Help or hinderence?

The Rookie

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27685867

Its not sure how this can be classed as helping people ride a bike if, presumably, when they get on a regular bike without the assistance they then fall off!

Angus Young

Maybe people should just run behind their kids holding the seat like they have since... oh, I don't know... forever? Took my little one about two hours to go from not being able to ride to riding unaided. File under: Problems That Don't Need Solving.

cooldad

Head angle looks a bit steep.

mcnultycop

On trend short stem though.

cooldad

Disc wheel looks a bit 80s

rockmonkeysc

cooldad wrote:

Disc wheel looks a bit 80s

Nah, they were on the rear wheel with a smiley face on them in the 80's.

The Rookie

Is that the 19 or 18 80's CD?

cooldad

I refuse to respond to such juvenile comments.

The Rookie

Erm...... But you just did!

pesky_jones

If anything this is gunna make it extra hard when the kid makes the transition to a regular bike. I don't see how it wouldn't, not only is this thing pointless, I'm pretty sure it's detrimental to cyclcing!!

markhewitt1978

Angus Young wrote:

Maybe people should just run behind their kids holding the seat like they have since... oh, I don't know... forever? Took my little one about two hours to go from not being able to ride to riding unaided. File under: Problems That Don't Need Solving.

Still one of the strongest memories of my childhood, me pedalling along in the park* with my Dad holding the back, me constantly shouting "Are you still holding on?!!" and him replying "Yes! Keep going", of course when I stopped I realise he hasn't been holding on for some time

*In a park where technically cycling is not allowed.

poah

I don't get it, Lewis was about 7 when he learned to cycle without stabilisers on. took him less than an hour to do it.

felix.london

My boys just properly nailed it this year - great to see.

Angus Young

It's hilarious that it took 'team of engineers' and gyroscopic technology to achieve what a couple of quids worth of stabilisers have been doing since before we were all born. Maybe engineers are not really that smart...

bartimaeus

Stabilizers aren't that great - balance bikes, however, are a great re-discovery (if that's the right word). There's a thread in family and kids about teaching kids to ride with 'take the pedals off' the first bit of advice.

felix.london

yeah I'm not convinced by the whole thing. We all learnt to ride with stabilisers after all.

My boy who was on a balance bike has nailed it a year before my daughter did (I think, was a long time ago!) using stabilisers but who's to say that's the reason.

Angus Young

Angus Young wrote:

It's hilarious that it took 'team of engineers' and gyroscopic technology to achieve what a couple of quids worth of stabilisers have been doing since before we were all born. Maybe engineers are not really that smart...

Actually that's just reminded me of that old one about the Americans spending a million dollars to design a pen that could write in space while the Russians just took a pencil. *

* It's a myth, by the way, before anyone points that out.

paul.skibum

It may not be an entirely needed piece of engineering but I think as a system that you can turn down as your kids get the hang of it (I am assuming no one else actually watched the video) so the effect is tuned down from the Weeble no fall setting to a more practical save you from yourself and then off to get you riding - means you dont need a balance bike and then a pedal bike - just go straight to the source.

Its probably hugely expensive so No good for most but hell if I had a pile of cash and kids I might consider it. Save me having to run behind them - I can hold my beer instead.

Angus Young

paul.skibum wrote:

means you dont need a balance bike and then a pedal bike - just go straight to the source.

Nobody needs a balance bike.

Festerfeet

This ^^^^^
The only thing that needs solving on kids bikes is the weight issue at an accessible price.

Angus Young

Festerfeet wrote:

The only thing that needs solving on kids bikes is the weight issue at an accessible price.

You just won the thread.

cooldad

Angus Young wrote:

Festerfeet wrote:

The only thing that needs solving on kids bikes is the weight issue at an accessible price.

You just won the thread.

I'd rather have the money.

photonic69

My son was given a second hand bike when he was six by a neighbour. We went to collect it up the road. Whilst I was chatting to our neighbour my son got really bored so he got on the bike and cycled off. He'd never been on a bike before even with stabilisers. This had none. Paul and I just stood speechless staring at him. A complete natural for balance!

My daughter on the otherhand was a different matter :-( and many hours on a grassy slope were required.

Can't help but think this new gyro bike will make the steering feel very heavy and unnatural due to its very nature. Kids need to have very quick steering input when learning to correct balance on a bike during the learning process. For them it's all about flicking the bars back and forth to stay upright.

tlw1

Elder rugrat - picked it up reasonable quickly, the younger one is a stubborn bugger who wouldn't make an effort and kept wanting to go back to his bike with stabilisers. So on holiday in the south of France I lost my temper and told him so stop being silly and went round the front of the villa - que 10 mins later him ridding up and down the garden

EckSee

Seems to be a gimmick aimed squarely at lazy parents, can imagine a park full of them chatting over an overpriced coffee whilst technology teaches their kids to ride.

My eldest took a while to get the confidence to lose the stabilisers but he's always been risk adverse. My 4 year old, on the other hand, has been riding scooters since he could walk and jumped straight onto a bike with no stabilizers and disappeared off. I took him out for his first off-road ride last weekend and he was a natural, fell off a few times going over roots but got straight up and tried again until he nailed it.

batmo

Balance bikes seem to be for those parents too posh to take the pedals off an ordinary kids bike.

Teaching adults is a bit different, it always surprises me which people pick things up more easily. I have a recumbent (see pic over there <<<) which needs a slightly different technique when setting off from an upright bike. My younger brother rides an MTB reasonably regularly but took a whole afternoon to get the hang of it (he would not quit till he could do it mind). My Dad, who is 70+ and not ridden any bike for 40 years, set off perfectly on his first attempt and cruises around without so much as a wobble...