We were also impressed with the Woom’s rear aluminum V-brake hand brake, which is built for little hands and stops the bike with authority. A 2-year-old can easily squeeze the proprietary brake lever, and you can adjust the grip reach effortlessly via a small knob. The comfortably cush seat is right for a little kid (at 4.5 by 7 inches) and even features scuff-proof sides for when it’s laid over on the pavement. While its air tires, alloy wheels, and standard (and very strong) ball-bearing headset make it slightly heavier than the Strider 12 Sport at 9 pounds, the REV 12 is still acceptably light.
We were impressed right off with the beautiful paint job and flawless welds on the Woom’s super-light aluminum frame. The smooth-rolling rubber tires have just enough knobbiness to grip in the dirt. Axles are secured to the bike via a set of rounded, recessed Allen bolts and recessed mounting points that make it essentially impossible for a child to snag a pant leg on or suffer a bruise from in a wipeout. 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. To Sawyers, whose two kids gravitated toward trikes and scooters, it makes little sense to start a kid out on an expensive balance bike when the child might not even want to ride it.
Though the bars can only be raised about 2 inches via the stem (compared with nearly 5 inches for the Strider), angling the bar upward provides an additional half inch of height. The bars are not quite an inch wider in diameter than those on the Strider with about a 3-inch grip, but they’re definitely still kid-size. A properly fitted balance bike can enable children to balance on two wheels with astonishing speed even as young as 18 months and is a fun first step toward learning to ride a bike. Plus, once they master it, they’re well on their way to riding their first pedal bike.
The bike also arrived with its headset a bit too tight, making it notchy when you turned it. You can use a bigger wrench (again, not included), yet even without loosening, the too-tight headset wasn’t a dealbreaker because you can still turn the handlebars and they would loosen a bit over time anyway. The basic, skateboard-style cartridge bearings also worked fine as soon we loosened the axle nuts slightly. The bike is nonetheless handsome, and it performs well once it’s dialed in, allowing a kid to start and stop comfortably, ride easy or hard and fast, and to bail without issue in the inevitable wipeout. We spent more than 15 hours researching, and more than 20 hours assembling, dissecting, and testing 13 balance bikes. A few years ago, when my son was 2 and way too excited to ride his too-big pedal bike, I fashioned it into a balance bike by unscrewing the pedals and duct-taping the seat to the top tube.
Also, my best friend from Pennsylvania, Ms. Lucy, is hoping to move to Solivita after retirement — so I’ve been using my Women’s Huffy Cruiser to go house hunting recently. If you own one, do not use it until you’ve checked to see if it is affected and, if so, repaired it with a free kit that Woom will provide. Whether you’re looking for an entry-level bike or a top-of-the-line model, Kent has a road bike that will suit your needs. First, huffy cruiser bike tend to be on the heavy side, so if you’re looking to travel light, another option may be better. The Genesis V2100 Mountain Bike is a Full Suspension Mountain Bike with a men’s frame, so if you’re looking to buy a mountain bike for a boy, this is the mountain bike to get. After the detailed experience above, I think you should have the answer.
20 years of bike enthusiasts,
using data and experience to teach you
how to choose the best bikes. This bike is the best alternative to each other, and when I saw the huffy trail runner, I wondered if they had picked up the design of the Hyper 26″ Shocker Mountain Bike. Because the Schwinn High Timber is available in a variety of colors and has a sturdy aluminum frame, it can be used for an extended period of time with little maintenance. Of course, when compared to the faster Huffy Trail Runner 18 speed, the Shimano EF40’s trigger shifters make it easy for the rider to know which gear to shift to. It is very easy to damage the paint and make the exposed frame rust if you scrub it with a hardwire ball.