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These balance bikes from Norco are just ACE!

A balance bike makes learning to ride a bike for the first time fun and easy because it lets children focus on balance and steering without having to learn to pedal. Most balance bikes are made for kids 2 to 5 years in age and is billed as an ideal learner or first bike. Balance bikes do not have pedals and are designed so that a well-fitting bike allows the rider to put his/her feet down to both move the bike as well as stop the bike. Essentially, the child runs the bike to move it instead of having to pedal.

Balance bikes provide the excitement of riding a bike that kids just love and increases the control that a child has while riding a bike for the first time (this reduces the fear).

On traditional bikes with pedals and training wheels, children have to learn 3 brand new skills at the same time: Steering, Pedaling and Balancing. This can be very challenging and lead to a scary first biking experience. Designers of the balance bikes determined that learning to pedal distracts from steering and balancing. The core idea behind a balance bike is to teach these two skills first; once mastering steering and pedaling on a balance bike, children are ready to learn to pedal on a real bike without training wheels.

Balance Bikes – The Learning Process

On traditional bicycles with training wheels, the rider learns to pedal first and learns to steer and balance last. Learning on a balance bike reverses this process focusing on teaching balance, steering and coordination. Balance bikes have the same steering and balancing challenges of traditional bicycles but provides the comforting ability of being able to stop and steady yourself very easily; your feet are always ready to plant on the ground if something goes wrong.

By removing a lot of the fear of crashing and being out-of-control, balance bikes provide children with the independence of riding a bike on their own. The transition to a regular two-wheeled bike without training wheels is smooth once the child masters the balance bike.