Strider Balance Bike Review

Balance Bikes are pretty common at the moment and are designed to help toddlers learn to balance on a bike without the complications of pedals. If you believe the hype, your kid will be a bike-riding prodigy and will be riding a two-wheeler without training wheels before their trike-riding peers. There are several types available and quite a few are adorable and wooden (Skuut, for example). We decided to get a Strider because it seemed stronger and more bike-like.

As you can see from this photo, we've had the Strider Bike since the spring. When we first bought it, Eleanor was about 2.5 years old. Initially, she just walked on it very slowly and it kept falling over. Now, several months later, she has progressed to walking fast and sometimes slow running. She also sometimes tries to lift her feet, but she doesn't quite have enough speed to balance well.

The bike itself is very sturdy (I have heard that some of the wooden ones tend to break, especially the handlebars). It's welded joints are neat and strong. The tires are foam filled so won't go flat. There are fake valves for the look factor. When we bought the bike, the headset was adjusted quite tightly - I suppose this prevents your toddler from becoming frustrated as the handlebar sharply turned.

It comes is quite a few colours - pink, red, green, blue and orange. Naturally, we chose red because it goes the fastest. The paint does scratch somewhat (the bike does spend a fair amount of time on the ground), but doesn't seem to chip easily. It's definitely made to last and will be passed down to Emmett and other kids.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with the Strider and always recommend it. I will be quite curious to see if it makes training wheels redundant.

Have you had any experience with these, post-toddler?

(Excuse the dents on my car!)