Anonymous wrote:Balance bike is perfect at 4. Some are for smaller kids, some bigger kids so just get the right size. When they outgrow the balamce bike by size, they can go on to a pedal bike with no training wheels.

I agree with starting with a balance bike. We just taught our 4 year old how to ride a bike last weekend after he spent last summer/fall and a bit of time this spring on the balance bike. He's just on a bike we got on craigslist, it's not particularly light but he's fine.

Balance bike is perfect at 4. Some are for smaller kids, some bigger kids so just get the right size. When they outgrow the balamce bike by size, they can go on to a pedal bike with no training wheels.

My kids went from a 12 inch balance bike to a 16 inch schwinn bike with pedals. At 4, he might be too big for a 12 inch bike. I would go by height - get the bike that with the seat the lowest, he can put his toes down. Although, my DD is 36" tall and she rides a 16 in bike, even though it's a little big for her. We had to spend some time "catching" her as she had trouble dismounting when she stopped. She has since figured it out. Agree that you don't need to spend the big $$ on the lightweight bikes.

Anonymous wrote:We look back on the bikes we got for our kids when they were little- we bought the most expensive ones at Spokes in Vienna. They would quickly outgrow them and then we'd go back and pay for another. Talking with DH the other day we said that it was a stupid waste of money and we should have bought bikes at Walmart or Target- they would have been fine.

+1

Kid are so much stronger than we think and can learn just fine and actually get stronger on a heavy bike. Both of my kids learned to ride early on a cheap, heavy, hand me down bike from a neighbor. One kids learned to ride just right before he turned 3 and he is a small, for his age, kid. I'd only really worry about bike weight if you are planning some really long bike rides.

At 4 I would not get balance bike. Just get a regular bike and lower the seat enough so his feet can fully touch the ground. No need to remove pedals, he'll figure it out.

Start with a balance bike, it made the transition to pedals so much easier because they got use to concept of balancing on 2 wheels.

So we progressed balance bike, regular bike with training wheels for a short period of time until kid got the hang of pedaling, no training wheels.

Anonymous wrote:Strider 14x

This x a million. After time on their Strider, it took my kids all of two minutes to master a regular bike.

Thanks, PPs!

Strider 14x

Anonymous wrote:get a skuut or other balance bike.

I posted about the Woom - you can do it without the pedals and it's a balance bike, or put the pedals on and it's a regular bike, so you can start out however you want.

Anonymous wrote:Woom is expensive but super light - we thought it worth the price.

+1 for Woom

Our four-year old girls went from a tricycle to riding the Woom (it doesn't have training wheels) in one week. So worth the price.

get a skuut or other balance bike.

We look back on the bikes we got for our kids when they were little- we bought the most expensive ones at Spokes in Vienna. They would quickly outgrow them and then we'd go back and pay for another. Talking with DH the other day we said that it was a stupid waste of money and we should have bought bikes at Walmart or Target- they would have been fine.

Woom is expensive but super light - we thought it worth the price.

DS is about to turn 4. He loves his (micro mini) scooter but hasn't tried a bike yet. Can someone recommend a good brand and model? Any other advice on learning to ride is most welcome...