FirstBIKE Balance Bike; A Review
The folks at FirstBIKE wrote to tell us that they were offering a 25% discount to their “balance bikes” for military personnel and asked me if I wanted to try one out, since my great-grand daughter’s 4th birthday is coming up, I said “Sure!”. My family has always been bicycle-centric, and I know my son-in-law had bought a balance bike for my grandson a few years back and as he approaches 6 year old, he’s already riding a two-wheel bike. So they shipped me a bike.
I had to assemble the thing (like everything else we buy these days) and it took me about 15 minutes. The instructions were clear and well-organized, even the part about putting the stickers on. So, Zaydie, my great grand daughter arrived yesterday. I gave her the bike and her eyes got wide and she got the biggest smile I’d ever seen and she took off with the bike across the driveway;
Now a balance bike doesn’t have pedals so it’s really a tall “Big Wheel” that kids push with their feet and it has hand brakes to help them control their ride. I couldn’t get her off of the bike even when it started to rain. I also got big “grampa points”. So here is First BIKE’s message;
The team at FirstBIKE, a leading designer of balance bikes (http://www.firstbike.com), would like to send its sincerest ‘thank you’ to the men and women who have served this country. FirstBIKE gladly announces military families will receive 25% off of FirstBIKE purchases.
The FirstBIKE’s unique design allows for children as young as 2 years old to enjoy and learn how to ride a bike without training wheels. The bike is comfortable, lightweight and provides children with a no-stress method of learning how to ride.
I always thought training wheels for teaching kids to ride was kind of a crutch, and this balance bike option is a good alternative and helps kids learn to balance themselves at an earlier age than waiting for them to get big enough for a bike with training wheels. And anything that gets them away from the TV and the video games has to be a good idea. And it looks like a good way to score some “cool points”.
A parting shot of Zaydie and her mother;
Category: Who knows
Wow, did not know you are a GREAT Grandfather!
You age well!
🙂
Hey, no PT belt or bike helmet!
j/k… neat concept and nice to see they’re offering military discounts.
Stories like this are how I prefer to start my Sunday morning news feeds.
@NR Pax… Amen.
She looks quite comfortable with it. Any company that “A” has a good product, and “B” has a military friendly business posture is worth my mention. I will post their info on Facebook.
Jonn, you’re the man. Awesome stuff.
This is the kind of news story I like to hear.
What a great great-grandad you are, JL!
New to me and looks like a great idea. Agree with #3 NR Pax, always good to see a cutie pie getting spoiled by Grand Pa.
Awwwwww. Makes we almost wish I had some of those grandchildren. Not quite, but almost.
Nice!
She is a cutie and looks like she is going to have a lot of fun on that bike.
What a beautiful child! Jonn, thanks for this story. It’s nice to have these sorts of things to read about, and counterbalance all the crap going on in the rest of the world.
A first bike with no pedals. That’s and interesting idea. Let’s kids feel safer with their feet on the ground and get used to balance. Wish I had thought of that.
@12 – They’re supposed to improve balance and coordination far more than a bicycle with training wheels.
Next thing you know she’ll be shredding single-track and grinding gravel with the best of ’em!
Oh my gosh … she’s ADORABLE!
Beautiful great granddaughter, Jonn. Now where were those bikes when the boy-child was learning to ride a couple of years ago?
She’s absolutely adorable, Jonn.
And I’ve heard that’s the way to go with kids and bikes. It helps develop their balance at a younger age. Good going!
For those unable to get a balance bike, another alternative is removing the pedals from the bike and let kids coast down a GRASSY slope… relatively soft landings and they learn the ‘balance thing’ quickly.