To help young children get ready for the freedom of riding a bicycle, more and more people are turning to the
balance bike, a small training bike with no pedals, chain or training wheels. Although designed for children between the ages of two and five, some children are ready for their first balance bike at 18 months.
Balance bikes, which may or may not have brakes, are also known run bikes, runner bikes, training bikes, scoot bikes, no-pedal bikes, pedal-less bikes and walking bikes. In Danish a balance bike is called "løbecykel", in Dutch "loopfiets", and in German it is called “laufrad." The Danish name evolved from the word for children's scooters - "løbehjul", which translates as "running wheel."
The idea behind these two-wheelers is to help the child learn to balance. Once they have mastered balance, they can more easily move up to a regular bicycle with pedals.
Most children begin by walking the bike while standing over the seat, then sitting. To operate correctly, a
balance bike must be small enough for the child to sit in the seat with both feet flat on the ground. Most regular bikes are too tall for young children to do this, even when the seat is lowered all the way and the pedals and chains are removed. Children are quick learners and they will soon be confident enough to run and scoot while riding the bike. This quickly turns to the child picking both feet off the ground and glide around while balancing on two wheels.
A balance bike can either be made of wood, usually a top quality, varnished birch plywood, or light-weight steel. They have no sharp edges and gaps between the frame and the fork in the wooden models are filled with felt to prevent pinching a child's fingers and to prevent the front wheel from turning too sharply.
Which ever one you choose, your young child will soon be scooting around the yard or sidewalk on their very own balance bike.
