My daughter's ready to ditch the training wheels and I'm shopping for a bigger bike. She's average height for her age. Do people actually like the balance bike approach or should I just go for a 16" with training wheels? What'd you guys do?
Balance bike first 100%. My son skipped training wheels entirely and went straight to a 16" after 2 months on a balance bike. He just... got it. No weird pedaling motion to unlearn. Way faster than the training wheel thing.
16" is solid for average height. We got one and she grew into it for like 3 years. The balance bike thing works but honestly a 16" with training wheels you can remove is cheaper and does the same job if you're patient with it.
lol at 'ditch the training wheels' - my 5yo is doing the same thing and refuses to use them now even though she can't balance yet. Stubborn kids man
Balance bike 100%. My daughter skipped training wheels entirely and went straight to pedal bike at 5 and it was so much faster than the traditional route. She already knew how to balance so it was just learning where the pedals go.
What's your budget? If you're trying to stay cheap, Walmart 16" bikes are honestly fine for learning. Save the fancy stuff for when they actually know what they're doing and won't scratch it to hell.
Going to push back on the balance bike thing - we did that route and my kid still struggled with pedaling coordination when we switched. Some kids just need training wheels for a bit. Every kid's different.
Skip the 16" honestly, they're awkward. Balance bike route means she'll nail a real bike way faster because the hard part (balancing) is already locked in. Took my son 2 weeks to go from balance to pedal bike vs 3 months of training wheels torture.
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16" is prob right for average height 5yo but def let her sit on it first. My daughter was tall for her age and we got a 16" too early - her toes barely touched. Went back to 14" and it was night and day for confidence.
lol the balance bike debate never ends on this forum but honestly I did both and the balance bike made training wheels feel ancient. Skip the training wheels if you can.