Originally Posted by
gregoron
My 3-year old outgrew her tricycle already and we bought her a toddler bike with training wheels. She wasn't ready for it yet because of the pedal brakes and the bike slows down when the training wheels are weighted down. I decided to remove the training wheels, pedals, and chain. Now she has a balance bike that will be converted to a regular bike later.
Yes, this is the way to go. If you have even a bit of mechanical inclination get the largest pedal bike that kid can still fit on and take off the pedals. You can then put them back on when needed.
I saw a Specialized similar to our balance bike modified in this way just after buying the balance bike and thought- duh. Child is now advancing on balance bike rapidly and we may be in for a pedaled rig as early as later this year.