Assembly was thus reduced to snapping and screwing in the headset using the included 6 mm Allen wrench, setting the seat height with the quick-release levers, and handing the bike to our eager young tester. We checked in with Harry Sawyers and with Kalee Thompson, two Wirecutter editors who’ve worked on baby/kid stories. They were skeptical that balance bikes will ever go as mainstream as training-wheel–equipped bikes.
Unlike the smaller Strider, the 14x gives nods to traditional bicycle construction. It features the same, simple nylon headset assembly as the 12 Sport, but because the handlebar itself is curved, its angles are thus adjustable like the bars on a BMX bike. This is desirable for a more customized fit and will help keep your child’s knees clear of the handlebars as legs lengthen. The 14x also features smooth and shock-absorbing air-filled, semi-knobby tires on lightweight 16-spoke alloy rims.
Many experts we spoke with agree that training wheels render a bicycle little more than a dangerously tippy four-wheeled tricycle and don’t teach a child to balance. After all this—and after consulting with fellow parents and industry professionals—we’re judging the Strider 12 Sport as the best balance bike for most kids (and their parents). We spent about 40 hours researching and assembling 13 balance bikes, and subjected them to a cadre of highly energetic 2- to 8-year-olds. Woom is recalling all of its Woom 1 bikes (our upgrade pick) made between 2018 to 2021 for a problem with the handlebar stem.
A nicely narrow Q factor—the distance between the cranks—keeps a child’s legs from splaying out while on the pedal and allows them to generate power more easily. Balance biking gives small children the chance to build the coordination, balance, leg musculature, huffy cruiser bike and confidence that they’ll need for pedal biking. Because nothing in life is ever as simple as it should be, we’ve included a few more things to ponder when it comes
to making sure everyone’s tires are in good shape for their next ride.
Strider does sell a $20 simple add-on foot-operated brake, which can also help teach coaster braking skills. This is an important safety feature for hilly terrain, but we’d love to see a hand brake option. For our testing subjects, we enlisted our friend’s adventurous little kids, including 2-year-old Elle, 6-year-old Luke, and 7-year-old Fleet here in Charleston, South Carolina. River, who is 3 and a proficient balance biker, took to our fleet with enthusiasm.
These models are not very portable and they’re best suited to those who can ride them straight out of the garage. Electric bikes that fall into Class 1 are pedal-assist only, which means that power is only huffy bikes delivered when the rider is moving the pedals, and most of the time, there is no throttle on the handlebar. If there is one, it offers an extra power boost, but it only works when the rider is pedaling.
The bike’s 24-inch wheelbase, common to most of our picks, gives the bike a good mix of stability and agility. The tire valve stems also feature child-resistant valve caps—which you push down to turn like a child-safe lid on a bottle of pills—to keep your toddling tyke from mistaking them for raisins. huffy mountain bikes The kids also liked the customizing sticker pack that came with the bike—letters, numbers, and illustrations of dinosaurs, birds, bunnies, and robots. We also tested the budget Kazam v2e, which features the lowest step-in height of any bike we tested, at 6 inches, and a wide, comfortable footrest.