Yeah - bought my 3yr old nephew a Strider for Christmas - I almost bought him the kiddimoto I posted above, but was afraid of the wood construction, simply because his dad probably wouldn't take care of it the way I would if it were my own kid's bike.

He's only been able to ride it for a week, but he's already coasting around the driveway like a champ. Learning balance before bothering with pedals and brakes. Having to fight with your kid's dependence on training wheels is a big issue for parents, and going this route, he should never need them.

 

thats a good idea. Does a normal bicycle not act the same was as these balance bikes?

 

They don't have pedals so they can put their feet down to save themselves easier. And they just pick their feet up to coast around and learn the balance factor of a bike. Great learning device I've seen out and definitely a good investment

 

Balance bikes also shed weight and ungainliness. The strider bike weighs 7lbs and is designed to grow with a child for a year or 2. Training wheels are a crutch and pedals/brakes get in the way of learning the most important part- balance. I've seen 6 year olds still on training wheels that just fall over when the training wheels are taken off after 3 years of riding with them....

this is a 23 month old on one after like 4 days of riding it. Videos like this are all over youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIFnnxC9Byo