What is a Balance Bike and What Role does it Play?

A balance bike or a run bike is a bike that is meant for very small children age around 18 months to 3 years in general. The main purpose of this bike is to train children to master the skills of balancing and confidently handle a two wheel bike in time to come. This is a useful tool to aid the learning process of bike riding. Key benefits of this bike is that it helps a child to balance the bike and acquire other skills as counter steering, braking and leaning the bike which are essential in learning to ride a real bike. Those who have not seen a balance bike before are often surprised that this bike has no pedals, no crank sets and chains or training wheels. The mechanism of the bike is purely based on the child’s use of leg movement and body balance. Most of they also lack any braking systems.

How does a Balance Bike Work?

The mechanism of a balance bike is quite simple. It depends completely on the child’s feet for movement. The child can stand in the saddle support and walk the bike forward and backwards. The bike should be of right height so that the child can comfortably stand with the feet firmly planted on the ground. Once they are fully confident of handling the walking movement, the children will move on to experiment with scooting and running with the bike, gaining a speedier momentum that represents a moving bike. During this speedy movement, the child will lift his or her feet off the ground, learning to balance on the two wheels while the bike moves. When the need for stopping the bike is there, the child has to use the feet on the ground to create the required resistance.

What are the Benefits of Using a Balance Bike?

Some of the parents may wonder why a separate expense be incurred on a balance bike when a bike with peddles and training wheels can be bought. However, studies show that a balance bike teaches a young child to ride a bicycle in the correct way. As there is no support or guiding wheels on either side, the children learn to balance on two wheels on their own, gradually yet confidently. This helps them not to rely on balancing wheels which are not in fact a part of a normal two wheel bike.  The process which the child goes through in learning to ride the balance bike teaches them to balance and brake before they peddle. However, in a bike with training wheels, it is the other way round where they learn to peddle and does not balance the bike until the training wheels are lifted and taken off completely later on. By learning to bike with guiding wheels, children sometimes learn bad or wrong cycling habits which they have to unlearn again, once the training wheels are removed. One of the key advantages which children who learned to cycle with a balance bike vs. a child who learned with training wheels is that the former ones have mastered the skills of counter steering.  This is one of the main areas in which children learn wrong manoeuvring movements such as turning handle bar to the wrong side when a training wheel is in place.

Buying a Balance Bike

Balance bikes are manufactured in both wood and metal material and available in beautiful designs which attract the young toddlers to experiment with the bike easily. A study and safe built is needed and some bikes in the market are beautifully crafted to suit different height requirements. While some parents may feel this is a waste of money, the training which a runner bike gives to a toddler will make them be very confident in handling a peddling bike. The speedy progression from a runner bike to a peddling bike will be well worth the investment of about £ 50.00-75.00 depending on the design and the material.

For those parents who are interested in teaching their children the skills of cycling from an early age, a run bike or a balance bike will prove to be an invaluable asset.  The speed at which the child master the skills of balancing a normal 2 wheel bike without training wheels will certainly justify the purchase of one of this foundation skill supporting toy.

Author

This article is contributed by Eugiene Wilkins of the Balance Bike Shop.Com, the web’s best source for buying your balance bikes. We offer beautifully crafted balance bikes and rockers for your child in lightweight wood finish. You can browse through product details and find out why a balance bike choice should be made. Visit the product guide page for videos and details instructions on how to assemble and use the balance bikes so that your child can reap the best benefits.