Went out for a bike ride with the three children in the bitter wind and fading winter sun. The boys raced off, chivvying J to hurry up. Despite not having biked for two weeks, there was no hesitation from J to get back on the balance bike. We went out in the lane and she was moving herself along happily, at a slow adult walking pace. She gained in speed and confidence during the ride, keeping up a dialogue as she went “look at me…I’m ‘peeding up…I’m quite wiggly…I need to get my balance”.

It is very evident that she understands the idea of balancing and is gaining balance using this bike. When she did speed up – encouraged by her brothers – the bike slipped under her a couple of times. But although the bike fell to the ground, she stayed upright and laughed, telling me “I had to put my feet down”. This I think is great for biking confidence, because her falling is very unlikely. And she is very much understanding what is means to balance and steer.

Although she is still only going at a walking pace, she had sped up by the end of the ride so I don’t think it will be long before she can keep up with her brothers. But best of all, she is really enjoying it and was very keen to go out on it. She even attempted a down hill – encouraged by the promise of a Polo from her brother if she didn’t fall off!

This is a beautiful little bike. It is sturdy, but very light and made to a very high standard. It has one handbrake and a soft seat. So far our daughter’s only complaint is that it doesn’t have a bell!

J is dinky, so the saddle and handlebars are at the lowest setting – both can be adjusted as the rider grows. Instructions on “getting started on your Rothan” come with the bike and state “adjust the saddle so the child’s feet are flat on the ground with a bend at the knee (so the foot will still touch the ground when striding forwards and back). They say that “younger children will often ‘stand’ over the bike initially, rather than let the saddle take their weight. Try and encourage them to sit down.” J was certainly very cautious on her first try, moving awkwardly as she was trying to walk along with the bike between her legs.

She is still very much enjoying her bike – when not fighting her brothers off! She is still going slowly up and down. We’ve not ventured out on a longer journey yet, the Christmas holidays will probably be the perfect time.

The Rothan is available in red and purple from Islabikes. The purple is vivid and striking.

J was very keen to try out the balance bike – so were her brothers, who had to be shooed away! She was very cautious at first, barely moving on the bike and insisting I stand right next to her. I reassured her that she could have her feet down flat at all times but even just the idea of sitting on a bike that needed her to balance it was making her anxious.

She was, however, keen to keep at it. We walked slowly up and down and she gained confidence. After a little while I stepped away from her to hang out the washing and she kept going up and down, very proud to reach the end of the path, turn herself around and come back. She is not moving fast, but she is moving herself, and, most importantly, confident about steering a bike by herself.

During October half term we finally persuaded our five-year-old son to ride his bike without stabilisers. We were staying in some wonderfully remote cottages with friends. The children were able to play out unsupervised and had a fantastic time racing around on bikes, scooters and go carts. One of the other boys was whizzing around on a balance bike. He was two. This was quite the contrast to our timid five-year-old, anxious about finding his balance.

This made me think about our approach to bike riding for our three-year-old daughter. Is buying a big bike with stabilisers the right way?

When I asked an expert – Isla Rowntree from Islabikes – this question, I was told “I advise parents not to use stabilisers. Children can typically learn to ride a bike at some point between three and a half and four and a half, providing they are given good instruction.  If they have had fun on a balance bike prior to this point, they are very likely to make a quick and smooth transition to riding their first pedal bike.”

So why are stabilisers not good?  A bicycle steers by leaning and stabilisers prevent this, so the child learns to steer in a way that doesn’t work once the stabilisers are removed – a confusing situation that often leads to them overbalancing and becoming quite frightened, which unfortunately reinforces the fear associated with removing the stabilisers. This is exactly the experience we had with our son.

Keen to promote balance bikes, Islabikes have lent us a Rothan model to trial with our daughter, J. She is quite dinky at 90cm but is just the right height to start riding this bike.

As we did in April with our Cargo bike blog, we will keep you updated about J’s progress through a Balance Bike Blog.

She had her first try on Saturday, how do you think she got on…?