Jazzed that I’m buying my son his first bike (well…balance bike) as he’s hitting the 3 year mark this week.
Glad I often have documentaries like “Ride the Divide” streaming through Netflix and that his mom busts out the Kona MTB every once in a while when he’s riding his trik otherwise his impression of bikes would be things you wake up super early to sweat on in the kitchen while going absolutely nowhere…
Anyhow I’ve heard a lot of great things about Strider bikes but looking at a price tag of $130+ (new) it seems pretty silly. On the other hand looking at this other brand (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A9XXP5U/ref=pe_385040_30332200_TE_item ) for $50 seems very reasonable. Only downside I can see is some folks say the seat tube is too long…but I’m not above getting that cut if necessary.
Any thoughts? My thinking is it’s safe, obeys the same laws of gravity as the Strider brand, will only be used for 3/4 of a year, and it’s 40% the cost.
Are Strider, the brand, balance bikes worth it? If so why?
I hate to say it but I bought one from Walm@rt for 30ish dollars a couple years ago. It is a little heavier than the strider but had a front brake. It was great from the aspect that my kid learned that she shouldn’t try to stop herself by planting her feet.
Oh, after 3 years of use I sold it for $20.
As long as there is enough adjustment IMO most any balance bike will do the same thing.
If your kid is on the taller side you could even look at a smaller bike with pedals. then remove the pedals or crank until they are ready for it to go back on.
I agree with the monkey above. We have a Giant balance bike because my buddy gave it to my daughter. Had he not we would have likely bought a more reasonably priced bike than a strider. I like the idea of removing the pedals/cranks and that may be what we do for our son. Our let him ride a pink Goant. Save the money now as the next bike will be much much more. And have fun, watching my 2year old rip through the house on her balance bike was hilarious. Now at 4 she still loves to ride it and tear around.
Thanks guys. That was my thinking as well, save some on this balance bike as that next bike will not be cheap. Went ahead and pulled the (cheaper) trigger.
No clue about that brand of balance bike for tots (cheap usually means poorly engineered or cheap parts), but I am a recent purchaser of a Strider bike for my 2 year old daughter. She got it for her second birthday which was last Tuesday. So after 5 days of owning it she is **obsessed **and as of today is completely “adult-hands-free” when riding it around the park. I’m sure the one you linked works perfectly fine, but I’m officially an advocate of the $100+ price tag of the Strider due to how successful it was with our daughter and how easy it is to adjust on the fly.
