an argument for the strider bike (and no i'm not getting paid. not enough people read this to be profitable anyway)

if you haven't heard of a strider bike, it's essentially a bike with no pedals for little kids. the seat is adjustable and goes low enough that if your kid is capable of walking steadily they could probably start with this bike. the idea is they start out just straddling the bike and walking along with it, then gain enough confidence to sit down on the seat and push along slowly. and once they get enough speed, they start to gain balance, and eventually start picking up their feet and coasting. then when they get to the pedal bike, they've already got a sense of balance.

caleb started with this bike when he was about 2, and noah started using it this summer. this summer we got caleb a bike with pedals because he'd mastered the strider and was almost too big for it, but the bike was too high up at first to get a good push off to get going, so we left the training wheel on at first. this week we took them off and discovered he could finally reach the ground well enough to keep them off. so here's a video of him riding his pedal bike the same day we took the training wheels off for good.

as you can see, noah himself is already cruising along on the strider bike and could probably handle a pedal bike with no training wheels too if they made one in his size. as you could also see, when they're being watched, they (especially noah) needs to work on keeping his eyes forward. noah does this walking, looking around, not looking forward, and bumping into things. shortly after auntie shot this video he drove straight into that pole some genius decided had to be smack in the middle of the driveway, cried a bit, and then went back later giving it taps with this bike wheel saying 'escuse me, escuse me, escuse me..." like he was trying to teach it a lesson on getting in his way. too bad we didn't get that on video.

they can both tear it up on a two-wheel razor scooter, and they have a three wheel mini-kick scooter you turn by leaning that caleb was turning and steering while crouched down today. i see skateboards and ramps in our future. also elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards, and despite those, injuries. but the point is: if you want learning to ride a bike to be as smooth as possible for your little one, consider a strider bike or similar balance bike before you hit the pedals. i think it will be worth it.