For brand new 3 year olds, I think it's not worth it to spend much money on a bike (or even worry too much about whether it's 'good'). You'll be buying the 12 inch version, which they'll outgrow within a year. And if they're like my kids (currently 4 and 5), it takes them awhile to figure out the coordination of pedaling anyway. Since you have a little bit of time, I would consider going to your local kids' consignment shop or checking Craigslist and just getting similar 12" bikes for cheap and spray painting them. There are plenty of spray paints designed for metal that would do the job. And unless you live in a warm-weather place where you can bike outside during the winter, I might even think about holding off on buying them until the weather warms up again to be sure they don't get outgrown before they're really used.

I don't have a great product recommendation, but I did want to mention that when we purchased our son's first bike our local bike shop offered a buy-back program. We went with the Giant Jr Animator which wasn't cheap (around $160), but when he's outgrown this bike they will let us trade-in for a larger model. Since we'll get some of our money back it made more sense to us to go this route rather than buying a cheaper but possibly lower quality bike at the outset. And it does seem like the cheaper bikes tend to be the ones with cartoon characters.
If you have a local bike shop maybe they have a similar option. Or you might get lucky and find used bikes there as well.
Good luck!

we bought our son a Kinderbike Laufrad. It is a balance bike and comes in red, blue,orange and green ( maybe more colors as well.) We love it.

I would totally go with Strider Bikes, if you can find a seller in your area. We introduced these at age 2.5 with both boys. Our now 5 year old learned to ride a two-wheel pedal bike in 10 minutes and skipped training wheels. They cost $100, though... but in my opinion, the lightness and the shape of the frame is definitely worth it.

PS- he learned at a little over 4 years old.

This one's easy: the Kazam balance bike. $76 on amazon and comes in a bunch of colors. They can learn on these balance bikes (my 4 yo LOVES hers), and then graduate to real bikes in a few years. Good luck!

Seems like our local police station has a bike auction at least once a year. you could find simular size bikes and paint them or let your kids design them on paper then paint them!!! You can also find little bikes at wal mart and target that dont cost alot...again painting them and taking the silly sitckers off.

My thoughts were also for Strider balance bikes or CL/Target finds spray painted to child's choice.

I didn't have two same-age siblings, but my dad spray painted my first (hand-me-down) bike and I got to choose the color (bright yellow!). I thought it was the coolest thing ever! I was probably about 4.

Another balance bike fan chiming in here. We got our daughter a wooden SmartGear bike, and it comes in different colors. They could each have their own color. Costs about $70, and you'd probably get a bunch back when you sold them on Craigslist.

Balance bikes seem to get the most buyback $$ and they are so incredibly worth it. I got my son a wooden likeabike from craigslist and could probably sell it back for nearly what I paid for it, but finding three used might be tough.

Like others here, I've heard good things about this one.

I'm not shilling for zulily (a flash sale site), but they periodically have new strider/balance bikes at a decent discount (~$50 each) and in multiple colors. Or if you find a good deal, you might also get 3 the same color, then customize them with stickers/paint/colored electrical tape for variation. A set of colored stripes on the tubes would be really cute. Good luck!

You might consider buying the m-wave running bike. It's half the price of the strider (on amazon) and we are SO pleased with ours. It's not tacky as is, but could be personalized easily with spray paint. Or you could easily add different color bells. It is so sturdy and well made! We got it for our son just after he turned 3 (for Christmas). It took awhile for him to warm up to the idea, but now he FLIES on it.

If you're new to the world of balance bikes, do a search on you-tube to watch some videos. They really are great!

strider/balance bikes are the way to go for 3yr olds. If you start looking now you might be able to find 3 on craigslist or ebay by Christmas.

I'm thirding (fourthing?) the strider bikes. Sturdy, easy to resell and come in multiple colours.

Balance bikes are great, and less expensive, but you might see if your local bike shop could simply modify a pedal bike into a balance bike. That is, if you can find a light-weight pedal bike that your kids can reasonably manuever. (they are more likely to ride it if they can lift it and move around by themselves).

Our son got his first balance bike when he was 2 1/2 and LOVED it! It was the the lil' Rocket from Sun Cycles (http://www.sunbicycles.com/products.php?cl1=JUVENILE+PUSH). Cute and not too expensive and made of metal (which is easier to repair than a wooden bike). And, it was very, very light - which is a good confidence builder (especially since our son is not too tall).

However, he was riding a 2-wheeler without training wheels a year later, and so we ended up buying two bikes. We did get the Specialized Hotrock (man, those things are expensive), but bought it at consignment for $69. So, we spent $100 on the balance bike, then $69 on the Hotrock.

If our son had been a bit bigger and strong enough to handle the weight of the Hotrock, we could have just bought the Hotrock new and had the pedals taken off.

Zulily has gyro bikes available today. They are similar to the strider bikes but have a gyro wheel up front to help kids with balance. My husband wanted one of these for our little boy but I'd bought son a balance bike before husband mentioned the other.

As a mom of twins, I recommend not getting too caught up on "same but different." Buy what they like and then personalize with different baskets, kid license plates, streamers, etc. Or buy totally different bikes. They don't really care.

since you have triplets (!!!), once you choose which bikes you'd like, if you decide to buy them new, contact the company directly to let them know you'll be buying three. really, you might contact any seller and tell them that, and ask for a discount. i find that many companies are more than happy to do this because it's great customer service, and triplets are a rarity and quite special.

My husband and I used to own a bicycle shop. You did not ask, but three years is really too young for a bike. Give those kids another year. I'm sorry to be a killjoy, but a bicycle is not a toy. It's a machine that can take off a lot of skin, not to mention a finger. Spokes and chains can be dangerous.

One more year, really. It's a matter of mental maturity more than physical maturity.

Hi everyone - Christine here.

Thanks for all your responses. I was kind of considering a balance bike and now, with all your replies, I'm definitely considering it. However, since I do live in a seasonal area and the bikes will be taken out only in May-ish, would they not be a little old for balance bikes before the end of the summer (3 and half in June)?

christine,
like everyone else, we have loved our balance bike. our son learned to ride without training wheels when he was two but he still loves the like-a-bike. all kids love it. my nine-year-old still plays around on it. so no, they won't be too old.
we are big on buying quality bikes because we want them to last. we bought the bike pictured for our oldest and then painted it blue for our third (a boy).
but we also received a small $30 bike with training wheels from toys-r-us for our oldest and, 3 kids and 7 years later, it is doing just fine.