One major point of comparison when shopping for a balance bike for your son or daughter is the lifespan of the bike. There has been a flood of wooden balance bikes onto the market, targeting the nostalgia of parents for a simpler time, but they simply aren’t built to last as well as Zippizap bikes and other metal-framed balance bikes. This is due to two main factors: their lack of adjustability and their less durable design.

Wooden balance bikes tend to lack adequate adjustment options for the seat and the handlebars, limiting their lifespan in light of the rapid growth of young children. With wooden balance bikes, you get a few rigid adjustment intervals and a shorter adjustment span on the seat, and you get little, if any, adjustment on the handlebars. With a Zippizap balance bike, on the other hand, there is a full twenty centimeters of adjustment range for the seat and ten centimeters for the handlebars, letting the bike grow with your child for up to four years.

Wooden balance bikes are generally made of hardwood, and seem very durable on their face. However, children are rather notorious for their poor maintenance of toys, and exposure to sun and water will warp the frame of the bike and cause it to splinter, rendering it useless in a matter of mere months. Sun and water will also blister and peel the finish and paint from wooden bikes. Zippizap bikes are made of steel and painted with scratch-resistant paint for a frame that won’t bend, break, or blister under poor maintenance. The main rusting concern of pedal bikes is the chain assembly, and the balance bike has no chains to rust, even if it does get wet.

Metal-framed bikes like those made by Zippizap are better able to withstand the rigorous treatment of growing, rough-and-tumble children than their wooden counterparts. If you want a balance bike for your child that will last years without replacement, buy them a stylish, durable, grow-able Zippizap.