Balance bikes are very popular in Europe and I’ve read that they’re starting to catch on in North America now as well. They’re great because kids learn to balance on the bike without having to worry about learning to pedal at the same time, letting them bike at an earlier age (2 years old is the start age typically given by the balance bike manufacturers).
Last summer, the German consumer testing magazine Stiftung Warentest tested kids’ balance bikes (Kinderlaufräder). I was really surprised by their findings: that 11 out of 15 were unacceptable due to harmful chemicals found in the handles, tires and seat, and 4 of those were found to have illegal chemicals (those four, marked by an asterisk below, are now off the market and if you bought one, you should take it back to the store immediately). They also suggested that any bike purchased should have an adjustable seat that can be changed without tools. For small children, a lightweight bike with a low frame that’s easy to mount was suggested. Here’s their ratings of the tested bikes:
Good:
Satisfactory:
Acceptable:
Unacceptable:
- Firstbike Big Apple*
- Nic Runnic
- Prince Junior Draisy
- Puky LR1
- Big Bobby-Runner
- Velowalker
- Ferbedo Runbike Alu
- Coolproducts Rennrad 14″*
- Joey by Hudora Sauseschritt
- Monz Mini Viper*
- Kawasaki MX Trainer*
I went to each of the manufacturer websites to add the links above. I was expecting, now that it’s 6 months out from the test, to find “New and improved” versions of the above products, or completely new replacements, for the models judged unacceptable. I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised that instead, I found many of the manufacturers had notes up that although they had received an unacceptable rating, there was no proof that, for example, phthalates are bad or chemical X is harmful. I guess we should at least be thankful that they acknowledged the rating.
Still, this is a little frightening. If even many of the wooden balance bikes, which I would have thought of as safer, have harmful chemicals in their plastic and rubber parts, what the heck are we as parents to do?
Since Oliver is approaching 2 years, and I do want to get him a balance bike, I did some checking. In addition to the Kettler and Kokua bikes which rated well, I added to consideration two untested bikes, the Skuut wooden balance bike and the Wishbone bike ultimate pre-bike, two eco-friendly companies.
The CEO of Skuut left us a comment after I posted this review, stating:
The Skuut has been designed with all safety precautions in mind. It has passed EVERY available test and has received every certificate necessary. There are NO harmful chemicals (including phthalates, lead, etc) in any of the parts. We are equally concerned about the environment, and childrens´health, so we are committed to absolute safety. Furthermore, to help protect the environment, we plant a tree for every Skuut sold, to have a net positive impact on the environment. Plus, The Skuut is substantially more affordable than any of our competitors.
I love the tree planting, and the US price is hard to beat, at $99 ordered direct off their website, however, I’m in Europe, and the only European distibutor listed is in Denmark and I can’t read Danish (although I can see that it’s marked down DKK100 to DKK599,00 right now). I did a Google.de search and was unable to find any German retailers as of February 19, 2009.
So I checked out the Wishbone. According to the Wishbone website:
Every Wishbone Bike has 60% post-consumer recycled plastic wheels, is made from sustainably managed woods and is bonded and finished with eco-friendly products. The Bike box and all printed material inside is recycled and printed with non-toxic inks.
This, and the fact that it starts as a trike, then can be transformed to a small balance bike, then later to a taller bike, making it usable for kids aged 1–5, has made up my mind. As soon as spring arrives, I’ll be ordering a Wishbone pre-bike for Oliver. It goes for €189 in Germany from Babydeluxe.de or $249.99 from the SkipHop website in the US. Wishbone is a New Zealand company selling worldwide. International distributors are listed on the Wishbone website.
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I have a balance bike for The Boy, but I think its manufacturer is Specialized? I’ll have to look. He really likes it, and it looks like a big boy bike minus the pedals, so I think he’ll continue to like it even when his friends have training wheels, which I was trying to avoid.
Thank you for this thoughtful article.
Since our product, The Skuut, is prominently displayed, we feel compelled to add our thoughts. The Skuut has been designed with all safety precautions in mind. It has passed EVERY available test and has received every certificate necessary. There are NO harmful chemicals (including phtalates, lead, etc) in any of the parts. We are equally concerned about the environment, and childrens´health, so we are committed to absolute safety. Furthermore, to help protect the environment, we plant a tree for every Skuut sold, to have a net positive impact on the environment. Plus, The Skuut is substantially more affordable than any of our competitors.
If you have any questions regarding any part of our bike, our warranties, etc, please feel free to look at our website http://www.skuut.com or email us at sales@skuut.com.
Peter Emblad
CEO, Skuut,LLC
Wow. Thanks for this review. I’ve been wanting to get Bubba Joe a bike for his birthday in May and wondered about these types of bikes.
WONDERFUL review. Yet again, I will make an informed purchase based on this website.
Thanks again for the awesome job!
@Maria: Would love to know what brand it is!
@Peter: Thanks for the info, I’m going to update the post and add it in there.
@Alice: Glad to help!
I have had an interest in the Rennrad 14″ bike, and have searched for the article as per your info above (the article in teh Stiftung Warentest)
The article that I got from their website does not mention anything about any products that were found to be unacceptable due to harmful chemicals found in the handles, tires and seat, and 4 of those were found to have illegal chemicals (those four, marked by an asterisk below, are now off the market and if you bought one, you should take it back to the store immediately).
Maybe you have a different article – could you please e-mail me the article that mentions the above.
Thanks
Monika
@Monika: The article appeared in the 18.07.2008 issue and is available on the Stiftung Warentest website: Kinderlaufräder: Gift in den Griffen. Here is the relevant section from that article:
Thanks so much for the review. You can add the park racer bike to your unacceptable category. My son just got one this weekend. It’s cute but poor design. The seat is too high even on it’s lowest setting and the handle bars are too far away and to low. My son was struggling to ride while another little boy about the same size went whizzing by on a better designed balance bike. Don’t waste your money on this one.
I bought a Strider balance bike for my son when he was 1.5 yrs old. He feel in love with it and was balancing by 2. Beware of the handlebars on the metal bikes…he fell and the end of the handlebar cut his lip all the way through about a half inch up(Cut Tennis balls and stick them on the ends asap). Three hours at the ER and 9 stitches later he still loves his bike.
He’s 2.5 yrs old now and wants a bike with pedals…I’m unable to find one that is small enough. The closest is a 10″ Radio Flyer…it’s still too tall for him and it doesn’t have brakes!
Anyway, balance bikes are the only way to go! It’s so exciting watching your child accomplish such a feat at such a young age.
Balance bikes are great for really young kids learning to ride a two wheeler on their our. But my two sons rode bikes with training wheels until they were 4 and 6. They developed balance on their two wheel scooters. When they wanted to learn riding their bike without the training wheels, I did the run-behind-the-bike-thing, and because of their time spent on scooters, they got the hang of the bike real fast. I ran behind each of them for less than a minute each. Don’t forget to make them wear a helmet.