Darth Lefty 

My first kid started out on a Strider. I got it for him at age 1.5 and chose it over others because he could stand over it already. But it was too soon, he didn't get the idea until he was 2 and didn't get good at it until he was 2.5. Then by the time he was 3, it was too small for him and he needed brakes and better tires. But he wasn't ready for a 16er, he couldn't stand over the ones at the bike stores or REI. (I didn't look a the Walmart ones, they are so obviously screwed up in body position, and the mail-order premium ones were too much for sight-unseen buy.) Lesson learned - it would have been better to get him a slightly bigger one slightly later. Instead I got him a cheap 12" pedal bike that looked ok from Chain Reaction, and took off the crank. It was a pile, I can't figure out how they made something so small weigh so much and all the bearings were cruelly overtightened, it wouldn't even turn over out of the box. But it got him through the next year. We'd go for 2 mile walks to get a donut. I kept urging him to try the pedals, I'd spend 20 minutes putting the crank and chain back on, he would go for a moment and then give up. It took to age 4.5 and his 16er to be riding for real. The 16er came with training wheels and they were like an addiction, I took them off after a frustrating few weeks of him crashing on curbs, but then he just refused the bike for months before his mom yelled at him a lot and he got it going. He had all the skills, it was an emotional block. He's an emotional kid.

I say get him a 16er, if he can straddle the seat in its lowest position (take off the reflector). DO NOT use the training wheels. Let him goof around with it in the driveway and sidewalk, or at a park. I never tried the skate park - the skate park nearest us has only a 2-hour slot every Wednesday during my work hours when bikes are permitted.