push bikes for babies? maybe we are a little crazy...

On Friday Peter (the alleged architect of the tofuspiracy) sent me a YouTube video featuring an 18 month old riding a bike and I became instantly obsessed with getting LT a bike. But not a bike like I had when I was a kid - apparently there's this newish thing called balance bikes or push bikes. They don't have pedals and they don't have training wheels either. The idea is that the kid powers the bike "Flintstones" style with his feet and eventually learns to balance and glide on the bike. Once that skill is mastered and they get a little bigger they can make the switch to a real pedal bike without ever needed training wheels. That's what all the marketing materials say anyway - so maybe I'm just a sucker but it doesn't seem too far fetched.

I can still remember taking the training wheels of of my first bike - what am awful experience it was. My dad holding the seat and slowly pushing me forward until I said I was ready. Then he'd let go and I'd coast forward, maybe take a pedal or two, and then CRASH! It was a rite of passage that all kids went though but I'd be happy if we could spare LT from it. That, and the fact that these little bikes just look like so much fun, was enough for me to convince myself that my 14 month old (who doesn't even walk yet) needed, *needed* a bike.

Kari was not as convinced at first but that didn't deter me from researching push bikes all weekend. I looked at LIKEaBIKE (the "original" from Germany and far and away the most expensive), PV Mini Glider, Strider, Skuut, and others. I was leaning towards getting the Strider because it looked like it was the smallest. But I was hesitant to order online because it's pretty hard to tell what the bikes are really like from a few pictures and reviews by other parents (nearly all the reviews were positive about the push bike concept but everyone had their own opinion about the best bike).

Coincidently, last night I noticed our BOB stroller had a flat tire - I guess it's not really all that much of a coincidence because it gets flats all the time (my only complaint about the thing). The fourth hole in that particular tube proved to be too much for my tire changing skills and we didn't have any extra tubes. So today Kari took LT to Wheat Ridge Cyclery to get some spare tubes for the BOB which is were she saw it - what would soon be LT's new bike. We'd shared similar childhood war stories about taking the training wheels off and she was starting to see the wisdom (if you can call it that) in getting our little guy a bike. But once she saw one at Wheat Ridge, she was more obsessed than me (you may have seen this play out via our facebook status updates).

Right after I was done with work we made a family trip back to Wheat Ridge and...


after talking LT out of the bikes in the two to four thousand dollar price range...


and a little test walk/ride....


We bought LT his first bike! It's built by Specialized and it was a little more expensive than the Strider (though still way less than the LIKEaBIKE). It seemed worth the little extra cost to be able to see and feel what we were buying. Some of the reviews of the Strider said that parts of that bike seemed cheaply made and might not last. I don't know if that's true but I had no way to find out. I could however go see the Specialized bike and feels like a real bike - a miniature bike, sure, but a real and well constructed miniature bike. I guess time will tell but, right now, I'm happy with the purchase.

Honestly, it's still too big for him to use on his own - so maybe we are a little crazy for buying our 14 month old a bike. But it won't be long before he's big enough and, in the mean time, he seems to like the bike even if he can't quite use it the traditional way (see video below).