Skuut Beginner's Balance Bike

I bought this bike 6 months ago for my girlfriend's son. He was just over two at the time (27 months). He didn't like trikes or toy-training-wheel bikes. His legs were too short for the pedals on his trike or bike in reality anyhow.

I bought this based on reviews on a bike forum site. A lot of people take metal pedal bikes, remove the cranks, and cover the bike with padding to recreate this idea. The Skuut bike is simply two wheels, a saddle, frame, fork, and bars. The idea of modifying a pedal bike is good, the Skuut is great.

The problem with stripping down a metal pedal bike is the weight and the potential danger in a crash. The Skuut bike is feather-light and it won't cause bruises and bumps after a fall like a metal bike. There are no spokes to bruise or break little hands or feet. The bars wont turn sharply (they will only sweep about 40-50 degrees), so a wipeout is pretty difficult. Even the ends of the bars are brilliantly designed to prevent harm to tender little bodies.

Another plus is how adjustable it is. When lowered all the way down, it is still a little big for a young two year old. If you flip the frame (just move the fork and saddle to the other side of the frame) it changes the "head tube" angle and saddle height so that it is low-slung enough for even the shortest legs. There is a ton of adjustability, so I imagine it could fit a tall 20-month old up to a 4-5 year old.

The build quality is OK. It isn't as strong as the 170 Euro Like-A-Bike, but it costs 1/3 as much. It does what it was designed to do well, and is a good value for the $$$. The fat pneumatic tires are great for smoothing out the road once the little guy or gal gets the hang of it and gains speed, or likes to crawl over obstacles. The saddle is wood covered by thin padding and fabric, but the little guy never complained of a sore bottom, and he spends hours on it (I imagine diapers help to smooth the bumps too, how cool is it that there is a bike where kids can balance on two wheels before they can remember to use the toilet regularly).

I can only speak to the learning curve of one kid, but it was incredible to watch him learn to ride it. Again, he was 27 months, a bigger kid would probably pick it up a little quicker. He was instantly drawn to it. I had him help me put it together and he was all smiles. I cycle a lot and he goes along at times, so he knew very well what it was for.

First thing, I took him out to the sidewalk, and he walked along with his feet. He took it as his own pace to get a feel for it. I had to show him a few times how to steer, at first he would come to a bend in the sidewalk and wait for me to aim him in a different direction, or he would just lift the front wheel to maneuver it (it is very very light so it's easy for him to move it around). Steering took him about an hour to figure out, a couple days to get good at it. It doesn't steer very sharply, which helps him learn to lean and turn, plus helps prevent falls. He loved it from day one.

Within a week of daily play on it, he began to add a bit more speed and the balance idea began to grow in his mind. His steering was expert and he was good at stopping. He also liked to try to crawl over low curbs and stones. I'm more of a roadie, but I think he's going to be a mountain biker. I could just see in his eyes that he was imagining himself on rough technical singletrack.

By the end of two weeks, he had mastered balance. Yes. I said mastered balance at 27 months. He could build speed by skuuting and lift his legs to coast til he slowed enough that he needed to kick his legs to get back to speed. His mom isn't terribly athletic and she needed a scooter or her bike to keep up with us (she hates to run/jog). He Skuuts at about 5 MPH (so get a helmet and pads). He learned to stop himself with his feet as he learned balance, so he was pretty good at stopping himself, even at full speed. He instinctually keeps his speed reasonable on hills, but he loves those hills too. Just make sure you are nearby once this confidence kicks in, kids have no fear. He's two so he's easily distracted by flowers, birds and butterflies, so he stops quite a bit; but when he's going he's really going strong. There is no question that when he is big enough for a pedal bike that he won't need training wheels at all. He easily can keep up with the 4 year old neighbor girl on her pedal-bike with training wheels.

When we take it to the park everyone stares in amazement and wants to know where we bought it.

I highly recommend it. I wrote this review because I returned to this page to buy another one for my nephew for Christmas. You won't regret buying this thing.

I was slightly disappointed with this bike. Although it is great for the little 'en (bought for his 2nd birthday - he's quite a tall 2 year old) the quality of the build is low grade.
The seat arrived scuffed, the wheels not at all true (very buckled) and the components cheap. Didn't even supply dust caps for the inner tubes, which was just shoddy.
Therefore my conclusion is go and buy a cheaper model because the quality of the product is no better even though it's more expensive.

My son loves it though and within an hour of riding it he's learning that he can balance a little bit, and it is safe with no dangerous bits on it.

I love this bike and so does my nearly two year old boy. The amazon site says it;s suitable from 2 years but the box clearly states 36 months. Undeterred I decided to try my son on the bike. It should have been very easy to put together but one of the seat holes was not properly drilled so the bolt could not sit properly and could not be done up. It didn't take me long to work this out and I very carefully tidied up the hole and was ready to go. I happened to have the right size drill bit and drill to hand and am fairly practical so this wasn't a problem.
Now the moaning is over, I have nothing but praise for this bike. My son is tall for a 23 month old and is just tall enough for the bike. He loves it and has rapidly mastered skuuting around. The restricted steering stops him veering too quickly into trouble. I think this is a clever design and excellent for getting the balance he will need when he gets a bigger bike later. The manufacturer recommends a bit of basic maintenance but that is the case with all bikes so don't let that put you off.
I would thoroughly recommend this to any parent but if your child is not very tall I doubt it would be of much use before 30 months

Update, my son is now 3 1/2 and has now moved on to a bike with pedals and no stabilisers with no problems thanks to the balance he's gained on this bike. He still loves his balance bike and I would still recommend this particular one as it is very light and has required very little maintenance, just tightening the seat bolts from time to time.