Riding my bike was one of the best experiences of being a kid.  I loved the sense of freedom I had when I was on my bike and I had so many good times and adventures, that naturally, I'm excited for Riley to experience the same thing.

I always thought that her father and I would start her out on a tricycle and then eventually take the training wheels off, just as it's been done for decades.  Then, I found out about a brand new way to teach your child to ride their bike and it never involves using training wheels at all.  Strider Sports International Inc. allowed Riley and I to review the Strider PREbike or running bike.  Keep reading to find out more about how this bike teaches your child to ride!

I was very excited to have the chance to review the Strider PREbike, since it is geared at teaching young children how to ride without ever needing to use a tricycle.  The Strider is aimed at teaching children ages 1 to 5 how to balance themselves on a bike without pedaling at the same time.

There are no pedals on the Strider bike, so all your child is asked to do is walk or run while on the bike as well as steer it.  By having young children learn from the beginning how to balance, it is much easier for them to ride a regular bike when they are ready, since pedaling is not hard at all to do.  The trick to riding any bicycle is always the balancing part!

For a much better explanation at how the Strider PREbike or running bike works, as well as some great footage of children riding it really well, check out the video below:

So that video completely sold me and I was ready to try it out with Riley!  Of course, before we could begin, there was a little matter of assembly.  Although I thought that the assembly wasn't going to be a problem, I found out that it was more difficult than I anticipated.

I've never assembled a bicycle before and wish that the instructions included would have been a little clearer and perhaps with more pictures.  I found myself reading and re-reading some of the instructions before I figured it out correctly.  If the pictures included would have been more step-by-step, I think I would have had a little easier time of it.

As you can see in the lower right picture, once it was assembled, the Strider PREbike was a beauty!  Riley was extremely excited to take this out and get to riding!

Our first few tries with her were fairly successful.  Riley was 20 months old when we began using the Strider with her and we had to show her exactly where to put her hands on the handlebars as well as help her to actually sit on the seat.  She kept wanting to stand up at the very front of the bike and put her hands very close together on the handlebars.  Of course, this made riding the Strider fairly difficult and she would get frustrated and quit.

After a few days though, she learned how to place her hands on the handlebar grips and began to steer much better.  She started walking with the PREbike faster and even got up to what I would classify as a run a few times.  The most important part was that Riley was having FUN!  She never once fell over or came close to being injured, which was one thing I feared on a tricycle, since I've always heard about the infamous tricycle tip-over.

Riley still rides her Strider several times per week and has a great time.  Most recently, she's even begun to balance herself a little and I've seen her pick her feet up for a brief period a few times.  I'm happy to say that she still hasn't fallen over and I'm sure that within a few more months, she will be riding just like an all-star!  Just think, a child riding a two-wheel bike all by herself by the age of 2!  I remember that I was 9 years old before I could ride a regular bike!

I think the Strider PREbike is a wonderful way to teach a young child the hardest part of riding a bike, which is definitely the balancing of it, on their own terms and at their own pace.  Riley was a slow beginner, but she still has a lot of fun riding her "vroom, vroom", as she calls it, and has never fallen off or gotten injured either.  I still can't believe that she will probably be riding a regular bike by the age of 2 and think that Strider Sports International has discovered a great, stress-free, and fun way to teach your child to ride a bicycle!