Customer Reviews

KETTLER Sprint Balance Bike (Flames)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This really is a cool, pedal-free bike. We got it for our three-and-a-half-year-old, and he really likes it. Friends of ours (with more disposable income) bought their daughter a Like-a-bike, which is about twice the price. I have yet to discover any big difference in performance. The Like-a-bike is certainly nice-looking, if a bit precious, since it is constructed primarily out of wood. The Kettler looks fine, however--more like a "real" bike, in fact, and less like a museum piece.

The only reasons I wouldn't give the Kettler five stars are:

1. you need to assemble it, and the instructions are not great (my husband, who is generally a handy guy, managed to get it together, but not without some swearing)

2. the wheel covers make it hard to inflate the tires

This balance bike is nice enough, and it's certainly a better option than spending nearly $300 for a like-a-bike. I went back and forth between this and the Skoot, but after reading the customer reviews for the Skoot, I decided on the Sprint.

The bike is attractive and well made, and my daughter will love it, but the assembly is the biggest pain I've had in recent memory. I am usually fine with assembling just about anything, but this bike had me spouting some very un-Christmasy words, lol The directions are minimal to say the least, basically just a few sentences and an exploded diagram. Add to this the fact that several of the pieces need to be assembled in a specific order. Once they are put together, they are next to impossible to take apart again without causing damage. You need to be certain you have it correct the first time. Also, as other reviewers have mentioned, the seat height adjuster is awkward.

Our 5 year old hated riding her bike with training wheels because she felt like it was too tippy and we wondered if she would ever figure it out. Then we found this one & got it for her for Christmas and she *loves* it. After 3 months she can now ride a traditional bike with NO training wheels and she was the youngest on the block to do so. It is all due to this bike. I never would have believed it since she was *petrified* of riding a bike WITH training wheels before. And when the other girls on the block took off their training wheels, there were lots of tears & they screamed for their training wheels back! And their parents had to run along side them for days trying to teach them how to balance but our daughter just took off and we didn't even have to help her.

Now we are loaning out the Scoot so the other kids can learn to balance too! In fact I just ordered our 3 year old a bike with pedals & I'm pretty sure he can ride without the training wheels too, the way that he speeds around on the Scoot! It was well worth the purchase.

I purchased the Kettler Sprint Balance Bike (Princess version) for my 4 year old daughter. I read the reviews before ordering so I was pre-warned about the poor installation directions (and they were). If you are not too handy you may want to have someone help you with the installation. But, I was able to put the bike together with little problem. I gave the bike 4 stars based on it's quality. I had to send it back however, because it was too small for my four year old (no problem at all with the return). This is a great product for a 2-3 year old however. It is a small bike however and will not work for taller children.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001A5OS2K/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title

We bought this bike for our bike mad son when he was 1! My hubby had to take the seat off so that he could totter around on it. By the time he was 2 he was literally racing around on it, gathering up speed and then picking his feet up and cruising along for ages. Needless to say he was cycling on a proper bike shortly before his 3rd Birthday.(He just got on the bike for the first time and cycled off) His sister is now nearly 2 and is already following ing his footsteps. Dont just think about it , buy it. And the sooner the better. Other friends have bulkier versions but the kids cant handle them like this one. And forget the versions with brakes, the kids should only go as fast as they can handle.

I bought this for my almost two year old. He's not quite tall enough for it but will be soon. I read that it was supposed to make you ride a two wheeler without training wheels sooner. What happened is that my 5 year old wanted to try it. (He still was riding his bike with training wheels.) He and our neighbor's kids (4 year old twins) tried it for one whole day and then they ALL decided that they wanted their training wheels off the next day. We took them off and they have never looked back. It seemed to put the 'idea' in their head that they no longer needed the training wheels. Now they still play with it sometimes, but it usually sits in our garage waiting for my younger son. I am very glad I bought it, but I only gave it 4 stars as the seat is tricky to tighten and loosen, which is what you must do to raise and lower it. It would be great to have a quick-release instead. For the money, though, it is worth it.

I wish I'd bought this before he got a regular bike with training wheels, but we didn't know about balance bikes back then. After three months of using the balance bike, he asked me to take the training wheels off his two-wheeler bike. He jumped on and off he went.

Here's the story: We got a regular bike with training wheels when Joe was 3 and he learned to ride it by the time he was 31/2 -- but he didn't learn to balance. He learned how to go really fast on his regular bike with training wheels but couldn't do corners fast because the bike wouldn't lean. A year later, at age 4, he loved riding his bike with training wheels, but absolutely refused to let us take the training wheels off. He would ride with us on paved paths, but he couldn't go off -road because of the training wheels.

So we bough him this Kettler balance bike. The first day, I took him to the park, with some grassy hills, and showed him how to balance on it while riding down the hill. He loved rolling downhill while balancing. Next, we took it home and he practiced scooting around the block and down driveways.

He practiced with his balance bike for a couple fo months. During this time, he still used his bike with training wheels on some days. After a couple of months, he asked me to take the training wheels off his two wheeled bike. It was that simple.

I'd rate it 5 stars for durability and design. My son is very rough on toys and this looks almost like new. And the handle bars turn only 45 degrees, so it's more stable than a regular bike.

I bought this for my youngest son's 2nd birthday. He is obsessed with bicycles and wanted to be just like his big brother, so I wanted to give him a real bike, instead of trike. I was worried that it might be too big for him, but it is just right. He can sit on the seat and touch the ground with his feet and "ride" it. He was 35" at his 2 year checkup, so hopefully that gives you an idea about whether this bike will fit your own toddler. We've had so many compliments from neighbors and friends because its so adorable and so functional. He still doesn't have the speed to make it go fast enough to balance, but he toddles up and down the sidewalk with it just the same. I can't wait for next summer - I'm sure he'll be cruising -- AND we'll never need training wheels!

Our 2 year old twins love theirs (one princess, one frog :-)). It took them a few outings to get good at gliding with their feet off the ground, and they love it.

Installation and seat adjustment are wretched.

The hand-brake, while certainly necessary, is too hard to operate by tiny hands.

The concept is good. I think my 3 y/o will easily be able to ride a 2-wheeler thanks to it. But for over $100, I'm not impressed. The quality is so-so and the directions to put it together were the absolute worst--it comes w/ a manual of pictures and warnings in 5 different languages, but only 2 or 3 sentences on how to put the silly thing together. Very vexing. The seat ahdn handlebar adjustments aren't as sturdy as they could be, either. If Kettler is a German product, perhaps the exchange rate is the issue, because I seriously don't think this bike is worth more than $50. Get a balance bike, but if you want to save money, try another brand.

Coming back to edit that my child was riding a regular bike around 3.5 and took off his training wheels less than a year later, so the balance bike works! I'm still complaining about the hard to adjust seat, though, as we introduce it to child #2.