I felt quite emotional recently when my sons Thomas Bike went to bike heaven, well the rubbish tip where they have a little shop part so hopefully someone has recycled it as it was too worn out to be sold by me.

I had purchased this bike when my son was at preschool, he had come home with a letter saying they were doing a sponsored pedalthon. My first reaction was dam I'll have to get him a bike as we were living in a flat at the time so was pointless getting one. Anyway 3 days before the event I went online and found him this Thomas the tank engine bike with stabilizers. It was about £60 and I recall I used some Tesco clubcard vouchers towards the purchase and ordered the bike to be collected from their Direct desk instore the following day. Currently this bike is on offer in Tesco from £79 to £69. I also got him a matching helmet from Argos.

I remember that my partner had the challenge to assemble the bike as it didn't come in it's complete form. The wheels had to go on and the stabilizers needed fitting so nothing too strenuous. The saddle style seat could be highered and lowered easy by adjusting the lever underneath.

The bike itself is a lovely bright blue colour just like Thomas the tank engine is. The chain area was protected by a plastic guard so the child wouldn't get clothing etc stuck in the chain. The front boasted a round panel with a picture of Thomas on too, this didn't serve any purpose just there to look good. The frame of the bike and also the chain guard had Thomas stickers on them, not everyday type stickers but after time and lots of wear and tear they started to come off especially the one large sticker on the chain guard.

My rather excited son couldn't wait to ride this when he got it and straight away was on and away. We went to a local park and he left me running along behind him and he seemed to take to it like a duck to water. He then competed in his pedalthon and done me proud. The bike was level and very sturdy for him so made a perfect first bike. The wheels are nice and thick so not the sort to get punctures and the stabilizers are solid too. Both handles had brake levers on one for the rear wheel and one for the front wheel. Occasionally they needed adjusting slightly as the brake pad had moved but was easily sorted.

It is suitable from aged 3yrs+ and lasted my son until he was nearly 6yrs. The seat could be adjusted as he grew and when he was 5yrs old he said he didn't want the stabilizers on any more so his Dad took them off, I held onto the back of the seat and ran (fast) up and down our close just 3 times and he had the knack he could do it alone, it brings a tear to my eye thinking of yet another proud mummy moment and another part of my first baby growing up. We replaced this bike with a more grown up one and also Thomas had seen better days as once we moved from a flat to our house it was in constant use and been thrown on ground numberous times, had marks on it, seat was scuffed etc but to be honest it was definitely worth the money.