Free Toddlebike Trial for children aged 18-24 months

Hi Jo,
Just wanted to update you on the arrival of the Toddlebike: We were very happy when we saw how small and light it is and we like the bright colours too. It will be very easy to take to the park - if we ever get a dry-ish weekend! Our 21 month old daughter was immediately interested and shrieked “Oooohhh!” when as she saw it, wanting to get on straight away. We started indoors as soon as it arrived. Tried it in garden on paving and on grass immediately afterwards. Daughter wanted us to put her on it, so we showed her how to get on and off by herself. We noted that initially she walked or ran with the Toddlebike between her legs rather than sitting on the saddle. We think she found it a bit unnatural and something that had to be learned to have to lean forward to reach the bars from sitting on the seat – she always sat down on the seat initially, but then stood up again as soon as her hands were on the handlebars and walked forwards with it between her legs, rather than riding it. After a week of using it for about 3-5 minutes a day she's just started to sit on the tip of the saddle and use her feet to move it forwards. We tried it again in the garden between rain showers over the weekend but so far haven’t taken it further afield. Due to awful weather (heavy rain, hail and high winds!) we’ve not been to the park for two weeks! During the week there isn’t time to go to the park after work before our daughter’s bedtime, so playing in the garden is usually the only outdoor activity she gets with us till the weekend. For this reason we like the fact that the toddlebike is so very useable indoors. This is unlike most other ride-ons or bikes which are generally too large to manoeuvre around a house.

We haven’t seen anything similar to a Toddlebike before. A balance or run bike is definitely a bike with two wheels and quite a tricky thing for a toddler to use – balance and steering has to be learned and takes time. The aluminium balance bike (Islabike Rothan) we already have is too big for our daughter at the moment, being aimed at kids aged 2+ so the Toddlebike may bridge the gap. On the other hand, all the ride-on toys we’ve seen (and we have two) are large, heavy and difficult to steer (steering very limited on some) and in fact really difficult for a toddler to move at all whilst sitting on them so they tend to get frustrated after a few minutes and move onto something else, or simply push the ride-on around (with difficulty) - these toys get very little use. Most ride-on toys seem unsuited to the physical strength and ability of a toddler, being too heavy to move and too difficult to steer to be used much, if at all. The lightness and small size of the Toddlebike must be a big plus in enabling a small toddler to get a decent amount of use out of it. Will try it out at the park this weekend, weather permitting and hope to take a few photos.

"Rider Results from Imogen - 17 Months (via Dad - thanks!)

Imogen – born 03/11/2010. She is an active child who has two older brothers (aged 6 and 8). The children share back gardens with our neighbours who are 13 and 11 years old. To this end, Imogen does spend a significant level of time with older children and will be inspired by their behaviour, toys and hobbies.

Her brothers especially are into their bikes, skateboards and scooters. Therefore, it came as no surprise that Imogen was keen to get going on her own mobile plaything.

The Toddlebike arrived quickly with all relevant packaging and address label intact. The boys ripped open the packaging very quickly and as such, the need for an attractive element to the packaging was somewhat unnecessary. Imogen was more focussed on the outcome of the noise and commotion.

Our first impressions: The bike was very light and easy to carry. The colour choice was questionable (two shades of pink) as it made the Toddlebike appears somewhat cheap. The multi-coloured version shown on the website gives an implicit quality assurance being reminiscent of the Fisher Price toys that we had experienced in our childhood.
From a practical point of view though, the size and weight were preferable to other kiddie scooters we have used (often made of wood).

Imogen’s first impressions: Curiosity was the first thing that stood out. She was immediately happy to straddle the bike and carry it around between her legs.

In terms of RRP of a Toddlebike it does seem good value for £19.95 for the amount of usage the bike has got. However, as there was not an instant ability to ride it then it may not come across as “well spent” straight away and therefore would limit word of mouth marketing.

Imogen did learn in the back garden and indoors but it seemed to come alive as she watched her brothers on skateboards or scooters in the park. The want to go beyond 10 yards drove her to learn what to do with her feet and sort out her propulsion.

This aspect is not something we taught but came more with an increase in her hip width and gait. Until her feet were wide enough to miss the back wheels when she was sat on the saddle, her propulsion was limited. She was clearly frustrated that when copying the flick of the heels seen by her brothers and older friends on scooters and skateboards, her heels were getting continually clipped.

Usage has increased as she can freewheel and use decent levels of leg strength to move forward. Once the heel clipping issue faded the enjoyment, difference to walking and speed all increased. Since then she has managed pavements, parks, indoor areas and gardens.

The big issue in terms of design and usage is getting the balance (excuse the pun) between stability of the device when being straddled versus the conflict of feet movement and wheel positioning.

We have ended up attaching a canvas strap to ours so that the device can be pulled along. This helps with approximate steering and upping momentum for Imogen’s excitement levels."

Photos to follow...

A massive thanks to the Bike Radar Forum members who offered us the services of their Toddler to test ride a Toddlebike for the summer as part of the biggest ever Toddlebike Trial project.

Results are available to view at www.toddlebike.co.uk/2012trial unedited and unabridged with some lovely photos of our baby cyclists and their first foray in to independent riding aged 1.