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TECH NEWS
Introducing the world's first carbon-fibre balance bike
It’s an ultralight monocoque, engineered using computer aided design and made from T1000 carbon fibre using state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies… and it’s aimed at riders as young as 18 months.
Munich-based engineer and designer Sebastian Mores reckons that the Mores Petitpierre is the world’s first carbon fibre running bike – or balance bike, if you prefer. We think he’s probably right.
“We are proud to introduce a running bike that has been focused on a child’s development right from the very first sketch,” says Sebastian Mores. “The very low centre of gravity enables kids even as young as 1.5 years in age to move easily and have fun. Thanks to the low weight and the optimized design, the Petitpierre is incredibly stable, easy to manoeuvre, and can easily be lifted to cross kerbs and obstacles."
The carbon-fibre frame with CNC-milled dropouts weighs just 600g, and the Petitpierre comes with LED lights in the Velo saddle and on the ends of the handlebars. A Tektro rear-mounted mini-V-brake takes care of stopping, the cable running internally – as it does on many high-end bikes these days. Two sizes are available, covering ages from 1.5=5 years.
There’s often a ‘but’, and you can probably guess what it is here: the price. Petitpierres start at €1,499. That's £1,273 at today’s exchange rate, which is clearly a big chunk more than you'll pay for a wooden equivalent. They're not going for the mass market here!
For more info go to www.mores-design.com.
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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20 comments
FS. The bloke in my office who brags about owning a Pinarello Dogma that's only done 40 miles will buy one of these and brag that his kids only used it for 40 minutes. I can imagine the phone conversation I'll hear one side of now:
"YAH IT'S MADE OUT OF CARBON FIBRE LIKE FORMULA ONE CARS AND MY PINARELLO... YAH WELL THE METAL ONES WEIGHED AN ABSOLUTE TON... YAH... YAH, TARQUIN'S ALL OVER IT LIKE A FUCKING CHEAP SUIT... FIFTEEN HUNDRED PICTURES OF THE QUEEN, BUT WHAT DO YOU GET FOR THAT THESE DAYS? A BLOODY STEAK DINNER WITH A FEW BODDLES OF PLONK. CIAO."
Those wheels look ripe for an upgrade.....
Anyone who's ever had to carry an unwilling toddler plus their heavy steel balance bike (plus nappy bag etc etc) back from the park (or wherever) would gladly pay any money (at that moment) for a super-light carbon model!
... or buy a wheelbarrow !
I tell the nanny to do it. I didn't have children so I could do that sort of shit, I had them so there'll be someone to leave the Patek Philippes to.
Perfect for the championship:
http://road.cc/content/news/81493-toddlers-train-strider-british-balance...
I'll have two
do they do a Rapha edition?
Old hat. We all know that hydraulic discs are the latest thing!
I've not been in a coma for the last 10 months and it's 1st April?
Bait your hook
Cast out
Bang, straight in
The ability to lower the seat appears to be limited by the nose of the massive adult-sized saddle hitting the top of the frame. Ten times the price of an Islabikes Rothan (with which it appears to share most of its parts) and they can't even get that right.
600g doesn't seem that impressive for a frame that's only about 18in long, either. All-up weight is 3.4kg, which is only 200g more than a Rothan. I know every little helps with kids' bikes, but that's not really very much.
Also, what on earth is this dribble from the "Technology" page?
Good man!
You found where the other £1000 of costs went for each bike....Marketing!
No. No. Oh alright then, I'll bite...
Good Lord.
I can't wait for next years model - it'll be lighter, more vertically compliant and stiffer.
Parted/fool/easily/money etc.
No UCI Approved sticker?!?
at least they could spec a saddle that wasn't an adult size!!!
Ludicrously expensive and totally pointless. (Unless of course being ludicrously expensive IS the point...)
nothing to do with the kids, just a vulgar display of purchasing power for the parent. Have a read of the 'features' blurb on the website, it's unintentionally hilarious.
Something the rich and stupid can purchase once they have run out of ideas elsewhere.
My daughter used a balance bike for 2 hours before progressing onto a proper bik, this would work out at £10 a minute - bargain.