[neongreen]

My three year old likes to go biking with me on the local trails on his 12" strider, but the lack of brakes can be a bit challenging. I decided to build him a balance bike with 14" wheels and a rear brake. I chopped up an old Univega Alpina Trail for the tubes, bought a new head tube, pirated wheels and a seat from a 14" strider bike, bought new knobby tires and scrounged up the remaining few parts from amazon or ebay.

For the full story: McDurdle

 

[DETarch]

Really cool, and lucky kid!

I’d love to have the tools/skills just to build frames for my kids as they grow, so that I wouldn’t be at the mercy of the kids bike market.

 

[CLDSDL43]

That's really awesome. Good job.

 

[Sparticus]

Fully cool!
You rool!
=sParty

 

[Jdares]

Wow! Great job

 

[赤♂酱]

 

[pvd]

Pretty good.
It should have gotten a 120mm rear rotor, though.

 

[jsudar]

I love it so much. Good work.
This makes me wish I’d gotten started with frame building when my kids were younger.

 

[neongreen]

Thanks for the kind words guys. It was a fun project, maybe I'll build some more bikes.

Pretty good.
It should have gotten a 120mm rear rotor, though.

Up until now I was unaware that those exist. The smallest I found at the time was 140 so I went with that.

 

[2021Mach6]

My three year old likes to go biking with me on the local trails on his 12" strider, but the lack of brakes can be a bit challenging. I decided to build him a balance bike with 14" wheels and a rear brake. I chopped up an old Univega Alpina Trail for the tubes, bought a new head tube, pirated wheels and a seat from a 14" strider bike, bought new knobby tires and scrounged up the remaining few parts from amazon or ebay.

For the full story: McDurdle

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Thanks for the kind words guys. It was a fun project, maybe I'll build some more bikes.



Up until now I was unaware that those exist. The smallest I found at the time was 140 so I went with that.

That's pretty sick! You're a good Dad for doing that.

Can't help but be a little jealous though. Would love to learn the skills to be able to do that. How much time did that take, and how much did it cost?

 

[gat3keeper]

Wow! Simply wow!



Sent from my 2107113SG using Tapatalk

 

[CrozCountry]

No dropper?

 

[neongreen]

Can't help but be a little jealous though. Would love to learn the skills to be able to do that. How much time did that take, and how much did it cost?

That's a good question. I'd say i spent a few nights a week for two months on it, not counting the internet sleuthing to find parts or methods. Also, this could have been wildly different if I'd had more or less tools at my disposal. As for cost, I'm in the end it probably cost $300 for the bike.

 

[a_j_p]

Has your kid used this much yet? How's the brake working out? Can he reach the brake lever ok and still hang on?

I have been toying with a similar idea in my head for a bit, but for a 16" bike. My older kid's skill far outpaced her hand strength for braking; now that my younger is approaching that size - I'm trying to decide if it's worth building something I can put discs on instead... But none of the brakes I personally have on-hand would he be able to reach so I've been hesitant.

Seeing this thread is slowly convincing me I probably should just figure something out and do it.

 

[jsudar]

I would highly recommend hydraulic disc brakes for kids. Where hand strength is an issue, hydro brakes have so much less parasitic friction than cable operated brakes.
I put these old Juicy’s on my very tiny seven year olds (42 lbs) bike and she loves them. They are very adjustable in regard to getting the lever blade close enough to the grip. Running them slightly more inboard can help as well, for more leverage if the reach to the end of the lever blade isn’t too far.

 

[neongreen]

Has your kid used this much yet? How's the brake working out? Can he reach the brake lever ok and still hang on?

I have been toying with a similar idea in my head for a bit, but for a 16" bike. My older kid's skill far outpaced her hand strength for braking; now that my younger is approaching that size - I'm trying to decide if it's worth building something I can put discs on instead... But none of the brakes I personally have on-hand would he be able to reach so I've been hesitant.

Seeing this thread is slowly convincing me I probably should just figure something out and do it.

We finally got onto the mountain yesterday. He was a little hesitant at first going down hills, but after he got the hang of it (and I told him his bum had to be on the seat for the brakes to work) he started really enjoying it. Obviously it's a little difficult to give a subjective report on brake feel, but they seemed to provide adequate braking. Ideally we'd have a lever that better fits his hand, and there would be just a little less gap to the brake pad, but he never got out of control.

 

[a_j_p]

So I admire your willingness to build a wheel to work for this, but I'm going to try and see if I can't find a wheel set before going that route. The bike I want to make is 16" which coincides somewhat with the folding bike industry and has a few more options.. I haven't found anything yet but am really hoping I will.

Appreciate the response, enjoy the bike

 

[neongreen]

So I admire your willingness to build a wheel to work for this, but I'm going to try and see if I can't find a wheel set before going that route. The bike I want to make is 16" which coincides somewhat with the folding bike industry and has a few more options.. I haven't found anything yet but am really hoping I will.

Appreciate the response, enjoy the bike

I came to the conclusion that there was no way I would find a 14" wheel that fit my needs. It should be a lot easier with a 16" wheel.