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i’ve been getting a lot of hits from people looking for “DIY balance bike” so i figured i’d post a follow-up on the DIY balance bike posts. (diy stands for “do it yourself”- i know, you feel like a huge idiot for not being able to figure that out, but shake it off, let’s move forward)

the results were in on the balance bike a few months ago, but i have not posted them until now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… if you don’t know what i’m talking about, click HERE to read the previous posts

Sam, jaya’s friend, who we gave the converted Dora bike to has not really been in to it so far, but Jaya has TOTALLY LOVED HER BALANCE BIKE. the best part is, it worked just as it was supposed to. she learned to balance well, and then when we got her a regular pedal bike (ok, actually we found it on the side of the road by the Pink House) she took off on it immediately. it was amazing. i expected her to be sort of scared or whatever, but she sat down, took a few push-steps, and just started riding down the alley. this was so great. it was the same day she did the monkey bars all by her self, so we were so proud of her.

now she’s a total speed racer on her new pedal bike (betty’s the name). the other day we were chasing each other around the playground- jaya on Betty, and me on the Viaduct (my tall bike).

again, i’d like to post some pictures, but our internet still completely sucks. thanks comcast!

keeping it brief: i converted the “dora bike” (see previous post) in to something that i figured would be more attractive to jaya’s friend Sam, by painting it black and swapping the “bmx” bars for some shorter ones. i also cut off the rear wheel bolts so they wouldn’t scratch his legs up.

we gave it to him the other day, and have not yet heard what he thinks of it.here is what the new version looks like.

now on to a new, non-bike related post…

first off, we got a new camera (finally) so that’s good news for all. Photographer extraordinaire Mr. Corey Hau (see blogroll)encouraged me to check out the new point and shoots on the market, and i did… thanks corey.

second off (why don’t we say “second off” if we say “first off”?) this is a post about how to make a sweet balance bike. in case you’re uninformed, here is an explanation and a quote from wikipedia

“With a balance bicycle, the rider learns balance first, pedal last. In contrast, with a normal bicycle fitted with training wheels, the rider learns pedal first, balance last. Although opinions differ regarding which learning sequence is easier for most riders, it is generally agreed that a bicycle with pedals is too difficult for most very young children and that training wheels may encourage the rider to learn some behaviors which later must be unlearned.”

the story: our daughter jaya received a sweet Dora kid’s bike from her uncle Funky. she loved it. it had training wheels. she fell over a lot, which was not helping her learn to ride. we started hearing bike-shop people talk about “balance bikes”. we looked at some and were like “hey that seems pretty easy to DIY, and a lot less expensive too…” thus, the dora balance bike was born.

here’s how to make your own-

tools: crescent wrench, screwdriver(s), some basic bike mechanic knowledge, a chain tool, hacksaw (optional) and possibly a hammer. it never hurts to have a hammer.

supplies: kid’s bike (or any other bike, i suppose. i bet a full-size one of these would be pretty fun. hmmm…) i suggest recycled cycles if you are in the u-district for a free kid’s bike. they have a rack out front where people leave bikes they don’t want any more. also, garage sales are great for kid bikes, you know ten bucks is a WAY better deal than $200 for a new one…

instructions: basically, you just need to remove a bunch of stuff. start with the pedals (don’t forget, they may be reverse-threaded), followed by the training wheels, chain guard, cranks, bottom bracket and chain. You will probably need a chain tool to remove the chain with, but bike tools rule, so buy one. there will probably be a coaster brake that needs to come off of there too, but those are easy. cranks can be difficult, but if you need help, ask. also, try doing a search online- there’s a lot of good info out there.

**handy trick section**

one handy trick i learned from the fancy-shmancy balance bikes is that the bolts on the back wheel can scrape your kids leg/foot if they are sticking out, so you should shorten them if you can, or cover them with something… use that hacksaw!

another helpful hint is that the nice ones have low bars to go with the low saddle. you want your kids’ feet to sit flat on the ground when in the saddle, but if they have to reach way up high for the bars then balancing will be difficult. the dora bike has high bars, which i would replace if Jaya hadn’t been given a SUPER NICE fancy balance bike by her friend from school/hero Eli Porter.Here they are, for comparison reasons.

obviously, jaya is a bit more comfortable on the German-made bike than the dora bike, but both work well. we certainly wouldn’t have sprung for that nice of a balance bike, so if Eli hadn’t come thru we would have kept dora, put lower bars on, and cut the bolts shorter.

another idea i had which made dora more rideable was to remove the seat post and attach the saddle to the seat tube itself. this got her about 1.5 inches closer to the ground, which was handy.

so- Jaya was pretty happy on the dora bike, but it would have needed shorter bars, or an mtb bar to make it work well.

happy building, and happy Christmas!

A bit ago, we at the Pink House realized that we needed a coat rack. So, as usual, my rad wife Mel (yeah, i’m 30, so i occasionally say “rad”) looked on Craig’slist and Freecycle, but to no avail.That is when i realized that i had to take these urgent matters in to my own hands, and take the same type of action the U.S. would- the use of lethal military power.No, wait. What i actually did was create a great, functional and cheap coat hanger which i now refer to as the “Space Cactus”. (get it? -the hooks point in all directions, sort of like cactus needles.)

Here is a step-by-step guide to creating your very own Space Cactus (absurdly long trip to IKEA not required- but maybe they’ll make me an offer i can’t refuse!)

Space Cactus tool list: No tools are absolutely necessary, which is one of the things that makes the Space Cactus kick so much ass. BUT, pliers and a pocket knife could come in handy…

Space Cactus creation inventory: One wood closet dowel- 1″ diameter will be fine, one box of threaded hooks, about 6-8 feet of wire- the kind you hang pictures with, or you can get a “picture hanging packet” (this is a little box with like 6 ft of wire and some nails in it). Paint/stain is optional. A little tiny bit of duct tape.

Instructions-

Step 1. Cut a hole in that box. (if you thought that was funny we would probably get along)

OK, now the REAL Step 1. If you are going to want a painted/stained dowel, do that first. If staining, simply give it a quick once-over with some sand paper, and stain that baby- repeat till it’s to your liking. If painting, then decide if you want the hooks to match the dowel or not. If yes, then go to step 2 before painting, and paint the whole thing in one shot. If you want the hooks and dowel to be different colors (don’t we all?) then paint the hooks separately, then the dowel, and THEN proceed to step 2.

Step 2- attach the hooks. I did this by making a little pilot hole for each hook with a pocket knife, but you don’t HAVE to make pilot holes, ok badass? Just do it by hand without them if you have to be such a tough guy…. If you need help twisting the hooks in, get your hands on some pliers. If you want your hooks and dowel the same color, then now is painting time! weee! i spray painted mine white, as you can see, but now i wish i had painted the hooks another color before attaching them. well, sometimes you just have to move on…

Step 3- Figure out where you are going to put this thing. I made this part step 3 because if you try to figure out where to put it first, you might get hesitant and decide that a Space Cactus is not the coolest thing you’ve ever seen and do something less productive with your time, like watching the local news on TV, the worst possible way to spend time ever created. The location is important because you need to make sure that you can put the suspension and anchor hooks in. The suspension hook goes in to the ceiling, preferably in to a ceiling joist or truss. Don’t screw that baby in to sheet rock alone, unless you plan on only hanging a few t-shirts from it. The Anchor hook is easier, because most flooring will accept one of those hooks easily. We have hardwood, and i screwed that thing right in there- BAM!

Step 4- Put one hook in each end of the dowel, and bend the hook over a bit, so that it looks more like an eye (see close-up pic) again with the pliers

Step 5- Install suspension hook.

Step 6- Take some of the wire and tie a good knot in one end, attaching it securely to the suspension hook. cut off the excess wire from the knot, and decide where you want the top of your dowel to be. Now cut the wire to the approximate length and tie another knot at the end of the wire, connecting it to the top hook of the dowel. Repeat this process for the anchor hook.

Step 7- take a little duct tape and wrap it around the wire knots. That way nobody will see that you only really know how to do granny knots, and it will also cover up any sharp poky wire that’s sticking out so it cant poke you in the eye or scratch up your coat. or cat. either way, there will be less scratching, although i admit that it does look better without the duct tape, so i may be taking mine off sometime soon.

Step 8- Hang coats. 

PS. hey! i figured out how to put breaks in between the paragraphs!  woo!