# balance bike or proper bike



## enas (1 Dec 2012)

Hi,

I'm calling for advices. My daughter will soon turn 3, and I want to offer her a bicycle for her birthday. At the moment, she's using a Toddlebike. She absolutely loved it, but lately she seems to be getting a bit bored of it, and in fairness she does look like she's outgrown it. I now regret that I haven't bought her a proper balance bike when she was younger (such as an Islabike Rothan, but in fairness there are many other decent ones that are way cheaper), but I fear that if I buy one now, she will outgrow it too soon. So I'm considering buying an Islabike Cnoc 14 directly. Since I can use the method of removing the pedals and lower the saddle, so that she uses it as a balance bike to begin with, I'm not too sure whether it makes sense to buy a dedicated balance bike at all. My only concern is regarding size; she might be a tad too small for the Cnoc 14.

Any advice? My main question I suppose is, does a balance bike bring anything more than a normal bike without pedals and low saddle? Is it easier or more fun to use for little kids? If I go for the Cnoc 14, what should be the best approach? Quickly teach her balance and then put back the pedals as soon as she masters balance, so that she learns pedalling, or let her use it for a while as a balance bike?

Thanks for your advices!


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## compo (1 Dec 2012)

I would be inclined towards a proper bike with cranks and pedals removed. I would also remove the bottom bracket spindle so there isn't a protusion from the frame close to where her legs will be.


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## derrick (1 Dec 2012)

At 3 years old i think a proper bike.


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## enas (2 Dec 2012)

compo said:


> I would be inclined towards a proper bike *with cranks and pedals removed*. I would also remove the bottom bracket spindle so there isn't a protusion from the frame close to where her legs will be.


 
Isn't that a bit overkill? Is there anything wrong with leaving the cranks on? I thought that what people were doing?

Thanks for the replies by the way!


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## Mr Haematocrit (2 Dec 2012)

enas said:


> Is there anything wrong with leaving the cranks on?


 
Yes they can spin, a crank whacking the calf muscle of a child is one way to deter them from riding a bike, simply because it hurts, nobody enjoys being hurt


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## enas (2 Dec 2012)

V for Vengedetta said:


> nobody enjoys being hurt


 
Sure enough... But how can the crank spin when the child is essentially freewheeling? And more importantly, how can they spin with any amount of force? Sorry for my annoying questions, they're quite obviously genuine!


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## Mr Haematocrit (2 Dec 2012)

When a child is moving the legs the have the opportunity to catch their legs on the crank. If they hit the crank when moving one leg back, the other side can whack them in the ankle or calf muscle. Unless you are going to fix the crank arms somehow so they can not physically move this is a possibility imho
This is the logic which would make me remove the crank


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## Hicky (2 Dec 2012)

We used a £30 balance bike for our son from about 18 months ish....moved onto a ridgeback mx14 age 3 with stabilisers they didnt last long.....he's 4 on new years day, 5 mile ride no problem(flat of course)....the downside is he aims for EVERY puddle!
My avatar is him at about 2 1/2.


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## enas (3 Dec 2012)

V for Vengedetta said:


> This is the logic which would make me remove the crank


All right thanks for the explanations.

I think I'll go for the Cnoc. The only thing that puts me off is looking at Islabikes' size chart. My daughter is below the recommended size range for the Cnoc 14" -- in fact she's rather at the low end of the size range recommended for the Rothan (and no, she's not a midget! I'm rather surprised at the ages they give for those sizes). My reasoning for going for the Cnoc 14 nevertheless is that, maybe, if I set it up in "balance bike mode" she might be able to use it anyhow, and she would start cycling properly only once she feels confident doing it (which might coincide with when she'll be big enough for the bike, which, according to this chart should happen closer to her 4 years). Does that make any sense?


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## Hicky (3 Dec 2012)

Enas, I've found with my lads that when kids are ready you will know, aslong as she's confident with the height/weight of whatever bike you buy then I'm sure she'll cope....good luck.

Mine...eldest wat just over 6 and never really was confident for about 12 months.....my youngest was roughly three and a bit, he then started throwing himself off anything and trying to bunnyhop, crashing makes him more determined rather than put him off unlike the elder.


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## steve52 (3 Dec 2012)

balence bike cant beat em for getting new cyclists on there way


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## alecstilleyedye (3 Dec 2012)

eldest daughter, just left to own devices, learned age 5 (proper bike, no stabilisers, and a decent slope in the garden)
eldest son, proper bike with stabilisers, learned age 7
youngest son, balance bike, was up and running on a proper bike at 4 1/2

balance bikes can be bought fairly cheaply, so you can then buy the proper bike when they're ready.


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## enas (5 Jan 2013)

Thanks again for your responses. I finally settled for an Islabike Cnoc 14:







Not yet her birthday, so I don't yet how she'll react. So far all I can tell is that I'm jealous I can't ride it myself a bit


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## subaqua (5 Jan 2013)

V for Vengedetta said:


> Yes they can spin, a crank whacking the calf muscle of a child is one way to deter them from riding a bike, simply because it hurts, nobody enjoys being hurt


 ty raps are your friend. remove pedals and tyrap crank to lowest part of the rear triangle . thats what i did to youngests bike when i finally convinced SWMBO that stabilisers were a bad thing. withiong 2 weeks pedals were back on and he was pedalling properly


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## enas (5 Jan 2013)

subaqua said:


> withiong 2 weeks pedals were back on and he was pedalling properly


 
What age was he?


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## arallsopp (6 Jan 2013)

Bless, that looks like Ted's islabike (but in blue rather than red.) He started pushing the pedals around properly when he was around 3 and a quarter (Andy pretends he doesn't recall the exact moment) and hasn't looked back since. His sister is on it now, and she's a fairly sturdy 2 and a half year old.

I say 'fairly sturdy'. I mean, in the same way that a K6 UK telephone box is.


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## summerdays (6 Jan 2013)

enas said:


> Thanks again for your responses. I finally settled for an Islabike Cnoc 14:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Very nice ... and I can't believe I'm saying this ... but is that chain a little slack? (Could just be the angle of the photo).


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## subaqua (6 Jan 2013)

enas said:


> What age was he?


 4 , eldest used stabiulisers and no balance bike thingy and didn't ride till she was nearly 6


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## ufkacbln (6 Jan 2013)

There was one bike by a company called Rennrad in Germany who provided the sensible answer:






A "balance bike with a small stub under the frame

Then when the child is ready the bottom bracket fits to the stub...






Means that they can develop on the same bike.


I really don't know why no-one else does something similar


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## enas (6 Jan 2013)

Thanks for your answers, they're quite encouraging!



arallsopp said:


> I say 'fairly sturdy'. I mean, in the same way that a K6 UK telephone box is.


 
 I had to google to find out what a K6 booth is.



summerdays said:


> Very nice ... and I can't believe I'm saying this ... but is that chain a little slack? (Could just be the angle of the photo).


 
I know! I didn't notice anything on the bike (it was set up very well, just the brakes weren't centred well enough -- not sure if that's any important on a child's bike, but I couldn't help it), but I thought exactly the same when I saw that particular photo. Now the bike is stored again waiting for the birthday, so I'll have to wait a bit more to check that out (though I not too sure if that matters at all).



Cunobelin said:


> I really don't know why no-one else does something similar


 
To be honest, I wouldn't be too excited about that. Looks like an over-engineered design to me, that would do neither good...


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## Markymark (7 Jan 2013)

We (Santa and me) bought our nearly 4yo girl a Specialzed Hotrock for Christmas. I removed teh stabilsers and the pedals and she's now using it as a balance bike. Its going well and she can push herself at a reasinbable pace to get some balance. The sloght difficulty is that we bought a size a bit too big so it will be a couple of months until her feet are flat on the ground to get some proper speed up by running along (seat is at the lowest).

Progress is going well and she loves it.

Our friends all put stabilisers on theirs but I think she's showing great progress at learning to ride although everyone else thinks were being mean!


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## enas (7 Jan 2013)

0-markymark-0 said:


> We (Santa and me) bought our nearly 4yo girl a Specialzed Hotrock for Christmas. I removed teh stabilsers and the pedals and she's now using it as a balance bike. Its going well and she can push herself at a reasinbable pace to get some balance. The sloght difficulty is that we bought a size a bit too big so it will be a couple of months until her feet are flat on the ground to get some proper speed up by running along (seat is at the lowest).
> 
> Progress is going well and she loves it.


 
It's a 16" wheel right? I expect the 14" wheel size would have the same effect on my nearly 3year-old daughter (don't expect her to gain confidence before a few months).



0-markymark-0 said:


> Our friends all put stabilisers on theirs but I think she's showing great progress at learning to ride although everyone else thinks were being mean!


 
I know what you mean. My wife is still not 100% percent convinced I'm not being mean either (she says she learnt with stabilisers as most other kids and she hasn't been traumatised for the rest of her life -- of course, she forgets how much she likes it when her mother gives her parenting "advices" using the exact same justification).


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## Markymark (7 Jan 2013)

Correct...

I think people get it but think it's odd. I don't know the best way to go, but it seems to be working. My slight worry is that my daughter may wonder why she dones't have stablisers but I've promised myself that if she insists she wants them, I'll explain what I'm trying to do and that she can have them if she still does.

Obviously reasoning with a 3yo will be harder!


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## enas (7 Jan 2013)

0-markymark-0 said:


> Obviously reasoning with a 3yo will be harder!


Of course. At the moment, she seems far more attracted by dad's big bike, and also big kids bikes she sees outside (I had to explain her so many times that it makes no use having the biggest bike, all you need is a bike the right size for you). So I'm quite confident she won't be begging for stabilisers. And I'm sure that once she'll master it, she won't care at all about what other kids have.


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## Markymark (7 Jan 2013)

One thing made me laugh, there she was the very first time, just about holding on to her enourmas bike keeping it upright, shuffling along..then asked why weren't riding on the road.

Said it might be a while before she is good enough for that!!


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## Hicky (7 Jan 2013)

Balance bikes all the way!!!!(or normal without the pedals)
Cruel, no....providing an enviroment for them to flourish.


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## ianrauk (7 Jan 2013)

Balance bikes all the way.
The nipper at just over 2years old


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## Lanzecki (7 Jan 2013)

My 3 Girls all learnt on stabilizers. One of them as asbergers and that slowed down her progression from stabilisers to non-stabilisers, where her twin sister didn't have any problems, cue childish comments etc. Eventually I removed the bottom bracket from the Girl that was having problems and dropped the seat. 

Ignoring the embarresment issues she soon learn and was on pedal's a week later. 

Daughter No.4 is about to get a balance bike (removed bottom bracket) for her birthday, and the Son and Heir has a toddle bike bought and in the attic ready and waiting for him.

In hindsight I would have had them all on some sort of balance bike wand no stabalisers.


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## enas (19 Jan 2013)

Update: She's been offered the bike today. To much surprise, she got immediately hooked (I was expecting she would be indifferent or reluctant, and that I would have to try again in a few weeks or months)! Bike is a tad too big though -- she's missing maybe one centimetre to sit confidently on the saddle. But she's happy to stay upright with the bike between her legs. She can already learn how to mount and dismount (which, surprisingly, she achieved very easily), how to steer (not so easy in fact), how to brake (she loves that), and how to "park" (her word) the bike. When the weather turns milder (I know the South West of Ireland is nothing like what you guys have at the moment, but still, there should be better days to come), she'll try outside.

My only real disappointment with this bike really is... that the head tube doesn't have any badge, or anything fancy on it; just a small plain band painted on it.


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## ianrauk (19 Jan 2013)

Nice one.
Pic would be nice.


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## enas (25 Jan 2013)

ianrauk said:


> Nice one.
> Pic would be nice.


 
There you go, on a nice weather day. She has greatly improved since then in terms of sitting on the saddle, but honestly, she still lacks a centimetre or two for it to becomes more natural.


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## Dan Allison (1 Feb 2013)

Hi been looking at this thread as my little one is 2 in April.
Came across this on you-tube and after watching it we have to get one!


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## summerdays (1 Feb 2013)

Dan Allison said:


> Hi been looking at this thread as my little one is 2 in April.
> Came across this on you-tube and after watching it we have to get one!



Very sweet!


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