ZumZum Bikes Wooden Balance Bike Gaining Speed

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This post is brought to you by ZumZum Bikes.

I loved riding my bike as a child. It was fun, got me from point a to point b, and represented a freedom of sorts. I don’t remember learning how to ride it at all. As a parent when my first born was a couple of years old he got his first bike. I remember trying to teach him how to balance the bike, pedal and steer – all at the same time. He did get the hand of it and finally got his balance, after we put training wheels on. A while down the road we decided to take the training wheels off. It was like watching him learn all over again for a couple of days, since now he really had to get everything right or he’d fall.

My youngest child has developmental delays. Some children with Down syndrome have big difficulties riding a bicycle. My younger son was a few years older then my first son had been when he got his bike. He had a little tiny toddler bike with training wheels. He picked it up pretty quickly. I don’t know who was prouder when he started riding, him or us. But, balance was (and is still) an issue. I want to take off the training wheels but am a bit nervous that he won’t be ready. It gets you to thinking that a different way of learning to bicycle could be useful.

I’d never heard of a balance bike until this week. I had seen photos of much older bikes that were similar  but didn’t realize they had a name. Recently the folks at ZumZum Bikes have redesigned the balance bike in an effort to create a bike that makes it easy for young children to learn how to balance themselves on a bicycle and ride. The folks at ZumZum have put a lot of time, thought and energy into this bicycle. Wanting it to be perfect they sought input from mountain biker Steve Peat, the world’s most successful downhill rider.

The ZumZum Bike is designed with children age 18 months to 4 years old. The bike is made of wood. I would have thought that that would cause the bike to be heavy, but the whole bike weights under 8 pounds, which is very lightweight. Besides the weight, another benefit of using birch grown in sustainable forests is that there’s no metal to rust. The bike is suitable for all surfaces, with its non-marking tires even lending themselves to indoor use.

The ZumZum Bike has no pedals. Children sit on the bike and learn to balance themselves, propelling themselves with their feet and then coating. (Remember when you learned how to ride a bike and went down a hill and picked your feet up? Same idea.) As your child grows the bike can be adjusted in size. The lightweight wooden frame and built in seat help create a natural suspension that is built to help protect your child’s spine, particularly when riding on uneven surfaces.

Here’s a brief video explaining the history behind the bike and a bit about how it works.

ZumZum is on Kickstarter right now. If you’re interested in purchasing a bicycle, supporting its production or just feel like making a donation, here’s the info. Bicycles ordered while the project is in the kickstarter phase will have Steve Peat’s signature laser-engraved on the front of the bike.

What tips or steps did you find useful in teaching your child to ride a bicycle?

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