The Marketing Scam of Balance Bikes
How the bikes help with balance is all a con
“Children can start riding balance bikes when they’re around 18-months to two years old, and little ones up to around the age of five enjoy them. In most cases, children will move on to a bike with pedals at around the age of four.”
Childhood Memories
It was a summers day. I had taken my son off to the park to learn how to bike. I remembered my Dad doing likewise back when I was a child. I thought it’ll take some time. There’ll be tears. A bloody knee or two. Some war stories to retell with friends over dinner. I never believed it would be an impossible task.
My son was four. I was nine when I learnt how to ride a bike. It had more to do with economics that my son was going to learn at an earlier age than me. I grew up on the streets of London from a family who scraped for every penny. Finally, at nine, I got a BMX ! Blue and yellow. It was prize possession.
In the park that day, I held the back of my sons’ two wheeler. The stabilizers were off. We stood near the bandstand on the soft grass. His mum insisted he wore a helmet. I laughed. I didn’t believe he’ll need it cycling on grass. Still, good safety habits begin at an early age.
