Strider 14x Sport Balance Bike

The Strider 14x Sport Balance Bike is a decent convertible children's bike that my daughter enjoyed using. However, the saddle isn't the best quality seat you'll find, and while the Strider is great for the transition from balance bike to pedal-powered machine, the crank length and pedals mean it's probably not a long-term option as a pedal bike.

Cycling for kids today is very different from when I was a youngster. Back in the day, your first bike had pedals, was usually about six inches too big and gave you bruises all over your body. These days, kids can start with balance bikes and then gradually make their way up to 'real' bikes with fairly small increments between sizes.

The Strider 14x effectively fills the space between a balance bike and a pedal bike, with its 14in wheels putting it squarely in the 3+ age range, while providing a quick and easy way to attach pedals and convert it into a pedal bike when the time is right.

Construction

First off, this is predominantly a balance bike, so it has no frame triangle but has the step-through design favoured on smaller bikes, which allows youngsters to easily get their legs into the right position.

The lack of a top tube and seatstays means the tubing has to be considerably beefed up to cope with the extra forces, which inevitably makes the bike heavier than some of its competitors.

The air-filled tyres are an upgrade on the 12in Strider, which has foam tyres, which are less robust and harder to repair.

The bike has brakes too, which is an excellent addition for a balance bike as it allows your child to familiarise themselves with brakes before they begin using them at higher speeds when pedalling.

The front is a regular calliper brake while the rear is a rather old-school drum brake. My research suggests this has been retrofitted to conform with EU regulations and it isn't fitted to the model sold in the US.

Adjusting the bike is very simple. The handlebar is locked into place using a hex key, so all I need to do was to set it to my daughter's height and tighten it up. And it's the same for the seatpost too, though a thumb lever might have been a simpler solution for adjustments on the go, but it really isn't complicated.

The core build of the bike is durable thanks to the diameter of the tubes, but there are a few elements where I'd worry about their longevity, especially if the bike is left outside or dropped on the floor, which isn't unheard of when kids' bikes are concerned...

The saddle is foam with no wraparound to it. This means it's comfortable and malleable for children of different sizes, but I do feel it could rip and tear easily and wouldn't be surprised if there were chunks out of it within a year.

And I feel the front calliper, which is made of a sheet metal, could be bent in the event of a crash, and the levers themselves are plastic and will almost certainly break over time, especially with prolonged UV exposure.

Conversion

As I alluded to, one of the main selling points of this bike is that you can convert it from a balance bike to a pedal bike.

As a balance bike there is a small platform either side of the bottom bracket where your child can balance their feet when they're moving. Converting this to a pedal bike is just a case of undoing a single hex bolt which sits under the bottom bracket, taking off the platform that's there, then replacing it with the set of pedals.

You then add the chain guard, wrap the chain around the single sprocket on the rear wheel and it's done. In total the conversion was incredibly easy and took me just five minutes.

Once on it was easy for my daughter to understand how everything worked because I was only introducing a new way of moving forward. This bike is ideal for this transition because you're only introducing one transition to a bike they're already familiar with, which makes that transition much easier.

However, while this bike is very well suited for that transition, I wouldn't want to rely on it for a long-term pedal solution.

This is because there are a few unique elements – not least the length of the cranks and the shape of the pedals.

The crank arms are just 76mm, which means that once your child either wants to start going faster or once they've grown a couple of inches, they'll be too short.

Similarly, the pedals have been designed to match the shape of the standing platforms, which makes them long and thin and unlike a regular pedal. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is advisable to make sure they are accustomed to the kind of pedals they will generally find on other pedal bikes as they grow up.

Weight

As mentioned, this bike has been beefed up because of its design, which has inevitably added some weight. It weighs in at 5.88kg, which is fairly heavy compared to some its competitors.

The Kidvelo Rookie 14 uses a traditional twin-triangle design and weighs just 4.7kg.

The Vitus 14 Kids Bike is a more substantial twin-triangle construction and a fully formed pedal bike without a balance option, though it does hit the scales at 6.1kg.

This does mean that with kids' bikes of similar prices and sizes, their weights can be all over the place.

Value

The £260 RRP for the balance bike and pedals is reasonable, though in my opinion it's outshone by the likes of the Kidvelo Rookie 14, which not only costs £235, but it also has better quality components and a lower weight.

The Vitus 14 Kids Bike was £299 when we tested it, though I feel this cost is justified by its higher quality components, which should ensure greater durability. That said, the 2021 model is presently on sale for just £239.

Our best kids' bikes buyer's guide rounds up our top choices as well as giving advice on choosing them.

Overall

I like the Strider 14x balance bike as a transitional bike that helps children move from balance bikes to pedalling, though I wouldn't consider it as a standalone pedal bike. My daughter really enjoyed using it in both its balance bike and pedalling modes, but there's no doubt that because of the crank length, pedal shape and component choices, once she gets bigger and faster I'd definitely want her on something more built-for-purpose.

Verdict

A good bike for transitioning to pedals, but some of the components could be a bit better