FAQ - FirstBIKE
Ideally, a child should start riding a balance bike at the age of two, i.e. as soon as he/she out-grows a three-wheel plastic bike. However, we take part in events (sports days, family festivals, professional trade fairs), where we see many skillful children riding on a FirstBIKE at the age of 22 months (with the optional LowKit™ lowering kit attachment).
The sooner you start helping children with exercising their balance on a bike the better. Small children learn on their own extremely quickly (from our own experience we know that it’s a matter of hours). But there are also children less excited to move around, who will not be thrilled by a balance bike at the age of two. Certainly do not force them to ride it, but show them the FirstBIKE again in two or three months.
Children starting to ride balance bikes later, from the age of 4, take longer to learn and tend to have a problem with keeping their balance. This is often the case because they have developed bad habits from bicycles with training wheels mounted on the sides or from other ride-on carts, which don’t allow them to make progress.
Thanks to the seat adapter, models with inflatable tires can be used by children from 87 cm. The Basic model with solid wheels can be used by children from 84 cm. However, this also depends on the length of the legs. When riding a balance bike the knees should be slightly bent while the feet are flat on the ground. The lowest seat position on a FirstBIKE is only 30.5 cm with a Lowering Kit (34.5cm without one), which makes it one of the lowest balance bikes on the market.
That depends on how tall is your child and on the length of his/her legs. For safe riding on a balance bike, it is necessary that your child reaches the ground with both feet flat, not just with the toes. Around 90% of two years old children need the lowering kit.
The FirstBIKE Basic edition weighs only 3.5kg.
The FirstBIKE Street, Cross, Limited and FAT editions weigh 3.9kg.
FirstBIKE balance bikes come in 5 different models:
FirstBIKE Basic - Comes with Solid PU (Polyurethane) tyres and is perfect for indoors and those who would sacrifice a bit of ride quality to get a bike that requires no maintenance. This is model comes without a brake.
FirstBIKE Street - Comes with inflatable air tyres with a street tread which is perfect for paths, roads, or inside. This model has a brake.
FirstBIKE Cross - Also comes with inflatable air tyres but with a tread better suited to getting off-road. Still works great on paths/roads, but will grip better in the dirt and grass. They also look a bit more aggressive. This model has a brake.
FirstBIKE Limited Edition - The big upgrade here is the Schwalbe Big Apple inflatable air tyres. These tyres will grip better to all surfaces in all conditions. They may look more like a street style tyre, but the better rubber compounds ensure they grip better regardless of the terrain. This model has a brake and comes in Limited Edition colourways.
FirstBIKE FAT Edition - Very similar spec as the "Limited Edition" model, but supplied with inflatable 2.25" wide off road (Vee) tyres. This is our most popular model. This model has a brake.
Inflatable tires offer much better on-road performance (the bike is springy, and therefore, much more comfortable). “Basic” models with solid polyurethane wheels are sold almost exclusively to kindergartens and playgrounds, where it’s not practical to have bikes that require re-inflating and where low maintenance is more important than a comfortable ride.
The tyres are made of quality materials, but if you puncture it, the inner tube can be bought almost anywhere that sells bike tires (it has the standard size of 12’).
Unfortunately, it is not possible for technical reasons – it would require replacing several components, including the rear wheel, and drilling into the frame.