure out how to pedal. I jacked up the training wheels so the rear wheel was off the ground and he could practice the pedaling motion. Once he got that, training wheels came off, one push and he was riding.4yo Redline Pitboss 16" - pick it up tomorrow
A few notes on your other choices
Big wheel. Nearly a year after he was riding the 12" bike with no pedals, he could finally reach the pedals on the big wheel. He likes screaming around on it, but the pedal reach is really, really far and he’s tall for his age (he’s basically still pedaling on his toes)12" bike with training wheels. You may be able to save some money here. I considered getting the 12" Hot Rock to start, and just pull off the cranks and chain. BUT, the stand over height of the Hot Rock is ~2.5" higher (338mm vs. 275mm) than the Hot Walk. That’s a lot and forced me into the two bike progression.
He’ll need to learn the balance - the strider bike is best for that.
Then he’ll need to learn to pedal - there are a number of ways to get that.
good luck
LOL! I can’t wait till my daughter gets to that age - sounds like a blast!
A proud dad on mtbr posted this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz6zG9EYOKI
Freakin’ AWESOME!
That made my week!!!
Thanks!!
I’m buying one compact with wide tires now! Thanks!
I can’t say enough good things about the Strider. Both of my kids road/ride it and it is fabulous. I tell anyone with kids to skip the trike and go with the strider. It really is amazing how fast they can pick it up.
Awesome! Of course, I’m a huge softy for kids and dads.
Jodi
Don’t forget to pull the chain as well. You don’t want the cranks to be spinning while your son strides along.
Post a pic so we all comment on his aero position!
Sounds like you have already made your purchase but I’ll add my vote to the balance bike option. My daughter loved hers and, while not exactly adventurous, she was cruising around pretty good on it when we made the switch to a pedal bike. I really don;t like the idea of training wheels. When the rider turns left the natural instinct is to lean into the turn. Training wheels prevent this and and up throwing the rider’s weight to the outside of the turn. Since learning to ride a bike is a series of small turns to correct for being off balance, training wheels really work against learning balance naturally. As someone mentioned, the pedaling motion needs to be learned but that can be accomplished many ways once the balance instinct is learned.
#1: My son is 4 now, and he can fly on this thing:
http://www.princelionheart.com/site_can/p_bike_7600_can.html
It’s made of wood, and is quite lightweight and he still loves riding it. We will be getting him a pedal bike soon, he has had this one for a couple years now, and it will be handed down to his little brother who is 2 very soon.
I’m a huge fan of option 1. My son is 30 months and he loves his “motorcycle”. We’ve had the bike since he was about your son’s age and he didn’t show any interest in it for quite a while. (He was really into a small trike he had and loved. http://www.radioflyer.com/...ssic-tiny-trike.html ) So we were happy to let the Strider sit in the garage and one day he decided he was interested in giving it a try. That afternoon he was moving around very well on it and the next day he was out on dirt trails.
It seems like the biggest barrier to kids learning to ride is interest. Once they decide to give it a try they tend to pick it up quickly. It’s amazing how fast kids learn to ride them, but definitely not something that can be “forced” as I see some parents trying. My son often rides with bigger kids in the neighborhood with them on all manner of toys, bikes, scooters, skateboards, and striders. I’m always amazed at how they will ride in tight spaces and collisions almost never happen. I’m a huge fan of how Striders teach proper balance. Now he rides off curbs and can track tight turns really well. Of course now he keeps asking for a “pedal bike.” This video was about a week or two in…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hctxTbpcA20
The big wheel will help him at all for learning to ride a bike, but he may love it. As for training wheels, I’m really against them. IMO they make it harder for kids to learn proper balance. Lots of people get a 12 inch bike and remove the drivetrain… that way you don’t have to buy a bike and a strider.
Nice soundtrack!
When I was that age I had a big wheel and also rode my older brother’s Vroom
I like the idea of the bike with no pedals though
.