wood vs. metal vs. plastic balance bike

[Fairycat]

After talking to other Moms and the local bike shop we are going metal. And trust me you can find some pretty inexpensive online brand new if you look.

[EmilytheStrange]

Originally Posted by MDever My nephew has a Strider and has loved it. He is very rough on his things and it has held up well. Something to consider is your childs leg length because several of the bikes are too tall for kids her age. I really want the Kazaam mentioned by a pp because I love the way it looks and it comes highly recommended but I am afraid that even at the holidays her legs may not be long enough.

Just for reference, DD is 36inches and her seat is all the way down.
She does have a long torso and short legs, but she's definitely on the tall side. But, my friend just got the Kazaam for her little peanut - he was doing pretty good on my DD's.

[stevensmom]

we have a strider from when DS was 2 (will be 6 next month). We do need to find a new seat for it for dd but overall it's great!

my parents got my niece a strider for her 2nd bday this month...and she LOVES it

[Greenwife]

I found the Strider to have the shortest seat height when I was researching several months ago. She just turned 2 and is cruising a bit now where she'll lift up her feet. We received a Like A Bike and a Skuut as hand me downs and both still have a couple of inches before she could even sit on them at this point.