Customer Ratings: 
List Price: $110.00
Sale Price: $109.00
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First off, let me say that I am an avid biker, having spent thousands of dollars on my own bikes which have accumulated thousands of miles.
This bike is a great idea. The basic design is good. The quality seems to be questionable.
The Strider I bought brand new came with flaking paint and stickers peeling. The plastic and foam wheels wobbled a bit. The headset is plastic, and it's stiff and doesn't turn well. The flimsy plastic seat is covered with a very thin and soft vinyl and attached with a single small bolt. The handgrips are also very thin and soft, prone to tearing and exposing the sharp bar ends. Both seat and handlebar clamps are flimsy, cheap, and don't work well.
I do like the foot rests and the basic design. As far as I know no other bike fits smaller riders. The foam tires are great for indoor use but I would prefer real tires for outdoors. The optional foot brake is a much better idea than a handbrake for kids to use. The concept is excellent. My 19 month old took right to it. But...
Basically, every part of this bike is made as cheap as possible, typical of what I would expect of a $40 Wal-Mart bike. This is priced around $100. Now, I don't expect top quality at this price. Nor do I think a toddler needs top quality. But I do expect it to at least be comparable or better than full-size bikes in this price range (which still isn't saying much). The Strider is not.
After spending a few days with this bike I was simply unconvinced it would hold up to one kid, much less two. That's not to say it can't. I ended up taking it back and getting a KinderBike. The KinderBike was actually cheaper but of much better quality with alloy wheels, real tires, quick release seat clamp, 4-point adjustable angle seat, proper steel ball-bearing headset, aluminum stem, durable handgrips that are not easily torn, a handbrake, 50% greater weight rating (75lbs), and a three-year warranty. Downsides are it's 3.75 inches taller, doesn't have any kind of foot rests, and doesn't offer a foot brake. But I have found the last two items really aren't as important as you might think.
Update: The minimum seat height of the KinderBike is claimed to be 13.5", however I measured it at 14.75". This is a considerable difference, making the Kinderbike too big for most two year olds and even many three year olds. So we returned it and went back to the Strider. But if your kids are tall enough, I highly recommend the KinderBike, there is no doubt it is built to last longer. At a lower cost, it's really a no-brainer. But again, only for taller/older kids with an inseam of around 15" or more.
I would add a star back if I could, for the sole reason that the Strider gets your kid on a bike sooner than any other metal balance bike I'm aware of. I guess I'm willing to sacrifice quality for that, but I'm still not happy about it considering the price.
***UPDATE 4/09***
Well, not surprisingly, my son's Strider handgrips tore almost immediately, exposing the sharp bar ends. I also started hearing a clicking sound in the rear wheel like a bearing was going out. I contacted Strider about this and they sent me out a new wheel and handgrips immediately, no questions asked. I believe it was even the owner himself that responded. The new handgrips they sent are similar to the ones on the Kinderbike, reinforced on the ends to prevent tearing out. Much better. The foam tires have also held up fine so far and the convenience of not having to air them up is nice.
My son really loves this thing and is still too small for the Kinderbike, so it was worthwhile to buy this despite the problems. Hopefully Strider Sports is learning some lessons and will improve future models because it truly is a great idea.
***Update 6/10****
I do think my initial concerns were overblown. After hundreds of miles this Strider has held up just fine and is ready for the next kid. I still think it's overpriced for what it is, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anybody due to the light weight, low seat height, easy (basically no) maintenance, and how much fun our son has had on it. Striders do come with good handgrips now. I see you can update your rating now so I have changed it to 4 stars because my son has gotten much more enjoyment out of this than anything else we have bought him.
I have contemplated removing much of my negative review, but I still feel they are still valid comparison points. At a lower price point they would not be.
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As a dad I bought this little bike hoping it would help my four year old and maybe even my 7 year old learn to bike without their training wheels and without the trauma of crashing. My seven year old already had the balance, but lacked the confidence. This Strider fit the bill perfectly! My seven year old barely fit on the Strider, but still had a blast running then sitting and gliding on the bike. She did it indoors a few times, then for about thirty minutes with it outside. It was fun to watch her quickly learn to balance and glide further and further each try. Literally within thirty minutes and even trading off with her brother, she had figured out how to balance and glide down our short driveway and out into the street. While she was playing I took her training wheels off of her other bike. She hopped on it, and with a bit of a push she was riding! She giggled as she rode and said "this is just like the Strider!" Too easy! My four year old is progressing quickly too. On our second day out with the strider we went to a large parking lot with little traffic. While my seven year old had a blast tooling around the lot without her training wheels, my four old made longer and longer glides on the Strider. After an hour he could glide over twenty feet on a gently downward sloped part of the lot. It won't be long until he is ready to try his bike. Good thing too because he's almost too big for the Strider already. What a great teaching tool! The Strider seems well constructed for what it is. It is light and easy to assemble. It has tread spots on the back fork where the kids can put up their feet. It is low to the ground. My four year old is 42 inches tall and is really too tall for it already, but he manages just fine by bending his knees and stepping out to the side a bit. I paid $78 shipped and feel like it was worth it. My kids confidence level went way up when I outfitted them with knee and elbow pads and gloves to go along with their helmets. The gloves have saved their little hands from painful road rash more than once. Bell sells a package that has all the protective gear together for a reasonable price.
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My son loves this bike. We got it for him a few months after he turned 2 and he took to it almost immediately. The only thing I had to teach him was to sit on the seat.
I recommend this over the wood bikes as it is more durable, and the foam tires are maintenance free, no flats. We leave it outside except for when it rains (and occasionally when it rains if I forget) and it has held up well.
This is ideal for young or shorter kids as it has the lowest seat height (11 inches is the min height) of all the ones I researched. My son tried out the scutt bike at a toy store, and he was too short for it at 2 1/2, and he's between the 75th and 90th percentile for height. If your kid is a little older/taller, you might also look into kinderbike (13.5 inch min seat height). They look similar and are ~30% cheeper. I'm only going by the website though, don't know anyone who's owned one before. Balance/running bikes are just awesome overall as most kids don't figure out pedals until they are at least 3 years old and they can go alot faster (= more fun) on balance bikes than tricycles.
You can get replacement hand grips from stridersports.com. If your son/daughter is rough on his bike like mine is, you will need replacements at some time. They are cheap though.
Honest reviews on Strider PREbike Balance Running Bike
UPDATE
4-15-09
I'm happy to report that with time and practice the free-range steering is not that much of an issue now as it was on day one and week one.
So far the Strider is holding up well to punishment both functionally and cosmetically. It is very light for both my son and me, so it's very easy to carry home when he's not in the mood for riding. And it's easy to pop into the car.
I've already raised the seat once. My only complaint thus far is that the cap fell off the screw end, so now I have a bolt end exposed at the bottom. I am going to cover the end with some epoxy to prevent scrapes.
* * *
We've had this bike for only one day, and I can tell you that there is probably a better intro bike for toddlers with a feature that this model lacks: limited steering. The lack of limited steering makes this bike's learning curve a lot steeper simply because the novice rider (mind you, a toddler) has many actions to think about: keep butt on seat, keep feet near ground, balance and push with feet, hold onto handlebar, watch where I'm going, don't turn too sharp...
The front wheel tends to slip sharply left and right when a toddler loses control over his steering, then the bike starts to fall. I got on this bike myself to test it, and if you cannot fine-tune your steering, the wheel *can* jerk sharply. I would have preferred a bike with a limiter parents could loosen or remove later. And for $100 you'd think Strider Sports could have included the option or made it an option for this design.
I am going to keep working on this with my son and will update my review again.
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This bike is awesome. I got one for my son when he was about 16 months old. After a few months of scooting around, he began to put his feet up and coast all over the place. He enjoyed riding this bike everywhere and going down grass hills and even rolling around skate parks all by the time he was just over 2.
At exactly 2.5 years old we bought him a little Haro 12 inch pedal bike, and he learned to ride it in just a few days. The balance was already there and it took only a few hours of work to get him to understand pedals. My little guy just turned 3 and is turning heads everywhere he goes riding his two-wheeler up and down hills, over jumps, etc.
Skip the training wheels, and don't buy one of those weird looking, heavy, wooden balance bikes. My kid was rough on his strider and we never had to replace any parts. My second son is about 20 months old and is currently scooting around on the strider we bought for his older brother.
Great product. Really works. Fun. And preps a kid for a real bike. Makes teaching your kid to ride easy; they basically do it themselves at their own pace.
