Classic Balance Bike

by Smart Gear

• 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

Product Description

Amazon.com

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.

Product Description

Classic Balance Bike

See all Product Description

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 35 x 15.5 x 22 inches ; 11 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Origin: China
• 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
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,381 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors)
  • #2 in Toys & Games > Bikes, Skates & Ride-Ons > Balance Bikes
  • #55 in Toys & Games > Play Vehicles > Play Vehicles

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

95 of 98 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice balance bike with no advertisement on it July 22, 2008

By M. A. Grandin

Amazon Verified Purchase

Durability: 4.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

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.

85 of 91 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Poorly built knockoff of LIKEaBIKE July 15, 2009

By Bike Geek

Durability: 1.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

The Smart Gear Balance Bike is one of many knockoffs of the LIKEaBIKE. We chose the Smart Gear over the other copies (and the original) because of its low price, not wanting to pay $200-$300 for a wooden push bike. Well, you get what you pay for.

Immediately after purchasing it, I had to replace both tubes. Whoever assembled the wheels at the factory must have used a tool that ended up slicing both tubes. Then, within a few weeks with barely any use, all the plywood started to delaminate--first the wheels, then the main frame, then the seat column. If you look carefully at the plywood, you can see that the inner layers of wood are extremely low-grade.

Once my son grew enough to actually use the balance bike, the axle bolts kept unwinding themselves out of their mating/binding posts. I had to apply nail polish on the threads to stop the unwinding--an old trick I use when wrenching my own stable of 13 bicycles. By the way, the rear axle bolt and its binding post go through the frame's wood at a right angle, but due to the curves of the main frame components, the wood pieces are not parallel; therefore, the rear axle stays constantly bent, putting pressure on the wheel bearings.

Despite the use of sub-par materials and poorly-executed construction, the Smart Gear balance bike is one of my son's favorite toys. He's now quite adept at cruising on the bike, pushing with his feet then bringing them up and steering to stay upright.

I should also mention that unlike many of its competitors, the Smart Gear has a built-in handle. It's very easy to lift and carry the bike--especially handy when we're entering a store or restaurant.

60 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All I can think to say about it. April 26, 2010

By Duane Blanchard

Durability: 4.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 3.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

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. Read more ›

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Looks great. Needs customizing for short kids. October 17, 2011

By AP

Amazon Verified Purchase

I got this balance bike for my son's second birthday. He is a rather short 2-year-old (33") and so I was looking for bikes where you can lower the seat a lot. The product description didn't offer this information but on the smart gear homepage I found the info that you can lower the seat to as as 12,5". After I assembled the bike (which was super-easy, it comes in only three pieces) the lowest seat height measured 15"! :-(
I remembered reading about the skuut that you can lower the seat by flipping the frame. I tried it and it really lowers the bike. The problem was though that the seat now sat at an odd and useless angle. So I took out the bolts that hold the seat, put the seat in its desired position and drilled two new holes for the bolts (took about 10min). In addition I removed the little mud guard from under the seat and was able to lower the seat to under 12"!!! Now my son's feet touch the ground easily.