BAMA bike

BAMA bike

A balance bike designed for Kids and Parents.

BAMA bike aims to let both kids and parents benefit from the push-bike .It considered about what push-bike meant to the kids and parents' relationship.

What are balance bikes?

Balance bikes are for kids age from two to six. By riding the balance bike, children can learn better on cycling the real bike. This is how the balance bike work. Kids sit on the bike and push their legs back and forth to move forward. It is just like walking though their both hands have to hold the handlebar grip to control the direction of the bike.

Why

Both kids and parents in a light hearted mood is the foundation for a good experience of riding balance bike.

For kids, it is moms and dads accompany and encouragement that keep them riding the bike. For parents, watching their children happily growing is the most grateful thing in the world. Both parents and kids can earn the sense of accomplishment when kids progressed in riding the balance bike. Finding the relationship between kids and parents are the key insight in this project. I found it interesting and curious about how kids and parents interact with each other. Thus, I chosed balance bike as the subject of my project.

Parents devoted themselves to look after their sweetie pies.

To effectively understand the issue, we began the research by going to the 2018 Tainan City Velodrome Kids Balance Bike Carnival to observe the real situation how kids and parents go through the journey of riding the balance bike. This process revealed the key insight and verified the perdiction. We discoverd that there are a lot more time when the parents are carrying the bike than that of when kids are riding the bike. Parents do many chores while kids are cycling and playing.

User Journey Map

After the observation, we summarize it by conducting a user journey map of riding a balance bike. Below is the scenario of the bike-riding experience for mom and kid : Mommy and little Johnny are going to a sport park to enjoy their cozy Sunday afternoon. They drove to the 5 km far sport park with a large playground for Johnny to ride balance bike on it.

Features

01.Telescopic Handle

Friendly for adults to carry the bike around.

Before and after kids riding the bike, it is moms and dads who are taking care of the balance bike. Yet, the height of the normal balance bike is not suitable for adults to carry the bike around. Thus, Two ways to carry the bike for adults are designed to cope with various conditions. The adjustable handle on the bike's handle bar are designed for walking while taking care of kid or carrying backpacks.

02.Bike Holder

Friendly for adults to lift the bike.

Before and after kids riding the bike, it is moms and dads who are taking care of the balance bike. Yet, the height of the normal balance bike is not suitable for adults to carry the bike around. Thus, Two ways to carry the bike for adults are designed to cope with various conditions. The handle on the downward of the bike are designed for adults to lift the bike. Whether it is climbing the stairs while carrying the bike or moving the bike onto the car, BAMAbike is easy for adults to cope with these conditions.

03.Growth Chart Saddle

Saddle that can grow with the kid.

Kids' stuff like toys or balance bike will be thrown away as kids grow. Thus, in order to raise the sentimental value of balance bike, The little growth chart ruler on the seat post can serve as role to record the kids height. Numbers on it are correspond with the suitble heignt of the saddle for each height of kids. Therefore, as kids grow BAMAbike will improve at the same time.

04.Mileage Counter

Encourage kids to ride the bike.

Mileage Counter records the miles that BAMAbike has reached. It serve as a role to encourage kids to ride the bike. When kids see the number on the counter change, kids get excited and want to have a higher score on it.

05.Safe Lid

Safe lid is the cover for screws on the wheel. With the lids, it can avoid kids from injuries while pushing their legs back and forth beside the wheels.

06.Kickstand

Kickstands are commonly seen on normal bikes but not on balance bikes. By adding the kickstand on BAMAbike, kids can learn to value his or her bike and pick a habit on kicking the kickstand.

Process

In the process of designing BAMAbike. We drew sketches to develop ideas, make 2D mockups and 3D models to design forms and colors. We also made prototype to test the telescopic handle.