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Tesla Balance Bike

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Re: Tesla Balance Bike

#71

Post by giamma »

bko wrote: post #35
giamma wrote: post #13

This is a balance bike meant to attract the dads who are fans of the brand rather than a balance bike meant to be good for kids. First the handlebar is too large for small hands and comes with no grips, second the top tube is too wide to be comfortable between the legs and the whole frame is just edges. If you want a good balance bike look for brands like prevelo [0] or woom [1] who have been designing kid bikes for…

Am I just out of the loop but is $200+ for a children's bike absolutely insane?

It depends what you do with such bikes. My son at 5 y.o. rode green trails in a bike park with a woom bike (not a balance bike), and I have seen other dads bring kids with balance bikes to bike parks.

If that is your objective you are ok to spend a few hundred dollars on a kid bike if that gives you the hope you will be saving a lot more than that from the dentist.

This said, a dad like me whose passion are expensive bikes, is very likely to be willing to spend a few hundreds on a kids bike, especially if you have more than one kid and you plan to pass the bike to the other son when the elder one outgrows it.

Re: Tesla Balance Bike

#72

Post by sudobash1 »

SwellJoe wrote: post #6

Every bike is a balance bike. That's how bikes work.

I believe it is called that because it is meant for learning to balance on a bicycle (as opposed to training wheels which, as commonly used, are mostly helpful in learning to pedal, but not balance). There are many other brands of "balance bike". The term is generic enough that it got its own Wikipedia page about 20 years ago.

Re: Tesla Balance Bike

#73

Post by Yizahi »

beAbU wrote: post #65
Yizahi wrote: post #63

Aren't so called "balance bikes" very dumb and also mildly harmful for kids? Why not just buy a proper bike with sidewheels, and after a few weeks just drop them and kid will learn to ride bicycles properly now? Instead of both not learning anything and endangering pedestrians and himself on the "balance bike"?

You can start a kid on a balance bike at like 9 months. There are no pedal bikes with training wheels that's small enough for a 9 month old. No responsible parent will allow a child on a balance bike (or one with training wheels) in any scenario where they'll 'endanger' anything. Balance bikes teach you to ride a bike (maintain balance while steering). Training wheels teach you to pedal a bike. Learning balancing and…

1. Assuming there is a real proven age gap and balance bike allows a noticeably earlier start than a real bike with side wheels - what is the purpose of doing that in the first place? What will kid learn in the gap period specifically? Just balancing? Well, maybe that's beneficial.

I have googled and the quick search tells me that the gap is between 6 to 12 month.

2. I have never ever in my life seen even one balance bike with brakes. So as soon as a kid can "glide" on it, he is a danger to himself and to the people around.

Does learning balance a bit earlier outweigh the danger? I don't know.

As an adult I try to walk as far as possible from kids on these balance bikes, unless parent is holding their hand or handlebar. Getting hit at a significant speed in the leg is not fun.

Re: Tesla Balance Bike

#74

Post by foco_tubi »

cromulent wrote: post #27
foco_tubi wrote: post #12

technically this is a hobby-horse, not a bike

A dandy-horse, or a velocipede.

My first bike shop job, we had an old crazy guy who scooted around town on his draisienne (read: a regular bike with a big ol' wooden dowel in place of the crankset). Not sure it really caught on.

Re: Tesla Balance Bike

#75

Post by foco_tubi »

bko wrote: post #35
giamma wrote: post #13

This is a balance bike meant to attract the dads who are fans of the brand rather than a balance bike meant to be good for kids. First the handlebar is too large for small hands and comes with no grips, second the top tube is too wide to be comfortable between the legs and the whole frame is just edges. If you want a good balance bike look for brands like prevelo [0] or woom [1] who have been designing kid bikes for…

Am I just out of the loop but is $200+ for a children's bike absolutely insane?

There is a significant jump in quality between a bike-shaped object at Walmart and a name-brand kid’s bike at your local bicycle shop. There is also a significant jump in price.

Re: Tesla Balance Bike

#77

Post by Mawr »

Yizahi wrote: post #63

Aren't so called "balance bikes" very dumb and also mildly harmful for kids? Why not just buy a proper bike with sidewheels, and after a few weeks just drop them and kid will learn to ride bicycles properly now? Instead of both not learning anything and endangering pedestrians and himself on the "balance bike"?

5 year olds on balance bikes are endangering pedestrians?

Re: Tesla Balance Bike

#78

Post by foco_tubi »

Yizahi wrote: post #63

Aren't so called "balance bikes" very dumb and also mildly harmful for kids? Why not just buy a proper bike with sidewheels, and after a few weeks just drop them and kid will learn to ride bicycles properly now? Instead of both not learning anything and endangering pedestrians and himself on the "balance bike"?

No. They are widely considered to be one of the best ways to learn balance and steering as well as developing coordination and core strength. The bike is not physically capable of reaching a high speed on flat ground due to the lack of a geared propulsion system. Generally they result in a faster transition to pedaling two wheels than by using training wheels on a “normal” bike.

Re: Tesla Balance Bike

#79

Post by reaperducer »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #48
alterom wrote: post #3

....Why?!

Because they failed to get any other working new products to the market. Tesla semi? new roadster? Updates to their existing models? Tunnels? All announced years ago, nothing released. Cybertruck is the only released new product that made some waves, and it failed, did not meet sales targets, definitely does not meet any requirements for a truck. Less than 100K sold, 20% of which to Musk's own companies ( https://www…

Tesla semi?

Well, that did make it to market. One of them killed two people near Reno recently.

https://electrek.co/2026/07/01/tesla-semi-first-fatal-crash-...

Re: Tesla Balance Bike

#80

Post by beAbU »

Yizahi wrote: post #73
beAbU wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can start a kid on a balance bike at like 9 months. There are no pedal bikes with training wheels that's small enough for a 9 month old. No responsible parent will allow a child on a balance bike (or one with training wheels) in any scenario where they'll 'endanger' anything. Balance bikes teach you to ride a bike (maintain balance while steering). Training wheels teach you to pedal a bike. Learning balancing and…

1. Assuming there is a real proven age gap and balance bike allows a noticeably earlier start than a real bike with side wheels - what is the purpose of doing that in the first place? What will kid learn in the gap period specifically? Just balancing? Well, maybe that's beneficial. I have googled and the quick search tells me that the gap is between 6 to 12 month. 2. I have never ever in my life seen even one balance…

1. I think the point is they learn the more difficult skill first, which is balancing. It's low enough to the ground that the kid can balance with their feet, but they will naturally start picking up their feet when they get some momentum and speed going. I think it's a much less stressful way to learn riding a bike compared to knowing mommy-or-daddy-might-let-go-and-I-will-fall school of training.

2. A very quick google search got me this¹. More than half the balance bikes on there have brakes. I've seen similar on other bike websites. I agree it's irresponsible to not have brakes, especially for the bigger kid models.

I have a 7 month old now. I want to get her on a balance bike before the end of the year, or maybe start with a trike. Exclusively indoors, or under very strict supervision from me if we are anywhere outside. As soon as she's big enough, she'll get the smallest "big" bike where I have removed the pedals, but we have the front and back brakes present. Then she'll continue balance-biking on there till she's ready for the pedals.

1: https://www.decathlon.ie/8104-balance-bikes-tricycles

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