Childs Balance Bike Project
macca12345
Posts: 3
for my A2 design technology project i am designing and making a childs balance bike, to do this successfully I am conducting some research to establish the key factors i need to consider in my design, size, weight etc... if you have any information or thoughts on this subject i would be very grateful to hear from you...
thanks.
thanks.
0
Posts
Weight... as light as possible, within reason. I really like the wooden ones for that reason. Not so much for riding, but more if they get to a gutter/steps, they can lift them over themselves. That independence is one of the oft-overlooked key benefits of runbikes.
Aesthetics... I'm more driven by function. However, again with the wooden ones, we chose rather plain ones, and the girls could decorate them themselves. Ownership/pride is a good thing and aids them in using them.
A good balance bike has to be light but robust. The kids need to be able to lug it about independently and have fun with it...and that probably involves chucking it around without damaging it. It also has to be easy for them to get on and in my opinion that means a low step-over, perhaps not to the extreme that the Puky models go to but low all the same. Something I also like on the Puky (never owned one btw) is the foot plate. I like the idea of something to encourage kids to lift their feet - encourages balancing and sets the pattern for putting feet on pedals.
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Damping/limiting mechanism to prevent tank slappers.
Ease of carrying for parents.
An my personal "bonus feature" would be a simple tool-free adjustment to be able to rotate the handlebars 90degrees - for chucking in the boot etc.
If it doesn't move and should, use the WD40.
If it shouldn't move and does, use the tape.
Sizing is important as is weight,
A great idea for us would have been a light, robust bike which was modular so that pedals, drive train, bb etc. could be added easily when the child was ready for them
yup yup yup! these are cool if they're included... 8)
Good Luck!
We have a Puky and would agree that the foot plate is a good thing - both of the kids that have used it so far have really enjoyed putting their feet on it on the downhills once they were confident of their ability to balance. Another thing we like is the range of adjustment, which seems to cater from 2 until they are ready to transition to a pedal bike. The brake is a mixed blessing: it's an enclosed band brake, which means that there is nothing to get caught up with clothes, etc., and it is a mild brake, which is good for teaching brake use without worrying about skidding. However, after one child, the braking effect has reduced making it almost ineffectual. The other negative we have is the use of Woods valves: a few times the collar has come lose (probably due to being occasionally clipped by a shoe) which has slowly let the air out resulting in a flat tyre. We now carry a pump with if we're going any distance to allow us to pump it up again should this happen. Finally, a steering limiter would be a vital feature, were I buying another balance bike. Our eldest lost two teeth in a fall which may not have happened if the Puky had a steering limiter.
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P.S. Function over form every time... though, if you can get both, so much the better!
That's an easy fix though, surely? All of our bikes have schrader, except for the two drop-bar bikes, which have presta. In fact, I've drilled a couple of rims out so they can fit schrader.
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