Tag Archives: balance bike

Meet Bixie, a wooden mini-bicycle that gets kids excited about sustainable healthy living

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If you’re worried that the next generation isn’t interested in toys, books, or playing outdoors, ask yourself… are you really setting the right example? Andrej Kregar makes a pretty insightful comment about how kids emulate their elders, so if you’re attached to your phone all day, chances are your child will follow the trend you set. Keeping that in mind, Kregar decided to not just adopt a healthier lifestyle, but to also give his offspring the tools to live healthy too. It first meant using his smartphone a little less around his child, then taking up bicycling, and then designing the Bixie, a sustainable, eco-friendly bicycle for his daughter that helped her develop a love for cycling while also staying active and therefore healthy.

Bixie is the best way to get children excited about sustainable, healthy living right from the get go. Not only does it promote exercise, but its sustainably built wooden construction introduces eco-friendliness in kids from an early age. Bixie is made from locally sourced beech wood from the Alps. Finished with natural oils and waxes, the wood is lightweight, sturdy, weather-proof, yet completely biodegradable, and a 100% non-toxic.

The bicycle’s frame was designed for children from ages 1.5 to 4, getting them excited about exercise, traveling, and spending time outdoors. The wooden construction makes it biodegradable and eco-friendly, while providing the same durability as metal. The bike comes with an adjustable seat, and doesn’t use any plastic in its construction, or even glue for that matter. The bike relies on traditional wooden fixtures, and is, for the most part, completely recyclable. The handlebars and saddle both come made with authentic handmade leather, providing comfort as well as a touch of tan to the beechwood’s light brown hue, while the inflatable wheels remain perhaps the only standardized part on the otherwise mindfully designed bicycle.

Bixie started as a gift from Andrej to his daughter, and then blossomed into a crowdfunding campaign to allow more parents to do the same for their children. Designed for kids up to the age of four, Bixie comes without pedals, and is a wonderful toy to help exercise a kid’s motor skills, while nurturing in them an appreciation for wandering, the outdoors, and more importantly, love for the environment!

Designers: Andrej Kregar & Kreatif Design

Click Here to Buy Now: $149 $249 (40% off). Hurry, only 4/49 left!

Bixie: Minimalist Wooden Balance Bike for Kids

Bixie balance bike is an all-natural design and sustainable solution to learn cycling. With the use of natural materials for its construction, the product improves environmental issues. The product is made for children from 1.5 to 4 years of age.

Healthy & eco-friendly. Bixie is made of natural European beechwood with the least amount of glue and wood. Glue does not have any harmful ingredients like Formaldehyde (classified as cancer-causing substance). Formaldehyde is often present in plywood balance bikes.

Learn to ride pedal bikes faster with Bixie. Unlike tricycles and training wheels, it is light and easy to ride, kids can move quickly and safely over uneven surfaces, providing them with much fun and independent riding before the time comes for pedal bikes.

Children who improve their balance at a young age have better coordination when they grow up. Learning to keep balance is a significant part of children’s development, not just in sports, but also in other activities. Kids who use a balance bike are confident enough to move quickly and explore the environment by themselves.

Design Features

Bixie has a unique wooden frame made of natural solid beech wood making their balance bike eco-friendly, light (total weight 3.4kg/7.5lbs) and sustainable.

Bixie has adjustable saddle height and has a unique seat clamp solution not seen anywhere else.

Story & Product Development

Andrej Kregar got the idea of creating a wooden balance bike when his daughter celebrated her 1st birthday. He listened to his daughter’s wish to have a balance bike that looks like a real bike because children want to have copies of the things their parents have.

Trained as an architect and an industrial designer, he decided to design and develop a sustainable, natural and plastic-free bicycle for his child to grow with it. The designing process of Bixie was bumpy but fulfilling, to make something enjoyed by children, liked by parents and harmless to the environment and society. 83% of Bixie is locally sourced and locally made.

Click Here to Buy Now: $149 $249 (40% off). Hurry, only 4/49 left!

This kids cycle literally grows with them

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I remember that episode in FRIENDS, where Phoebe claims she had never ridden a bicycle as a kid and Ross gifts her one. Even as an adult, with training wheels on, she refused to get on the bike, for the fear of falling down and hurting herself. The key to learning cycling is to know how to balance the bike. AKO – ‘learning’ in Mahori – is a balance bike designed for kids.

The intuitive step-by-step process with which a child learns to ride, is visibly cued into the design language of the cycle. Even the braking system is refined, so that its instinctive for a child to learn how to break, when they feel overwhelmed while learning to ride.

The lightweight frame has a perforated body, so that you can scale the body, up and down, and adjust the seating for the child. I like how they have shaped the cycle to have a low center of gravity – thus making it easier to balance the bike. Moreover, if the child falls, the side guards on the rear wheel, ensure that the child doesn’t get trapped under the cycle and can easily getaway.

Overall a very well thought-out bike redesign for children, keeping their safety and ease of riding in mind. The good thing is that the cycle can be used for several years, as the height can be adjusted to a growing child.

Designers: Corentin Bricout, Prathamesh Thombre, Nicolas Izard, Pralekh Bhuyan, Abhishek Yenji, Sumanyu Patel

Noah is turning 2 and he just received his first bike.

Smart Settings

The graphics on the frame are used as a scale to adjust the height of the seat properly. The tube is tightened by a ring that cannot hurt the kid and doesn’t require any tool.

Lightweight

THe perforated frame and single-sided fork and chain make the bike much lighter, allowing the kids to carry the bike alone.

Weight Management

The way we play with the weight is also important: this specific shape makes the center of gravity lower, the bike is now easier to balance and control.

They designed a bottle holder that kids can also use to carry the “treasures” they find in the park.

Another feature is the GoPro mount located in the handlebar so parents can capture the first reaction of their child on the bike.

To make better use of the perforated frame, they integrated the safety lights and reflectors as customization elements so kids can make their bike unique.

First Step

Once the kid has experienced the first sensations of motion, parents can add the first accessory to the bike. The footrest allows to keep the feet up and discover speed and balance.

Their idea is to integrate the brake levers in the handles so kids simply squeeze the handles to brake. The intention is to give the feeling to the kids more than really braking, to teach them the gesture so they know it before they go for a pedal bike later. Both the levers are linked to a drum brake located on the rear wheel.

To avoid squeezing the handles by mistake or because of the stress at the beginning, the parents can lock or unlock the brakes whenever they feel the kid is ready.

Turning Radius

Keeping in mind the step-by-step learning, parents can adjust the turning radius all along the learning process.

Safety

The last accessory is the drop guard, designed to keep the bike safe in case of a fall but also to resist to the kid’s behavior.

No Fear

The drop guards and the limited turning radius create a gap so the kid cannot be stuck under the bike if he or she falls.

Like Father, Like Son

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Growing up, boys will try and be like their fathers, from emulating the way they walk, through to copying how they sit… and now they can even ride the same bicycles! This eye-catching duo is the Banana 88 bicycles, and whilst almost-identical in form, their function and scale are most certainly different! Naturally, the larger of the two is targeted towards adults; packed into the attention-stealing, yet the friendly, design is an electric motor that propels the user around in an eerily-silent fashion. When it comes to transporting or storing the scooter, its unique form folds up into a compact package, making it ideal for being placed in the car!

The second member of the pair is significantly smaller and does away with the electric motor. Instead, this variant is a balance bike aimed to introduce children into the world of bicycles! The rounded, approachable form makes for a friendly product, and one which ties the two products together, perfectly!

Designer: Rice Mak

Electric Folding Scooter for Adult

Balance Bike for Kids

Working Prototype

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