New Wheels: Preschooler Edition - S

Up until two weeks ago, Little L preferred her scooter (a Globber Three-Wheel My Free Scooter) to her bike because her bike was "too hard to pedal." We had bought her a Huffy Cinderella-themed one that came with fancy streamers on the handles and a carriage basket in the front. Super cute, and it matched her bike helmet. Unfortunately, since she didn't have the leg strength or coordination to pedal this bike, I was constantly having to bend down to guide her feet in the direction it should move. It sucked for my back and also for my girl; constant starts and stops made her biking experience less than enjoyable.

And so, the bike sat for months without any use. Thank God for garages.

Then, one day, while browsing through our junk mail, I happened to come across the Supercycle Kickstart bike ad in the Canadian Tire catalogue. I immediately did a Google investigation on the bike, only to discover that it was a CT exclusive item, meaning it had no Amazon reviews, and no other online info to speak of to help inform my purchasing decisions.

We ended up going into the store to check the bike out, and walked out with a preassembled one 30 minutes later.

Since that day, we have gone biking every other day. Little L has even taken her bike to the local grocery store, as well as to one of the cafes nearby. I don't think she has even looked at her scooter since her Kickstart entered the picture.

So what's so great about this bike? Honestly, it's everything the Huffy isn't.

• Training wheels that screw on and off easily via the attached knobs
• A training bar behind the bike that parents can hold to help steer their kids during the learning stages
• Two types of brakes: a hand brake and a brake in the pedals that activates when you pedal backwards
• Pedals that only move in a forward direction
• The low positioning to the ground that helps keep feet flat for added stability
• The positionable handlebars and easy-adjust seat height 

We were originally concerned that the bike might be too small for little L, since the recommended ages are 3-6 but our girl is a big and tall 5 year-old. Fortunately, she fits it just fine, and is growing increasingly comfortable with pedalling fast while riding it; it forces us to have a decent workout just keeping up. :) We haven't taken off the training wheels yet, since balance isn't really her forte, but once she masters braking and pedalling, that will be the next step. 

Little L is already insisting that I Varage Sale the Huffy, so I guess the Kickstart is a keeper :) And I love that as the weather warms up, we have more than one option to keep her active. The price is right too;  it's only $130. 

I didn't get comp'ed for this review, in case you're wondering; I'm just writing it because I think that this is a great set of a wheels and a fantastic option for littles who are just trying to figure out the whole biking thing. I was a late bloomer and didn't ride a two-wheeler until upper elementary school, but I think that if I had gotten a Kickstart bike when I was a kid, I probably would have biked sooner. Yet another advantage to living in 2017!