Two Unique & Very Expensive Balance Bikes for Little Shredders
At the end of 2020 Specialized launched its very light full carbon version of its Hotwalk strider bike, but recently two other brands have created some new balance bikes that could rival it for expense and weight.
Firstly there is the Cycles Léon 12" balance bike built using the brand's expertise with titanium that also features a lightweight carbon fork and wheels. Cycles Léon has paired this to aluminum bars, stem and seatpost for what is a very clean and futuristic looking bike. When creating its titanium balance bike, Cycles Léon decided to only make 10 available to purchase for a price of €1100 or around $1200. For this cost you get a bike weighing just 2.5kg, which if you are counting grams, is 400 grams heavier than the Specialized but it does get bonus style points for having a titanium frame.
An even more exclusive balance bike we have spotted recently is this nearly completely custom build from Light-Wolf. The German custom bike and wheel building company wanted a project to keep them entertained through the winter so decided to order a complete carbon balance bike from AliExpress. Once it arrived, they stripped it down and started a very special rebuild that barely left any of the original bike outside of the frame.
The original balance bike from China already matched the Specialized Hotwalk at 2.13kg but by the end of the project Light-Wolf had managed to cut 13% of the weight and the final build hits the scales at a tiny 1.8kg.
Light-Wolf's build is not for sale but we can bet it would be very hard on the wallet. One benefit Light-Wolf does mention with this special bike is it is a lot easier to carry once your child has become too tired to ride.
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If you're so high and mighty about this idea, why do you even mountain bike? That's money that could be used to send to starving children. Same for your computer or anything else frivolous you've ever purchased. Sell your computer while you're at it.
I swear, some people are such obnoxious White Knights that they don't even stop to think about how hypocritical they are.
You also had a choice to read the article,
And then another choice to comment on it.
I’m willing to bet that the hits that PinkBike got on the speckalized carbon strider bike, made putting this on their front page a no-brainer.
You’re welcome to make different choices, and not engage in any item that you find not to your liking. I however enjoyed skimming the article, looking at some super cool strider bikes, and thought, lucky kids get to rip some super cool strider bikes…..
Make better choices for yourself
I get your point, but there are several much more practical balance bike for kids.
What looks like limited adjustment is a concern straight away, kid grow very quickly.
Decent manufacturs also have a range of sizes available, a back brake is also a helpful addition.
#godforgiveme
You were originally griping about how Pinkbike shouldn’t include this in their news feed..
I pointed out that you had several opportunities to ignore it, but you didn’t (making questionable choices for yourself)
I think it showcased some cool strider bikes
I’d love to hear your justification for that…
"If we shouldn't have a strider bike, why should I have electricity? I should be making as much money as possible through ethical channels and giving it all away! Hell, I shouldn't have children because they're a huge expense and I could use that money to better the lives of others! Even better, I should kill myself because I use so many resources that would be better served helping others!" Flip the easy fallacy in the other direction and you start getting stuff like, "With all that money, why doesn't Jeff Bezos buy all of the avocados from Mexico just for the heck of it?" Yeah, he could do it and it wouldn't be infringing on someone's rights—they're selling and he's buying—but it would still be an a*shole move that decreases the welfare of others.
That's what all this sounds like, and yeah, you could do all of those things, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that a carbon strider bike for something that barely knows it exists is less important than helping out someone who is struggling. Be the nice person who decides to buy the cheaper strider bike and give a little of that income away. Also, people who don't talk about how much they make are either ashamed that what they do isn't worth what they're paid for it or they're trying to keep someone else from making more. Don't buy a carbon strider bike, and while you're at it don't make one either.
Willing to bet that titanium strider bike lasts way beyond your current bike. Prolly past down through several kids, might even be way better maintained in the process.
We tend to take better care of those costly investments, than the dollar store ones.
So, a way better value than the expensive sneakers, and even exaggeration your $12,000 sneaker is a pretty silly comparison.
Thank you. I was trying to add a similar thought to this conversation, however, you have done a far better job at saying what I was trying to, so just wanted to say thanks.
For the rest of the reading public, I will politely add, if you are commenting here as someone who
a) was born into, and has only lived in, what may be loosely termed a "liberal western society" and
b) believes in the inalienable rights of the freedom of the individual,
then I would tentatively suggest that were you to leave, and spend a significant proportion of your life living in a society born out of, and built upon a different cultural and historical tradition, you may begin to see the potential advantages not only to others, but also to yourself, of alternative viewpoints based on tempering one's personal desires with a recognition of one's place within a wider community.
This is not to say you should, nor are under any obligation to do so, since I, nor anyone else, have the right to tell you what to do with your life, or your money.
I bid you have a fine day, and hope you are reading this from a place more peaceful and stable than some find themselves today.
However, it is my experience that whilst one can look from one's own society at others built on different footings, one is mistaken if one thinks one truly understands what one is looking at, until one ventures beyond and spends a similar length of time therein.
As a result, it is difficult to make truly objective judgements about which may be preferable from within the walls of one's own society. It may just be that both are preferable, just at different times and in different contexts.
Where I live in Japan for example, the government, whilst probably corrupt like any other, has never compelled anyone to wear a mask, just strongly advised it. And whilst one can find some very rare exceptions, everyone generally has chosen to do so. Me too it turns out, although I didn't think I would initially.
Anyway, have a great day Sir, and enjoy.
You Americans are getting of track from your capitalist society, seems us Canadians are making up for it.
None of these comments are objective you absolute muffin stump.
I'm interested in the lesson we're teaching the (dentist's) kid receiving this gauche little bauble.
If they can actually comprehend the difference between one of these stupidly over-engineered machines over a £50 Stompee or Strider, they may well get the idea that they are better than other kids because they have more expensive stuff.
That's gonna blow back on them pretty hard when they get smoked by their peers riding pig iron.
Also bike cost within ballpark of the MTB hardtail
Who cares about other comments, they got nothing to do with your panty waste. You still got to clean that up on your own.
Why there would be such strong dislike for a company that likely none of us are even remotely invested in is boggling to me.
Both companies built what look to be super cool strider bikes (do props to them I say) Neither is going out of their way to mass market them, so even less concern to all of us, and if they did, who cares…..we are all a bunch of adults riding bicycles around in the woods for recreation. There’s little to nothing humble, noble, or life saving about that.
This has absolutely no negative impact on anyone.
Hope you can rest easy there clown-shoes
This one was free and just as cool.
the strider will likely last longer by virtue of it not being used longer than a year or so by the original owner, so ya....no shit it's going to be in good condition lol.
Maybe if they have a ton of kids it will keep getting passed down, but that's a very specific rich person we're talking about. I'd wager there are more rich people that make ego purchases, than give hand-me-downs to their numerous children.
I know the sneaker analogy was silly, that's the point. Spending a significant amount of money on something your kid will outgrow in a year is silly imo. thanks for playing
It’s literally no different, maybe you’ve all forgotten that just because someone has the option to use a motor, they make all sorts of different choices.
My daughter rips on her BMX (she has a BMX background), her mountain bike, her kayak, her XC skis,…but also on her dirt bike, her downhill skis, on a jet ski, etc. The choice to add a motor to a recreational sport doesn’t mean you stop doing the other.
Everyone needs to climb down off their high horses and chill. Pre-judging people based on the their choice of recreation says more about you as a person than it does about them…
Slagging a child, or their parent cause they’re using an e-scooter is, well it’s pretty shitty
Average parent, my daughter just rocks.
You mentioned “entitled fat kid in the making” in your original post, then “throwing shade on the parent”
I guess that’s what drove me to comment in the first place.
Was I taking your comments out of context somehow?
Editor- "Ummm...i've been sitting on this story for such a day as this..."
But, HUGE waste of money that could be better spent...?
Paging @dangerholm
He has got a balance bike though. It cost me £30 second hand and he loves it.
It might sound silly, but at smaller wheel sizes the difference in rollover can be pretty significant.
I'm gonna crank that out this afternoon right after I finish my lunch loop, and drop off my SB130 Lunch Ride with my domestique for a full rebuild.
Buddy Lindsay, 3rd ranked UCI DHX (under age 4) swears by these.
Carbon and titanium are for paupers, let’s go for the really exotic stuff!
Come on PB, have the common decency to use a tag for shit like this that we can easily block from our feeds without missing actual content.
vitusbikes.com/products/nippy-balance-bike
vitusbikes.com/products/smoothy-balance-bike
From past experience, brakes on a 12" bike will slow kids down a little but are completely unreliable if they need to stop quickly or at high speeds.
There's no good way to overcome the physics of a smaller wheel just not having enough contact patch for effective braking.
Or is it wasting R&D and manufacturing capacity to turn out crap like this!?