Bike - 3 year old

sillysocks

Hi all, it's my little it's birthday coming up, he'll be three.
Half thinking of getting him a bike because he's always dying to get on his sisters one, but wondering if 3 is too young for a 'normal' bike and whether the pedals might be too hard to push to? Anyone have a bike for a boy that age?
I know there's balance bikes but want to stick with a more traditional bike with stabilizers.

scaryfairy

We got a bike for our son 3rd birthday, one from halfords. He likes it but it's super heavy I think. He hasn't really pedalled with it, just let us push him around the living room. Not too happy with the choice to be honest.

jlm29

My boy is 4 and a half, and has had his bike about a year. It's only the last few months he's really getting going, before that, he needed a lot of pushes. That said, if we'd put a bit more time into bringing him out practising, he'd have got there a lot faster.
My nephew is a full two years younger, and he has a normal bike with stabilisers, and he's been whizzing around on his (on smooth ground), for a few months now!

cyning

I got my 3 year old a bike for her birthday last year. She still can't cycle it: I let her pick out the one she wanted so obviously she picked the fecking Frozen one and it's really heavy which doesn't help.

In contrast my 2 year old climbed up on a bike in a shop last week. And cycled it straight down the aisle to the disgust of her sister! If he's copying his sister I'd chance getting one...

Digs

My daughter turned 3 last month, my husband is big into biking so on his lead we got her a bike. I was a bit dubious but she absolutely loves it, she cycles around (obviously with stabilisers) no bother and if anything has me tormented to bring her out.

To be fair she spent a lot of time tinkering with my husband and his bikes in the past so developed an interest in them and he's also put work in bringing her out on her bike over the last few weeks getting her used to it.

Seems to depend of the child really!

bp

My three year old loves their bike and I have to run to keep up with her when she really gets going. Got the bike for their birthday and got the idea pretty quickly

sillysocks

Thanks all, maybe I'll just bring him to the shop and see how he manages (and risk the terrible two tantrum of leaving with no bike )

bullvine

Why would you prefer a normal bike over a balance bike? If you get him a balance bike like this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kettler-Speedy-12-5-Inch-Balance-Bike/dp/B002UXQM34/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1463481508&sr=8-12&keywords=balance+bike

He more than likely wont have a need for stabilizers and probably be cycling proper before he is 4.

cuculainn

my two cents.....if you let a kid pick out a bike they will always go for the "frozen" one or the "paw patrol" one. These will be easy on the eye, but ridiculously heavy IMO. especially for a 3 year old......

Maybe (depending on budget obviously) put a bit extra into getting a decent quality bike that isnt 8kg+ and then get some Decals on amazon if they want it to be done up to a certain theme

sillysocks

We had a balance bike for my older girl and just found it a bit of a pain, she didn't really get the hang of it so wasn't fussed on using it, which meant it took her a long time to improve. It just felt like a pain every time she went on it because she couldn't really manage it at all. We gave in and got her a bike with stabilizers at Christmas and she just loves it, can fly along by herself in the park or in the estate without needing us to constantly be holding the bike or her! I think we didn't have the patience for the balance bike!

That's a good point re budget and weight, I don't mind spending a few eur but don't want to spend a fortune either as I'm sure he'll grow out of the first bike quick enough.

bullvine

Ahh ok, I can appreciate a balance bike is not for everyone, some kids take to them quicker than others it really depends on how experienced you are when it comes to cycling.

scaryfairy

Digs wrote: »

My daughter turned 3 last month, my husband is big into biking so on his lead we got her a bike. I was a bit dubious but she absolutely loves it, she cycles around (obviously with stabilisers) no bother and if anything has me tormented to bring her out.

To be fair she spent a lot of time tinkering with my husband and his bikes in the past so developed an interest in them and he's also put work in bringing her out on her bike over the last few weeks getting her used to it.

Seems to depend of the child really!

hi there, what bike did you get?

ted1

My daughter was up and going when she was 3, she was in a balance bike for a month and then a proper bike.

Her sister had stabilisers and no balance bike and took about 2 years to get going

bullvine

Ridgeback are a good bike, my lad had a Giant Animator, he was on a balance bike for a couple of months, then got him the animator, only sold it last week on Adverts would have been perfect. The weight makes a massive difference.

Tombo2001

Personally I think balance bikes are way better.

The problem with stabilizers for a 3 year old is that most early age bikes are cheapo and too heavy; and the child wont be able to get the pedals around.

In other words, you will put your back out pushing them around.

Agent Smyth

+1 on the Ridgeback bikes who do both balance and pedal bikes the little ones
Both the pedal and balance bikes come in 12 and 14 inch wheels

bullvine

Me too I cant stand stabilizers, my daughter was nearly 7 before she learnt how to cycle a bike because she didnt have a balance bike as they weren't really a thing at the time.

Schrodingercat

Take a look at little big bikes

https://www.littlebigbikes.com/

Its a balance bike that you can attach pedals to. So when your son gets the hang of the balance bike you can just attach the pedals to it, and its still "his bike".

They are nice and light but well built. Some kids bikes can be really heavy. Irish guy Based in Greystones runs it.

uck51js9zml2yt

Frog are a very good bike and light.
There is actually one forsale on the cycling forum.

Don't go for a heavy steel bike as a child won't be able to cycle it.

We for rid of a steel bike my father in law bought which weighed 20kg and got a frog weighing 9 kg.
We took the pedals off for a while and are now working with junior on cycling the bike.

sillysocks

Thanks all, we tried him on a few bikes over the weekend and he couldn't get the hang of pedalling and just got fed up after two minutes on each one! So we ended up getting this in Smyths instead

http://www.smythstoys.com/ie/en-ie/outdoor/trikes/c-939/trikes/p-2746/mud-monster/

It's kind of like an older toddler version of the smart trikes. It's a trike(kind of like an old style one, made of metal rather than plastic), and it has a handle we can push for now. He's loving it so far and starting to get the hang of trying to pedal although he's a bit lazy
Thanks all for the advice!