Smart Gear Smart Balance Bike - Classic Style

 

Smart Gear Smart Balance Bike - Classic Style

 

List Price : $89.99
Price : $72.99
You Save : $17.00 (19%)

Product Description

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Designed for children from two years old and up, Smart Gear Balance Bikes allow children to learn the balance and motor skills necessary for biking, safely and naturally, without relying on training wheels. The two-wheel, pedal-free bike allows kids to run the bike along and eventually learn to coast with their feet up. This natural and kid-oriented approach to biking helps kids develop the confidence to balance the bike while moving and liberates them from the crutch of training wheels--so that they can bike earlier.
Coming in renewable birch wood, the Classic Smart Balance Bike features comfortable rubber grips, a cushioned leatherette seat, and a limited steering radius to prevent jackknifing. The pneumatic wheels provide a softer, more resilient ride, and are equipped with longer fill valves to make it easier to secure the pump to the tire. The spoke-less wheels are designed for greater safety--to prevent small legs from getting caught when in motion. A five-position adjustable seat with a height range from 12.5 to 17.5 inches allows the bike to grow with your child for years of use. Finally, a unique, integrated carry handle on the frame makes it easy for an adult to carry the bike to and from the car, and also allows a child to push the bike along more easily.
Key Features:

• Pneumatic (inflatable) rubber tires with extra long tub valves
• Spoke-less wheel discs
• Rubberized handle bar grips
• Limited steering radius
• Cushioned leatherette seat
• Unique, integrated carry handle
• Intended for ages two years old and up
• Five-position adjustable seat height--from 12.5 to 17.5 inches
• Maximum weight of 60 pounds
• Dimensions: 35 by 15.5 by 22 inches (LxWxH)
• Made from replenish-able birch wood
• Formaldehyde free glue
• Non-toxic paints and lacquer
• Carton made from recycled paper with water based ink printing

Sustainable Construction:Smart Balance Bikes are made from birch wood that has been harvested from a replenish-able source. The bikes are built using formaldehyde-free glue as well as non-toxic paints and lacquer. The carton the bike comes in, is made from recycled paper with water based ink printing.
About Balance Bikes:Traditional toddler bikes with training wheels don't necessarily train or teach a child how to ride a bicycle. The training wheels do not allow kids as much opportunity to feel the motion-propelled balance of two-wheel biking. By contrast, two-wheel balance bikes allow the child to run the bike along and learn to balance as they develop speed and confidence. As the child grows confident with their forward motion, they begin to lift their feet off of the ground and balance the bike as they coast forward. If the bike starts to fall, kids can regain their balance quickly and easily by dropping their feet to the ground.

Smart Gear wooden Balance bikes (often referred to as "run bikes" or "training bikes" because they are pedal free and without training wheels) help a child develop the most important skills necessary to later ride a 2 wheel bicycle with pedals: BALANCE and MOTOR SKILLS. Smart Gear Balance bikes were designed to develop a child's balance and coordination by simply allowing the child to sit and walk or run with the bike by pushing with their feet. If the bike starts to fall, kids instinctively regain their balance using their feet. Once they've gained some momentum and balance control they can lift their feet up as they feel comfortable and start cruising! It is also suitable for children who need to be encouraged with motor skill development and therapeutic training. Traditional toddler bikes with "training wheels" don't necessarily train or teach a child how to ride a bicycle. The training wheels are merely a crutch that give the child a false sense of security and merely keep the child busy or entertained rather than actually helping the child develop the necessary skills to ride a bicycle. These bikes are made of birch wood from a replenishable source, using formaldehyde-free glue and non-toxic paints and laquer. Real inflatable PAC-free rubber tires, foam handle bar grips, cushioned leatherette seat and a unique carry handle are incorporated in the bike's body.
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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 35 x 15.5 x 22 inches ; 11 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B001AIONOU
• Item model number: SG311C33
  

Product Features

• Wooden balance bike with five-position adjustable seat height to grow with child
• Rubberized handle bar grips for comfort; limited steering radius to prevent jackknifing
• Pneumatic rubber tires and spoke-less wheel discs for safety
• Unique carry handle incorporated in the bike's body
• Renewable birch wood construction and non-toxic building materials; recommended for ages two years old and up

Customer Reviews

I just got this bike in the mail for my daughter yesterday. I went with this one because it is not too expensive and because it has no advertisement on it. Walmart and Target are selling a similar red wooden balance bike for 54 dollars, but it has this huge Elmo face on the front. I considered the Skutt too, but went with this one for no real particular reason other than I liked the looks of this one over the Skutt. My daughter was EXTREMELY excited. We just got back from 6 months in Hungary where this type of bike is very popular. Our daughter just turned 2, and the bike is a little bit big for her. She needs to grow about an inch more. The materials seem very good. The only unfortunate thing, which we resolved, was that when the bike came, although it was extremely easy to put together, the front and back tires would not inflate. We suspected the inner tubes had holes, and low and behold, when I took them both out (I can change tires on bikes easily), I found the front tube had a half-inch slice in it, and the back tube had a puncture near the value. Luckily, I had my tube patch kit and I fixed them. I don't know how this happened--whether in shipping or if the holes happened when the bike parts were assembled in factory. But problem solved at no expense and with just about an hour of my time. So thus far we are happy with the bike--just a little annoyed at the company. I wonder if they have quality control that could check for this "tube" problem. I was surprised there are no reviews for this bike so I thought I would post one. I guess this bike is new on the market.

I read as many reviews on push bikes as I could before ordering this and wanted to give a comprehensive review after having for a month. I did appreciate the comment suggesting just leaving the pedals off a standard bike until our child is ready for pedals, but I think we did well getting this for under seventy, including shipping, and we'll be able to sell it for half that, or better, after our two kids have outgrown it. I was willing to go as high as eighty for a used push bike, and was very happy to find such a deal for a new one.
We ordered this for our first child and she loves it. She is 3.75 years-old and a little tall for her age.
She was very excited to unpackage and assemble it with me, which was a snap, and she rode it on our laminate flooring that night. The design is such that when the bike is on its side, only the tires and the rubber handlebar grip touch the floor, i.e. no wooden parts or bolts ding my floor when it falls over. We haven't had any trouble with the tires not holding air.
We took it outside the next day and she just wanted to ride her trike, but by the end of the day she wanted to ride "the wooden bike" more.
We are fortunate to have a bunch of walking paths in the woods near our home and we prefer to ride there to enjoy the scenery, and so that fall are softer, but this bike does great on pavement, trails and indoors. The tires are knobby, but we'll never take it out in the mud and slicks or semi-slicks would be fine on the trails we'll be on.
The bike is quite light and she has no trouble picking it up or pushing it. However, for the first couple weeks she was slower riding her bike than when we go "walking." That isn't entirely fair of me to say because she almost never walks and usually runs circles around me. So, she is a much faster runner than rider. She has gotten faster on the bike, but will probably always be faster on foot.
When we stray far from home, I always end up carrying it a ways, and of coarse up and down any steep hills. I expected this, but thought it was worth mentioning here.
The handle cut into the frame is handy, but the position/angle of the handle is a little off such that the rear wheel hangs lower than the front and I end up carrying its weight mostly on my pinky and ring fingers. Actually, I usually carry it with my hand between the handlebar grips. This is my only complaint about the bike, and isn't a big enough deal to dock the review a star. The bike is light enough for me to carry without the handle.
We initially put it together with the seat in the lowest position and immediately saw that this was much too low. I moved it up to the second highest position and that looked pretty comfortable for her, but I was disappointed that she'd only fit it until she outgrew the next height.
She asked a couple days ago if she could have the seat lowered and now it is in the third highest position, and looks like a fair fit, and she reports that she likes it better there. Still, I think she'll be ready for a pedal bike before she would have outgrown just one more notch. I wish that for her height, the handlebars we higher, but when our second child starts riding it, I'll be glad they are as low as they are.
We've had to explain this bike to so many neighbors that she now calls it her balance bike, which is more apt.
Our daughter still over-steers, but is getting better and corrects well. She's had a few wrecks, but has walked away from all of them on her own. The lightness of the bike, and lack of protruding parts contribute to this.
We also have a tag-along bike, a single wheel on an arm that attaches to my seatpost, a seat and a pair of pedals. I think that we'll hold off on that until she is a little taller, but between the two, I think she'll be ready for a pedal bike by next summer.
We have a younger child also and fully expect the balance bike to be in great condition when he is tall enough to start riding it. It is a quality bike and will take all the riding we'll be able to give it.
One note on style, we too liked that this was mostly unbranded. It does have a small label on the front, but we planned on our daughter putting some removable vinyl stickers all over it and didn't want some character's face on the bike. We asked if she wanted to decorate it and she said she likes it just the way it is.

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