Segway Ninebot Kids' Bikes: 18" w/ Kickstand $103, 14" w/ Training Wheels Expired

Debatable. The neighbor kid is a couple months older than her and is already ripping around on a bike with no training wheels. I couldn't believe it myself. She tried his (blue) bike with training wheels and could ride it just fine with close supervision. She has no interest in her two balance bikes anymore 😭. Thanks for the link though.

Wow! My little guy has to catch up then 😅

You can't loosen a coaster brake. It just stops the chain from rotating which locks the rear wheel.

I made the mistake of training wheels with my first born. Eventually I took the training wheels and the pedals off and turned it into a balance bike. After a few days, I added the pedals on and she got it. Now my next kids have balance bikes and at 2 they already have the balancing part down. Once they get pedals they have no problem with riding and pedaling without training wheels. I have a little big bike that converts, it's fantastic, but cheap bikes from garage sales would also work. I am super anti-training wheels, it's just so counter to how bikes are ultimately used.

This is a great deal for a good bike.

Yes, it is heavier than the Woom 2, but not "twice as heavy"...most of the difference it is because of the coaster brake (quite a bit steel parts in that) and the thicker tires btw.

It is a bit big for a 2yo tho, but manageable if you have a tall kiddo. Plus "2yo" is too vague. My kid was in the 85-90% of height all his life and rode this exact bike on his 3rd birthday, so, sure, "some still being 2yos" will do it too.

If you have a balance bike, wait a bit to master it AND NEVER FIT TRAINING WHEELS (the 14" comes with them).
My kiddo pedalled on this 5 min after it was presented to him and he straddled around as if it was a balance bike. If you want to get it and have them get used to it before, just remove the cranks or even the pedals. DON'T GIVE ΤΗΕΜ CRUTCHES ΤΗΕΥ DON'T NEED.

Get them a helmet and knee pads / elbow pads instead, I consider this a requirement and don't let him ride w/o.

If you are worried about front/rear braking etc, IMHO, 3-4yo that will "get it" are an exception. My kiddo is 6 now, has been riding better than most kiddos I know "forever" and barely gets it - most will panic brake. Thus, the best bike for hard braking is still a Guardian bike. The Ninebot 18 is no better than the 14 in this regard. So look in guardians if you want something that they can use without extra risk.

Look it up: as soon as we started riding comfortably and I was taking him on unpaved city paths in SoCal, the coaster brake became a hydrance as it is not easy for them to "bleed speed / comfort brake" with a thing that just locks your rear wheel. Again, kiddos lack the finesse & control for that.

I swapped the Ninebot 14 for a Guardian Ethos 20 "small" (standover height is barely taller than the 14", but the bike is definately MUCH longer, kiddos sit "in it", not above, btu that is great for stability). Was a great bike. Swapped tires to 20" BMX knobbier samples to ride on the bone-dry trails around (barely fits 20x2.0, if you do choose to buy it, get 1.8-1.9 tires instead). Again, if your "benchmark" is whether the kid can lift the bike and walk it up stairs, don't buy that...stay with a woom. If you care for them enjoying trails and rolling down 6-8in bumps and drops and curbs (like my rascal), a larger wheel is what you want for them. This means lots more weight, it is fine, IMHO.

When he "graduated" from learning how to ride a larger bike and decided he could follow me up steeper staff that he would run out of wind pedalling off the saddle, we got a "geared" 20". I had my eyes on the Specialized Riprock 20, but "settled" for a REI Rev 20 plus that was 60% off last year. He rides it on single-track now, learns to feather his brakes with 1-finger braking and is "almost" fluid with shifting (swapped the 6-speed grip shifter with a 7speed trigger + 7 speed megarange freewheel - same Tourney RD).

On tires & pressures: kiddos are super light. They need very little pressures to support themselves. I've been running mid-teens on all of my son's bikes (all with inner tubes so far). Don't over-inflate, you just make the ride uncomfortable. The Rev 20+ is fine with 10-12psi & his current 54lbs.

Edit: yes, we changed 3 bikes in 3 years. I explain why in my long-winded post. YMMV, but plan accordingly.

You can't loosen a coaster brake. It just stops the chain from rotating which locks the rear wheel.

When kids start going faster the front brakes will cause accidents. My kid flipped off his schwinn bike trying to brake recently. Spend a bit more on a bike with rear and front brakes. Coaster brakes are terrible for quick braking situations since they just lock the rear wheel.