Bike Radar Toddlebike Trail Results - Ollie 24 month
supertwisted
Posts: 565
Firstly thanks to Jo at Toddlebike for letting my son Ollie try out the bike and appolgies for the late write-up.
An SD card disaster means I've lost some of my photos for this review, so the remainders are a bit rubbish.
Design & Build
Toddlebike is basic, which is both it's strength and weakness. Light as a feather and brightly hued it gives an initial impression of being more toy than bike. However, it is in fact as tough as old boots. The central 'spine' section is reinforced in all the right places and doesn't seem to flex at all despite my two year old bouncing on it.
It's light weight, compact stature and numerous holes and hoops in the body parts make it easy to carry, which is great for Ollie to tug along if he isn't riding it and better still is easy to hang off the pushchair when he loses interest.
Build is ok, it doesn't feel like it will come apart easily, but (on our sample at least) there is some give in steerer and one of the front wheels rubs on the small arch protrusions on the 'fork' leg. This results in the bike halting slightly on each revolution which makes freewheeling difficult.
The Ride
Ollie was/is at a stage where he is too big for the standard scoot along toys. He still fits, but they don't really interest him. He always asks to sit on Daddy's bike when he sees it, so Toddlebike seemed like it would be the perfect transition for him.
The bikes odd looking proportions make sense once the child is on board, as you can immediately see him adopting a natural riding position. He's stable and comfortable and has no issue manauvering it around. It seems perfect...
But, for Ollie, things have never quite clicked with the TOddlebike. He will scoot it along, but it's low weight means it never gathers real momentum. Coupled with the hard plastic hollow wheels, it always seems to struggle to overcome the friction of the ground, especially on tarmac footpaths which is generally where it gets the most mileage.
Eventually he will get a bit confused, stand up lifting the front wheel with the bars and walk the bike along between his legs.
I'm pretty confident that with faster rolling rubberised wheels he would get more out of it, but then that would impact the low price.
The Future
We're going to persist with our Toddlebike. I'm pretty sure he can get a lot out of it and perhaps as he gets a little bigger he can overcome some of the momentum issues. I like it's low weight, good riding position and tough build. It's easy to take out on a whim, easy to pick up and play with and then move on and easy to live with.
An SD card disaster means I've lost some of my photos for this review, so the remainders are a bit rubbish.
Design & Build
Toddlebike is basic, which is both it's strength and weakness. Light as a feather and brightly hued it gives an initial impression of being more toy than bike. However, it is in fact as tough as old boots. The central 'spine' section is reinforced in all the right places and doesn't seem to flex at all despite my two year old bouncing on it.
It's light weight, compact stature and numerous holes and hoops in the body parts make it easy to carry, which is great for Ollie to tug along if he isn't riding it and better still is easy to hang off the pushchair when he loses interest.
Build is ok, it doesn't feel like it will come apart easily, but (on our sample at least) there is some give in steerer and one of the front wheels rubs on the small arch protrusions on the 'fork' leg. This results in the bike halting slightly on each revolution which makes freewheeling difficult.
The Ride
Ollie was/is at a stage where he is too big for the standard scoot along toys. He still fits, but they don't really interest him. He always asks to sit on Daddy's bike when he sees it, so Toddlebike seemed like it would be the perfect transition for him.
The bikes odd looking proportions make sense once the child is on board, as you can immediately see him adopting a natural riding position. He's stable and comfortable and has no issue manauvering it around. It seems perfect...
But, for Ollie, things have never quite clicked with the TOddlebike. He will scoot it along, but it's low weight means it never gathers real momentum. Coupled with the hard plastic hollow wheels, it always seems to struggle to overcome the friction of the ground, especially on tarmac footpaths which is generally where it gets the most mileage.
Eventually he will get a bit confused, stand up lifting the front wheel with the bars and walk the bike along between his legs.
I'm pretty confident that with faster rolling rubberised wheels he would get more out of it, but then that would impact the low price.
The Future
We're going to persist with our Toddlebike. I'm pretty sure he can get a lot out of it and perhaps as he gets a little bigger he can overcome some of the momentum issues. I like it's low weight, good riding position and tough build. It's easy to take out on a whim, easy to pick up and play with and then move on and easy to live with.
Less internal organs, same supertwisted great taste.
0
