Raleigh Balance Banana Bike

The Raleigh Balance Banana Bike is well thought out and practical, but on the heavier side and more difficult for smaller children to mount than others.

With its 12-inch wheels, the Banana balance bike is aimed at smaller children. It's designed to be a mini-me of Raleigh's iconic Team Banana bikes from the late 80s, with its yellow front, black rear, and little flourishes of red and blue where the paints meet. It's a fun design that makes the bike instantly recognisable.

If you're interested in the Raleigh but would like to see more options, check out our guide to the best balance bikes.

The frame is made from aluminium 6061, the fork high tensile steel, with few components beyond a handlebar, saddle and wheels.

It came fully assembled in the box, so all I needed to do was adjust the seatpost slightly, through a traditional hex key clamp. In total it took less than two minutes, including getting my two-year-old to sit on it.

She didn't find it as easy to get on as she did the step-through frame of the Specialized Hotwalk, but once she understood that she needed to lift her leg a little higher it wasn't too tricky.

The bike has an adjusted geometry to help children balance better, with a lowered and extended rear triangle to help with stability. The chainstays (can you still call them that with no chain?) are flared from the seat tube, which firstly allows the tyres to be wider but also keeps feet away from the wheels. This worked well, and my daughter managed to avoid running over her own feet, which was nice.

Up front Raleigh has included some well-designed grips with large buffers on the ends, something that's very useful when toddlers inevitably tip over sideways. At one point my daughter decided to see what would happen if she had no feet on the floor, and these prevented her from hurting her hands when the bar hit the floor. A simple feature, but one that shows Raleigh has thought about the needs of toddlers.

Another useful feature is that there are stoppers on the turning circle of the handlebar, so it cannot be turned to 90 degrees, which would inevitably cause crashes, frustration, and tantrums. The bar still turns easily enough to be able to navigate around obstacles.

The wheels are robust, with nice thick spokes that aren't easily bent or damaged – essential when you're dealing with toddlers who don't really understand the concept of 'careful'. They also roll well enough that toddlers can easily push themselves along, but not so much that you're terrified of them building up too much speed.

The treaded tyres are grippy enough for most conditions, but the tread is pretty tightly packed, and mud often got stuck in there and was difficult to get out. They also use inner tubes, which seem fairly robust but aren't as convenient as airless options.

As you may have heard, kids grow, and luckily there is a fair amount of adjustability in the Banana balance bike, both in the height of the bar and the height of the saddle. Raleigh has a guide on its website to kids' bike sizes – for a 12in wheel bike it gives a minimum rider height of 88cm and a maximum of 107cm, min and max inside leg lengths of 33 and 41cm, and an age range of two to three.

Weight

The Banana weighs 4.7kg, which isn't the heaviest we have tested, but is up there. The weight of a balance bike isn't about getting up steep hills it's about ease of use for a toddler. For example, they aren't generally left leaning up against something, they will be left lying on the floor, and will need to be picked up by small arms. They also need to be controlled by small hands – much easier when they are lighter.

Value

Its rrp of £99 is good compared with others on the market. The Hornit Airo that features in our road.cc Recommends is £40 more with a similar frame design but it's considerably lighter at 2.9kg.

The Specialized Hotwalk mentioned earlier is 4.2kg and has more features, such as airless tyres and a stepthrough frame, but costs £50 more.

You can spend less though – the Halfords Indi gets our vote for best budget balance bike, costing just £30.

Conclusion

Overall, this little balance bike from Raleigh has a fun design for both toddlers and nostalgic adults alike, and there are some good practical elements, such as the large buffers on the grips and the steering stops to prevent accidents. It weighs more than others, and the frame design isn't as good as some for smaller children, but at £99 it's good value for money.

Verdict

Well priced and fun to ride, with some smart practical design choices, but heavier than others