Customer Reviews

Diggin Active Skuut Wooden Balance Bike (Red)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My son loves his bike. He rides it like no other kid I've seen. He got it at 2 and has taken gliding to a whole new level. I think this bike is the best at teaching your son/daughter how to balance. My only problem is that the bike is not made very well. We had to replace the first one. Both tires exploded when filled with air after they went flat. the handle bars split and the vinyl on the seat wore off a bit. On the second bike the tires started to crack after only riding for a few months. The reason I gave them such a high rating is that the bike when it is in good condition is great and each time they responded promptly and always fixed the problem.

We ordered one of these at my parents' place and one to reside at our house. The one at my parents' place arrived in good order, and my 3 year old LOVED it. She rode it daily, and I think the concept is great. I like the wooden aesthetic and the light weight. Some mold did develop after leaving it outside for a few days in the carport, but that was in the south, where everything develops mold. We just started keeping it inside.

I ordered the second bike to "live" in Oregon. This one arrived with the front wheel very un-true, or wobbly, to the point that it affected steering, and my toddler couldn't make the bike go straight. This was REALLY disappointing, as we had to launch "project return item" right after assembling it, and my toddler is now waiting...

Project "return item" is ongoing, but there is a steering pin that gets assembled, and once in, can't be removed, so there is no way to put this thing back in its orginial box. I contacted the manufacturer, and am waiting on a response, but to me this is just something that is now eating up my time, and my toddler is missing out on sunny riding days (something we treasure in Oregon).

So, I think it's great if you can buy one of these from a store and inspect it first. Buying it online, while cheaper, is a gamble, and the manufacturer needs to step up their Quality Control.

Our son loves his skuut! We didn't even have to show him how to get on and ride, he just mounted it and started walking. We purchased this as a Christmas present for our 20 month old and feared he wouldn't be tall enough to sit on the seat and have his feet touch the ground so we flipped the frame (so the logo is up-side-down) per the recommendation of a review here and it works great! SUPER easy to assemble and looks cute too. Good buy.

My 2 1/2 year-old son has taken to this bike. He can go three miles on it easy. We bought it for his 2nd birthday and he did not get it at all. Then we got it out again right around the time he turned 2 1/2 and in a week we were going on family bike rides. We took it to the zoo and it was like I was in a rock star entourage. Everyone stared and made comments to their families about this little boy on a bike. He can glide the distance of two houses now. A woman stopped me and said her grandson had the Skuut and he was riding a regular bike without training wheels by 3 1/2.

We had bought our son the Radio Flyer Deluxe Steer and Stroll trike and my son did not take to that at all. We couldn't get him to pedal and his foot would just slide off when we tried to teach him.

We do check the bolts frequently to make sure they are tight and check the tire pressure. Even through the steering is limited, you wouldn't know it the way my son rides. It gives him plenty of opprotunity to make sharp 90 degree turns like coming down a hill and then making a sharp right onto the sidewalk that tbones the hill. The seat pad is getting a little worn so I am sure we will just replace it ourselves when it wears through. i.e. use the old vinyl piece as a pattern to cut out a new leather one and attach with staples - maybe add some padding, too. We are so glad we made this investment.

Update: I blew out the back tire adding air. I had read so many reviews saying people couldn't get parts or replacement tires for this. This bike uses tires and tubes made for electric scooters (i.e. moped). I went to a scooter shop and they had exactly what I needed. The first tube we tried had a bent valve that would not go through the wheel so we had to try another one. You need a bent valve or it will be difficult or impossible to put air in the tire. The new tire and inner tube is a lot heavier than the original. It also took them 1/2 an hour to get the tire back on the wheel so know if you buy one off the internet, you may be taking it to a bike shop if you can't wrestle it on. It cost me more than half the price of a new bike so it might be worth it in the end just to buy another one if your kid loves it as much as mine.

My son is nearly 5 and desperately wants to ride a bike but turns out to be terrified of the training wheels (I think they make the bike tip too much and he feels like he's out of control). Anyway, we bought the Skuut for my YOUNGER son but my 4 year old is the one who fell in love with it. He races all over in it and is much more aggressive and adventurous than he ever was with a bike on training wheels. We've decided this is a great pathway to a real bike and that when the time comes, we'll just skip the training wheels and go straight to the 2 wheels. He can definitely balance - thanks to the skuut, and he's so much happier than he was with his little bike and training wheels. BTW, the skuut assembled in minutes and has held up very well, so at this point (a month or so after purchasing) I have no complaints and in fact would recommend it to everyone.

I had seen this product before and purchased it from Amazon when it was on sale with free shipping. We have triplets and they are all riding this very durable Skuut. They have accomplished becoming very balanced in no time on the Skuut and we are ready to take the training wheels off of their bicycles. We have two boys and a girl. The Skuut is built great, is very durable and has had 5 times the use than it would have with a single child and it is still in great shape. Believe me, with the competition we have around this household with triplets, the Skuut has to be built well. This is a great way to allow kids to progress from training wheels in a short period of time.

I bought this bike as I have seen them at REI and other places that tend to sell quality products. I already wish I could exchange it for another balance bike. Within the first week of purchase of a brand new bike some of the wood on the front has split and some of the vinyl on the seat has come off. I was hoping that this product would last us through at least another year, but at this rate I am not sure it will hold up. I think a metal balance bike would be lot sturdier and we wouldn't have to rush to put it under cover when it rains (we live in Seattle).
On the plus side, because it is wood, it is very light weight which has come in extremely handy as I have had to carry the bike when he has gotten tired on hikes. Also my son LOVES his "scoop" and the whole balance bike idea is genius. It doesn't seem like it will fall apart on him or anything, just that I am surprised that in such a short amount of time it looks so distressed.
Originally I was hoping to find a used one on CL but could never find any...now I know why- I am not sure it will be in any condition to be sold or used in another year.

My daughter loves this bike. At 2, she was striding with glee all over the neighborhood. She is now 3, and I have to get another balance bike. This balance bike's seat has 3 setting, but the max height is not high enough to last her much longer. I wish I would have gotten the Strider because you can get a seat extension that goes 3 inches taller than this SKuut. My daughter is tall for her age. If your child is on the smaller side, than this would work. If your child is tall for their age, I would recommend a bike that goes taller than this one.

For our two-year-old daughter, the Skuut is a little too much. I did have to flip the body upside down to get the seat low enough for her (that tip worked really well!), but she still prefers to push her 4-wheeled ride-on toys around and isn't ready to begin to balance on two wheels yet. She seems too intimidated. Hopefully as the year goes on she'll become a bit more adventuresome and begin to use it, but we're not pushing. So it's a difficult review: *I* like it and the concept, but *she* doesn't like to use it yet.

Great concept but the rear wheel bearings came out after very limited use. Checked on some replacement bearings at a local auto parts retailer--$25 apiece!! No thanks!