FSC wooden balance bike, from 18 months to 5 years

For introducing children to riding a bike and developing their balance and proprioception, a balance bike is a must-have. It respects a child’s natural posture while teaching them the basics of cycling: steering with handlebars, gaining speed on two wheels, coordinating their eyes and hands, and finding their center of gravity while sitting on a saddle.
But its lifespan is limited: it is often too big for our little beginners and quickly becomes obsolete as they grow, when it’s time to learn to pedal or move on to a traditional bike. At best, it gets passed on; at worst, it gathers dust in a garage or ends up in a landfill...

That’s where the ingenuity of the grow-with-me balance bike comes in.
On its own, its 3 basic configurations adapt to children’s size, so they can use it from their first steps until around age 5.
The low configuration suits the youngest children. As they grow, they can switch to the comfort configuration (with soft suspension) or the sport configuration (with suspension perfectly suited to bumpy roads), depending on their preference.

To keep up with children’s development and pace, its extensions (sold separately) let you add a brake and footrest, or transform it as needed into a rocking elephant or tricycle for younger children, or a bike for older children and adventurers, who can then use it until around age 6.

A blend of craftsmanship, innovation, and sustainability, the grow-with-me balance bike is lightweight, stable, sturdy, and flexible thanks to the natural spring of the wood.
It also makes learning to ride a bike more comfortable, with a reassuring ride on something familiar, whose finer points the child has already mastered, helping them confidently move on to a major new step toward independence.

Features

• Grows with your child: easily and quickly adjusts to their size and development thanks to its innovative design and extensions.
• Natural suspension: an intelligently designed wooden frame protects your child’s spine on bumpy roads.
• Extremely long-lasting: tested to travel around the world on bumpy roads (40 075 km) - tires need replacing, but the frame is still like new!
• Lightweight: one of the lightest on the market at 3,3 kg, or about 20% of the average weight of children who use it (the standard for adult bikes, compared with 50% for most children’s bikes/balance bikes).
• Helps develop your child’s balance, proprioception, coordination, and independence
• Supports children as they learn to ride a bike, at their own pace
• Made from birch wood: lightweight and impact-resistant, with a very fine grain and a fairly light color.

LOOVE Certifications

• Sustainable management: Birch wood from Finland, FSC-certified to ensure traceability, biodiversity conservation, and respect for local communities.
• European manufacturing: Made in Latvia.

Technical specifications

• Colors: natural birch wood. Black logo.
• Frame material: Finnish birch plywood.
• Finish: Certified varnish.
• Wood: Sourced from sustainably managed forests, FSC Controlled Wood certification.
• CE certified and compliant with EN 71: Product meets European toy safety requirements.
• Seat material: polyurethane.
• Wheel materials: alloy hub, metal wire tension spokes with alloy rim, inflatable rubber tires.
• Wheel diameter: Front - 14 inches (35.56 cm); rear - 12 inches (30.48 cm).
• Length: 95.4 – 99 cm, depending on the adjustment.
• Seat heights: 25 cm - 47 cm, depending on the adjustment
  • Low configuration: 25-32 cm (approximately 10 to 24 months)
  • Sport configuration: 35-47 cm (approximately 18 months to 5 years)
  • Comfort configuration: 33-45 cm (approximately 2 to 4 years)
• Product weight: 3.3 kg
• Recommended height: 85 - 110 cm 
• Weight limit: 30 kg
• Adjustable: Yes
• Manufacturer's recommended age: 10 months to 5 years - from 6 months with the rocking elephant extension; up to 6 years with the bicycle extension.
• Packaging: Cardboard boxes, plastic pouch (small parts), and Kraft paper or plastic tape depending on the parcel's weight.
• Made in: Europe (EU), in Latvia
• Warranty: 5 years

Care

• Easy to clean with a damp cloth or with soap and water. Wipe dry after cleaning. 
• Storing the product in a dry place will ensure its longevity. Never leave it out in the rain or snow after playtime.

Assembly

• Assembly instructions: Included in the packaging, in French
• Easy self-assembly (1 person).
• 30 minutes to assemble

Safety

• To maximize child safety, adult supervision is required when the product is in use. 
• The balance bike is not equipped with brakes; use it only on flat ground.
• Regularly check the tire pressure and make sure it is at 1.4 bar.
• Regulations prohibit the use of toys on public roads; do not use on the road.
• Wearing a helmet and protective gear is recommended.
• The steering limiter reduces the turning angle and limits sudden handlebar movements. It can be removed to allow tighter turns. Removing it is not recommended for young children or if your child has not yet mastered steering the handlebars or does not have the strength to control them.

Manufacturing partner

Like many artisan businesses, Atis relies on a team of experienced carpenters, a family tradition, and a love of wood passed down from generation to generation. 

The attention to detail and the constant pursuit of innovation inspired by Atis's father's ingenious work have earned this team based in northern Latvia numerous awards. Today, they offer products that are cutting-edge, focused on child development, environmentally friendly, and durable—qualities that form the requirements for every item that leaves their workshops and can be passed down to future generations.

What is the educational value of this product?

Allowing children to learn at their own pace is one of the most fundamental concepts that active educational approaches have in common, alongside other major principles such as free play, the development of autonomy, and openness to the outside world and nature in particular.

Each of these principles is represented in what the balance bike offers.

Where it supports the development of motor skills, it is the discovery of the body through movement, so characteristic of the Pikler-Lóczy approach, that is encouraged. 
Learning to maintain a course, keep one’s balance, turn, gain speed through the alternating and repeated movement of the feet, as well as using them to learn to slow down and stop, allows children to learn to control their gestures and coordinate their movements. 
In the Montessori approach, the latter is one of the sensitive periods that young children go through.
Thanks to its ingenious design, it grows with children over time. They can grow while discovering the world around them and nature, and spend plenty of time outdoors, as recommended by the Reggio, Waldorf, Freinet, and Mason approaches (at least 6 hours a day outdoors for the latter, every day until the age of 6).
With the balance bike, children experiment, practice, make mistakes, start again, at their own pace, and follow the learning process described by Célestin Freinet, Maria Montessori, and others.
 

What is its value from a neuroscience perspective?

• Contributes to sensorimotor development (*through balance, movement coordination, speed, and proprioception).
• Strengthens neural circuits through the repetition of movements and experiences.

What is sensorimotor development?

Sensorimotor development is the process through which children develop their senses and learn to perform, control, and coordinate their movements.

The senses include the best-known ones, such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, as well as balance (thanks to the vestibular system) and proprioception (the body’s position in space, provided by the somatosensory system). 

These different senses work together with one another and with the motor system.

In terms of motor development, two broad categories of motor skills can be distinguished:

• gross motor skills, which refer to movements of the whole body or its larger limbs and muscles (legs, arms, torso, head),
• fine motor skills, which refer to movements of smaller muscles and limbs (fingers, hands, wrists, feet, ankles, toes, lips, tongue).

What age ranges is it suitable for?

Because its size can be adjusted, the balance bike on its own can be used from approximately 10 months to 5 years of age.
With its extensions, its lifespan ranges from 6 months for the rocking elephant to approximately 6 years for the bicycle.

What is the value of this product in summary? 

• Discover the world around them.
• Develop motor skills, coordination, balance, and proprioception.
• Learn to be independent.
• Build self-confidence.

Delivery

• Delivery fees are: Free
• This product is shipped from Latvia by our artisan partner Atis.
• Delivery takes 7 to 10 business days.
• Shipping is handled, depending on the circumstances, by DHL, FedEx, DPD, UPS, or TNT.
• Once your package has been shipped, a tracking number will be sent to you by email.

Returns 

Have you received your item but it is not suitable for you? Don’t worry, you have 14 days from the date you receive your package to return the product concerned. 

As a small family business, we are unfortunately not yet able to cover postage costs, so return shipping costs are the customer’s responsibility, and returns must be sent to the country from which this product was shipped, Latvia.

To be eligible for a return, please ensure that the following conditions are met :

• The product must arrive in its original, complete condition (packaging, accessories, instructions).
• The request must not concern made-to-order products for which the customer provided personalization details (for example, a cutting or manufacturing dimension).

Please understand that we cannot accept assembled, used, or worn items, as they cannot be resold. 

Return process 

Send your return request, including your order number and the product you wish to return, to our Customer Service team by email at the following address: bonjour@monloove.com 

⚠ Please note that a return received without prior contact may result in the right of withdrawal being denied. 

Refund 

The refund will be issued within 14 days after receipt of the products, for the full amount of the returned products, using the same payment method as the one used when placing the order. 

Help 

For more details, you can consult our FAQ and our terms and conditions. 

Please feel free to contact us if you cannot find an answer to your questions: bonjour@monloove.com