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Full-suspension balance bikes for kids

By Adam Marsal

If you are thinking about a cycling-related Christmas gift for your kids, this clever thing may be an answer. „When my fiancé got pregnant, I started to think about a new bike for our baby,” Jiri Marjan says. And this is what he did.

Jiri graduated as an industrial engineer and spent more than ten years in development of suspension solutions for companies as Škoda or Author Bicycles. Recently, he founded a company, which is focused mostly on special balance bikes for the youngest riders.

Re pello bicycle

The advantages of balance bikes are well known. They are used as a training bicycles that help children learn balance and steering. Manufacturers of balance bicycles say that children can learn to bicycle faster because they learn to balance and countersteer first and then to pedal later. The drawback is that training wheels slow learning because kids become too dependent on them, acquiring bad habits. But there is always something to be improved. Czech based company Re pello comes with a unique solution.

Re pello bicycle

The brand new company has just started to produce full suspension balance bike even for the smallest kids. Why to enhance simple frames without pedals and drivetrain with such a technology, when the kids would grow up pretty fast anyway? „Suspension is about insulating the fragile child bodies from the roughness of the terrain. But not only that. When riding in rough terrain the vision of the kids get shaken which is rather bad. With the full suspension bike it’s no problem for the small rider to concentrate even on the trails with roots or on the cobblestones,” says Jiri Marjan.

The handmade bicycle frames are made from the birchen plywood, which meets all hygienic standards. The patented suspension system can be adjusted for the kids from 1,5 up to 4 years. Maximum payload is about 25 kilograms. Another advantage is a steering restrictor which prevents oversteering and locking of the handlebars when the front wheel meets some unexpected obstacle.  „Our major goal is safety of the kids. They’re the most precious of what we have,” says Jiri.