Balance bike without pedals - plastic four-wheel ride-on

Description

This little bike is moulded entirely from plastic. The frame is a single piece with two cut-outs in it, and it carries a separate saddle and a handlebar post. Underneath sit four wheels: two at the front and two at the back, each pair close together.

There are no pedals and no chain. Your child sits down, pushes off with their feet and rolls forward; steering is done with the handlebars, stopping with the feet. That order - rolling and steering first, pedalling much later - is what makes a balance bike a first vehicle.

Because it stands on four wheels, it stays upright when your child pauses or gets off. The wheels are wide and smooth, so they roll as well over a smooth floor indoors as over the terrace behind the house.

A balance bike is one of those first presents that really does get used every day: it stands in the hall, it comes along to the park and it is ridden for weeks on end. A classic for a first birthday, and the sort of gift grandparents like to chip in for.