If you’ve ever felt the need to drop $900 on a bike for your 4-year old, the Strider 12 ST-R will definitely do the job; it’s a limited-edition bike made from carbon fiber, with a Cane Creek AER headset, Carbon Fiber fork and steerer, a custom-forged alloy stem, 12” carbon fiber rims and Schwalbe Big Apple tires. Strider calls it the first high-end Performance Balance Bike, and it’s truly in a league of its own.
Balance bikes are a simple concept; instead of giving your child training wheels to learn how to ride, give them a bike with no pedals, and let them intuitively learn how to ride a bike with proper balance. When they’ve master it, move them onto the real thing.
Sounds simple enough, but that didn’t stop Strider from having some fun. In fact, that was perhaps the driving motivation behind building the 12 ST-R. Says CEO Ryan McFarland, “We’ve spent 10 years – nose to the grindstone – teaching the masses how to ride a bike. As motorheads and biking enthusiasts, we wanted to have a little fun and build our dream bike. We just want people to have fun with us.”
So yeah, if you’d like to get one for your kid, they start at $899.99. You can join the waitlist, and the beautifully-painted, racing red balance bike will your in his or her hands come October. (If you can’t justify spending for the carbon fiber version, Strider also has both steel and aluminum frame models to satisfy your wallet).
