What age group is the Strider PREbike™ built for? The Strider PREbike™ is built mainly for children aged 1 to 5 or up to 50 lbs/23kgs. Can the seat height be adjusted? The seat can be adjusted from 11 inches to 16 inches to accommodate the needs of your growing child. An optional extra-long seat post with saddle is also available. This increases the maximum seat height to 19 inches. Is any assembly necessary? Assembly is very basic, taking approximately 5 minutes: tighten one bolt to align the handlebars and two nuts to mount the front wheel. Adjust the seat height to fit your child and your Strider PREbike™ is ready to go. (Wrench is included) What does the Strider PREbike™ weigh? The Strider PREbike™ weighs less than 7 pounds, (less than the average newborn baby!) It is light enough for a very small child to lift over obstacles and easy for a parent to throw in the back of the car for a trip to the park. What colours does the Strider PREbike™ come in? The Strider PREbike™ comes in red, yellow, green, blue, orange, all the basic colours. Colours with which devoted dirt bike riders will identify, plus pink for our feminine following! Does the Strider PREbike™ have brakes? The new rider should only use their feet against the ground to control speed and to stop. For the advanced rider, the Strider PREbike™ is designed to accept an optional footoperated rear friction brake that not only stops the Strider PREbike™ quickly, but also creates a cool skid mark when applied hard! How does the optional rear brake work? The rear brake is a simple lever that presses a friction plate against the rear wheel. The lever has a single pivot located on the underside of the frame and an elastomer spring to hold it disengaged. The rear brake is a simple one-bolt installation that takes just a couple minutes with basic tools. This can be ordered through our website. Why doesn’t it have a hand brake? We want children to be safe. We researched various "stopping" methods as they relate to really young children. In the end, in a panic situation, the natural instinct of children is to put their feet down. Even children capable of using a brake revert to planting their feet if they have to stop quickly. The hand brake option does not make sense based on child anatomy... just gripping the bar is a handful for a 2-3 year old hand... their fingers are not long or strong enough to pull a brake lever. What kind of tyres does the Strider PREbike™ have? In keeping with our emphasis on the ‘Fun’ factor, the Strider PREbike™ comes with superlight, maintenance-free EVA Polymer tyres. No flats, no pumping air, just get on and go. The Strider PREbike™ uses an 8 inch molded rim riding on sealed bearings and a steel axle. The actual outside diameter of the foam tyre is 11 inches. From what type of material is the Strider PREbike™ made? The majority of the Strider PREbike™ frame is made from durable, light gauge steel tubing, the wheels from heavy plastic, and the tyres from an EVA Polymer. The Strider PREbike™ is not a fragile toy; it is a well-built vehicle that should easily serve several growing children. How does riding a Strider PREbike™ benefit a child? With the light weight and simplicity of a Strider PREbike™, young riders soon feel confident and in control. At this young age, bicycles are simply too tall, too heavy, and too complex for youngsters to feel any sense of control. Advances in co-ordination and balance follow quickly as do the development of the thought processes necessary for steering, crossing obstacles, backing up, and doing tricks. A Strider PREbike™ entices toddlers out of their prams and gets them riding much earlier than would otherwise have been possible with a two wheeler. Does the Strider PREbike™ have benefits for parents or other caretakers? Could one even hope for benefits for a parent from such a small vehicle that benefits kids so much? Absolutely! Freedom! Freedom from carrying a tired or rebelling child, freedom from coaxing a dawdling one to keep up. In fact, the parent will soon become the one trying to keep up; brisk walks, jogging, or bicycling now become exercise options to make outings more enjoyable for everyone. The outings will no longer be limited to flat, hard surfaces either, the Strider PREbike™ will easily handle a forest trail or a two-track dirt road if you feel like a walk in the woods… try that with stabilisers or a tricycle! How will I know when my child is ready to move from a Strider PREbike™ to a regular bicycle? When you see your child coasting down hills with his/her feet up, going over and around obstacles, and speeding along with forceful strides, you will know that they have mastered the necessary techniques of balance and steering to begin riding a pedal bike. The transition will be quick and easy. However, you will discover that even though your child can ride their pedal bike without stabilisers, they will continue to ride their Strider PREbike™ bike for pure fun. On the Strider PREbike™, a child is confident enough to continually push to higher levels of expertise. Eventually, these higher thinking, higher level skills are transferred to their pedal bike. At this point, the child may ´hang up´ the Strider PREbike™. However, we have found there is usually a one to two year overlap when the child rides both. My child is already using a bicycle with stabilisers - can the Strider PREbike™ still be a useful learning tool for them? Stabilisers are very scary for children. The sensation of tipping from side-to-side keeps them from focusing on the task at hand, pedaling and steering. Learning to balance and steer on the Strider PREbike™ makes the transition to the pedal bike much easier. Forget the stabilisers, once the child is confident on the Strider PREbike™, they will be able to transfer quickly to a pedal bike without them. How early should a parent introduce their child to a new physical activity like riding? Pediatric neurologists have long noted that there is a rapid learning curve in children ages 0-6. Most of the great masters in sports and music have begun study at a very early age. We have found that kids have a natural curiosity about the Strider PREbike™. Watch some of our video clips to see pre-two year olds start their Strider PREbike™ experience. They are not frightened by the Strider PREbike™, and they advance quickly on their own. If your child can walk… they can ride a strider! Why doesn´t the Strider PREbike™ have a steering limiter like some other brands? Through our testing and research, we´ve come to believe that a steering limiter is a hindrance to the child´s development and a potential safety issue in the event of a fall. A steering limiter becomes a ´crutch´ that keeps the child from fully learning the skill of steering a two-wheeled vehicle. Bicycles don’t have steering limiters so at the time of transition to a bicycle, the child runs the risk of not understanding how to set their own steering limits through rider input. We feel this steering control should be learned from Day 1 while the child is moving slowly and evolve with the child through the years. As for safety, a steering limiter keeps the handlebars from being able to fold flat to the ground in the event of a fall and potentially impaling the child in the face, neck or chest. Does the Strider PREbike™ have a warranty or guarantee? Yes, the Strider PREbike™ comes with a both a 1 year warranty against manufacturing defects and a 60 day ´no quibble´ satisfaction guarantee. The warranty is limited to riders weighing less than 23kgs. The Strider™ PREbike serial number needs to be registered to activate the warranty. This can be done through our website. The bottom line, though, is we want you to be satisfied with the product, and we want you to share that satisfaction with other parents. We welcome feedback and will quickly respond to warranty issues. If you are not satisfied for any reason, please contact us. If you wish to return your Strider PREbike™ purchased from our site, you will need to first contact us. Then simply return the Strider PREbike™ to us, along with a copy of your receipt and we will give you a refund. We will notify you via email of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item. You should expect to receive your refund within 7 days of returning your Strider PREbike™. Please retain proof of postage when the item is returned. Again, contact us and we will be happy to assist. How soon will you deliver my order? Your order will be delivered 1-7 working days after we receive your order. |
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