What bicycle-like object for a 3 year old?

December 1, 2015 11:36 AM

So, I have a clever but cautious 3.75 year old daughter. My wife would really like to get her some kind of bicycle-like object to start on for Christmas. What would you recommend?

Her cousins have a "kick-bike" which is like a bicycle without pedals. They seem to be OK on it but they are also already rock-climbing at the age of four, so... My daughter is somewhat physically cautious and I'm just not sure if she will be ready for it. Have you had success with a similar object? What did you try for a young kid and how did it go?

Thanks!

posted by selfnoise to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (20 answers total)

Does she already have a tricycle? If not, any reason you wouldn't start with that?
posted by amro at 11:41 AM on December 1, 2015

My parents got my younger sister a sort of... halfway between a kick bike and a really tall (for a kid) tricycle, with the back pair of wheels super close together. I personally had a scooter with a handle (like in Back to the Future,) which I adored.
posted by SMPA at 11:43 AM on December 1, 2015

Best answer: Balance bikes are great for cautious kids! We got one for my son at about 3 and he just kept his feet on the ground at all times, feeling very secure. The next year he got the hang of balancing and gliding and at 5 he was able to go right to pedaling a two-wheeler with no training wheels in the space of about an hour.
posted by goggie at 11:44 AM on December 1, 2015 [9 favorites]

I've heard good things about Strider Bikes which teach how to balance on a bike, and they say are suitable for 18months and up.
posted by borkencode at 11:45 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I used to see little kids all over Berlin on balance bikes. There are no pedals or drive-train, so the kid uses their feet to push themselves along, but the balance is the same as a real bicycle (unlike on a tricycle). Once they get comfortable on a balance bike, they can start to lift up their feet and glide along for short periods of time. But if they get nervous, they can just put their feet back down on the ground.
posted by colfax at 11:51 AM on December 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

Does she have a scooter? One of our kids had balance issues with attempting to learn to ride a bike without training wheels (and even an older found bike that I removed the pedals from for a home-made kick bike). The scooter prevented any big injuries while helping him develop his balance such that we next tried the bike without training wheels he finally took to it like a duck to water. Bonus; scooters are way cheaper than kick bikes; check craigslist / kijiji.

I seem to recall I was around 3-4 was when I transitioned from big wheel to bike with training wheels. This was of course back in the day when kick bikes were unheard of and even scooters were unowned among my peer group. A bike with training wheels is steady enough that it's not scary, but one can get up to actual (kid) biking speeds.
posted by nobeagle at 11:52 AM on December 1, 2015

My daughter started on a Strider around 3 and she was riding a 2-wheeler without training wheels at the later end of 4. We skipped training wheels entirely and had a rocky time for about ~3 months but then she got the hang of it. See if you can find a used Strider, since they are the sort of thing that people can "hand down" after their kids are done.
posted by Mid at 12:00 PM on December 1, 2015

Best answer: Start with a run-bike, for sure. Borkencode's Strider Bike is great, though a bit pricy. Anything in that bike-with-no-pedals vein will do. I started my daughter on one about that age and, well: real story, it took my daughter all of 5 minutes to learn how to ride a bike once she figured out it was like her run-bike. She (age 6) was getting quite frustrated trying to operate the beater bike we'd inherited from another kid on the street, so I said "Daughter, if you learn how to ride a bike this summer, we'll get you your own bike that fits you", confident I could just say that because it'd be most of the summer.

She and mom went to the park to practice while I went to bought some milk, and on my walk to meet them I got a text saying "She knows how to ride a bike now". After they got to the park mom said "Kiddo, this is just like your run bike, except you pedal."

"It is?"

"That's all there is to it."

"Oh!" And that was that, and off she went. I get there a few minutes later, and it's all "DAD LOOK DAD YOU HAVE TO GET ME A BIKE NOW DAD DAD LOOK DAD". It was pretty great, and mom was (justly) quite proud of herself.
posted by mhoye at 12:02 PM on December 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

I think the kick-bike/Strider thing is just fine for that age. It gives them a lot of control. However, my own cautious almost 4 year old has had one for about 6 months and she still hasn't quite taken to it and prefers her tricycle for "racing." Has your kid had a chance to play with one? Is she into the idea of bikes at all?
posted by stowaway at 12:09 PM on December 1, 2015

I cannot recommend a balance bike highly enough. We got my clever, cautious son a Strider for his third birthday, and he was comfortable on it right away. He's 6.5 now and too tall for it, otherwise he'd prefer that over a pedal bike. Probably my favorite kid-related purchase!
posted by Empidonax at 12:10 PM on December 1, 2015

Yup, balance bike. My kid mastered it at 2, and just recently switched seamlessly to a pedal bike, at 4.5. It's easy to be cautious on a balance bike, but once he got comfortable with it, he could FLY. So it's definitely a fun thing in itself, not just a step on the way to a pedal bike.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 12:11 PM on December 1, 2015

Some thoughts from a master here.

I'd go with a a small bicycle.

Don't use training wheels. If you're moderately handy, you can remove the pedals, lower the seat and turn it into a foot bike.
posted by bonehead at 12:12 PM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

My son was cautious and we got him a balance bike. He never learned to ride it fast - always used his feet to guide himself. Now we are trying to teach him to ride a bike without training wheels, and he is essentially starting from scratch. In retrospect, he would have gotten more joy out of a tricycle or a bigwheel.
posted by Mchelly at 12:17 PM on December 1, 2015

Best answer: Balance bikes are great.

One word of caution: I would not recommend the Skuut. I've assembled dozens of them, and they're fine as long as they're never left in the rain. The first time they get rained on, the plywood swells and the bike basically disintegrates.

From a design perspective they're beautiful and it's nice that they're mostly made from sustainable materials, but the wood can't with stand the elements. The two good things about them is that 1) you can assemble them with the frame upside down (which is good if your kid is super short) and 2) they limit how far the handlebars can turn (which isn't that big of a problem honestly).
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 1:57 PM on December 1, 2015

Bring her to the store and let her try out different ones. You will quickly see which one she needs. Plan on bribing her with ice cream to get her away from it and then go back later to buy it. If you are in doubt, get her a Barbie electric car. It has all the concepts of wheels and motion without requiring coordination.
posted by myselfasme at 3:11 PM on December 1, 2015

Our kids loved this Puky balance bike. Like everyone else here is saying, once they've mastered this, they can switch to riding a pedal bike without stabilisers almost instantly. My son "graduated" before his 3rd birthday, but I wouldn't exactly describe him as "cautious"...
posted by ZipRibbons at 12:25 AM on December 2, 2015

Best answer: Both of my boys started on the Skuut balance bike (I never left it out in the rain and never had a problem with it until the younger one crashed it rather spectacularly, but that was his personality, not a feature of the bike). Both started around 1 year old actually. Both were riding regular bikes without training wheels before age 4 (oldest started when he was late 3 years old, my youngest was on a bike without training wheels as an early 2).

The key thing about balance bikes is that you have to get them out a couple times sometimes for them to get how to scoot on it. They often start by just walking with it between their legs which is slow and tedious (mostly for the parent), but they pick it up quickly usually, and being 3 yours is likely to pick it up faster than mine did, and then they are off and flying. Stopping can be a bit tricky, you just have to get them to shuffle their feet on the ground, not just stomp down, because that can cause them to flip over it. This is only a problem if you are letting them careen down hills (which I did, both had helmets, both eventually learned not to do it).
posted by katers890 at 5:29 AM on December 2, 2015

Best answer: I've been on the hunt for one for our 2-year-old (who has and loves a scooter that he started riding at about 18 months) and I've found this site to be really helpful for information about bikes/helmets/gear that are good for various ages, weights, etc. And this link, in particular, can help you find the best balance bike.
posted by jasbet07 at 3:42 PM on December 4, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! We just got back from the local bike store where we got great service and found a balance bike I'm really happy with. Jasbet07's links would have been really helpful except that I forgot to check back on this question. Silly! Anyway all's well that ends well and now I just have to find some way to wrap it!
posted by selfnoise at 10:09 AM on December 5, 2015

Easy peasy! The lack of pedals make it less of a chore than you'd think. Just make sure you have enough wrapping paper.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:08 PM on December 7, 2015