Best balance bike for a 5 year old

A five-year-old buying a balance bike is usually one of three cases: a late start, a child who needs the balance step before pedals, or a child who has outgrown a 12-inch. All three need a 14-inch frame with a saddle that goes above 20 inches — which rules out most of the category.

First: measure, because five is the age the charts fall apart

The brands themselves quote inseam ranges spanning 15.5 to 25.2 inches for a five-year-old. That is a ten-inch spread for one birthday. A small five-year-old still fits a 12-inch Strider; a tall one is past the top of a 14-inch.

Why the Strider 14x is the pick

Its published 15 to 22 inch saddle range is the longest runway of any balance bike in our registry, and the 16 to 23 inch inseam range lands squarely on a five-year-old. It also takes Strider's pedal kit, which matters at this age: you are unlikely to want two more years of balance bike, and being able to bolt pedals on in a few months is the whole point of buying it now.

The cost is weight. At 12.5 lb without pedals it is nearly double a dedicated 12-inch balance bike, and 15.1 lb with the kit — heavier than a good 14-inch pedal bike. There is no hand brake either, before or after conversion: Strider's pedal mode is coaster braked. We go through all of it figure by figure in our Strider 14x review.

When the Strider 12 Sport is still right

If your five-year-old measures a 16 to 18 inch inseam, the 12 Sport fits and weighs 6.7 lb — half the 14x. For a child who is nervous, or who has a motor-planning delay, or who simply needs a few weeks of gliding before pedals, the lighter bike is the one they will actually pick up after a fall. Do not buy it expecting a year out of it.

The honest answer for a lot of five-year-olds: pedals

By five, most children have the balance to ride a pedal bike, and a balance bike bought now is a two-month purchase. That is why the third pick here is a pedal bike: the Prevelo Alpha One is BALANCE-TEC compatible, so with Prevelo's separate kit it runs as a balance bike first and converts to pedals with real dual hand brakes when they are ready.

If your child can already glide with both feet up for ten seconds, stop reading this page and go to best bike for a 5 year old instead. We set out the readiness test properly on when to switch from a balance bike to a pedal bike.

Weight, in proportion

The CDC's median five-year-old weighs about 40 lb. Scale it up to a 180 lb adult and the arithmetic gets clear:

A 12.5 lb bike under a 40 lb child is the equivalent of a 56 lb bicycle under an adult. It is manageable — but it is not nothing, and it is the reason a late-start five-year-old often does better on the lighter 12-inch for a few weeks.

What we would actually buy

For most five-year-olds starting late: the Strider 14x Classic, then bolt the pedal kit on within the year.

For a small, nervous or cautious five-year-old: the Strider 12 Sport, for the 6.7 lb — as a short bridge, not a year's bike.

For a child who is nearly there: the Prevelo Alpha One with the BALANCE-TEC kit, because it ends up as a proper 11.3 lb pedal bike with two hand brakes rather than a balance bike you replace.