Now that Drake is 3, I have been thinking about buying him his first bike.  Between Mrs Cowgirl’s post about Lil CB’s balance bike, and my best friend who sold me on it when she bought one for her son, a balance bike has always been what I wanted to buy as Drake’s first bike.  I think the bike is going to be Drake’s big gift from Santa, so I thought Santa should start doing some research in order to get the best deal when the time comes.

Wood vs Aluminum

I love the look of wooden bikes; there is just something sweet and nostalgic about them. I reasoned that all of Drake’s bikes when he got older would be aluminum, so why not be different while I could. Also I liked that some of them were eco-friendly and even donated trees for every bike they sold. Mr. Chocolate, however, could not get on board with the idea and wanted to go with a regular aluminum bike. He sold me when he said that scuff marks would probably show up more on the wood whereas the aluminum would probably look the same no matter what.  I also later read some wooden bikes could warp or possibly splinter.

When I was on the idea of a wooden bike, I really liked this Kinderfeets one.  I liked the addition of the footrest, which not all balance bikes have, as well as the fact that the paint is chalkboard, which is neat for kiddos to personalize their bikes. I also was very tempted by this Janod balance scooter because it looked so adorable, like a mini Vespa, but it was probably more for me than Drake.

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Once I moved onto the idea of an aluminum bike, I really dove into the details.  I never knew so much research could be done on a child’s bicycle and this site really is a wealth of information, though it can be overwhelming too.  They have a great breakdown on helmets that I fully plan on reading later when I pick out a helmet.

I decided that these features were the most important to me:

Air tires vs foam tires –  I prefer air tires over foam ones despite the fact that air tires can get flats, because they offer more cushioning, thus probably a smoother ride.  Drake will probably only ride on flat surfaces (sidewalks and occasionally the road) so it might not be a big deal since I can’t see him trying to off road or anything, but I like the extra cushioning for his comfort nevertheless.

Hand brake vs No brake – When I first started researching, I was convinced I wanted a hand brake.  I reasoned that when I was learning to ride my bike, the most important thing to me was the ability to stop.  But I learned that most kids have a hard time using a hand brake.  Sometimes they are too big for their smaller hands to push fully, and most times kids use their feet to stop as a natural reaction.  It does require extra thinking to learn to use a hand brake.  It made sense to me once I thought about it and even if I got a bike with a hand brake Drake might never use it, so I decided having one was not necessary.

Footrest vs No Footrest – While I read that most children don’t use footrests at all, I still think I prefer them.  I have read that footrests can hinder children when they are learning as they can either get in the way or just trip kids up into thinking they have to place their feet there at all times but I still prefer one to not.  I just think it would be more comfortable to have something to rest your feet on when you’re gliding around. So while not having a foot rest wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me, it would certainly push me toward a bike if I was choosing between one with and one without.

Longer warranty –  The life of most balance bikes is only a few years before kids outgrow them and move on to pedal bikes, but since I have two children now, I do think I would want to pass on Drake’s bike to Juliet one day. The longer warranty would help me since they are three years apart and I can’t see trying Juliet on a bike til she is at least 2, if not older.

Weight – Most bikes weigh from around 7 lbs to under 10 lbs.  While I am not overly concerned about this, I don’t want a 15lb bike either that might be too hard for Drake to manage on his own as well.

And cost wise I wanted to stay around $100 max.

I also learned that seat position is very important when finding the right bike for your kids.  Most experts recommend that you buy a bike with a seat height at least an inch or an inch and a half less than your child’s inseam measurement.

So armed with mynew found knowledge and preferences, I whittled down the field to these contenders.

Burley MyKick   //  Kinderbike Lafraud   //  TykeBykes 16

Visually the Burley bike was my favorite. The drawback was at 16 inches, Drake was close to outgrowing this bike already with a 17 inch inseam.  I was sad as the Burley has a new innovative tire that has the benefits of air but no risk of flats. Price-wise it was a little higher than I liked at $130, but I would have paid the difference I think had this been the bike.

The Kinderbike also looked pretty good but it’s been sold out on Amazon for a while.  Since Santa is bringing this gift eventually, I don’t want to wait and not get a bike, so this one was out before it ever really was considered.

It came down to the TykesByke, which I think was the best choice.  With a 16 inch minimum, Drake can grow and still use this bike for a while. While not as cute and trim as the Burley MyKicks, it still has a lot of charm to it with the two toned coloring.  The 16 inch model weighs a little more than I would like (13 lbs), but since Drake can use it for longer that might not matter as much as he gets bigger too. It also comes in three colors. As an added bonus, the company is family owned and their two year warranty might last us til Juliet can give it a go.  At around $110 it fits in the budget as well, and I heard at times there are sales putting it under $100 so I’ll probably be on the look out from now until Christmas time.