I am soooo excited to share this post all about woom bikes with you because I have seriously never been so OBSESSED with a bike in my entire life!
I bought a woom bike (for Milo (my 2-year-old) last holiday season. I got the woom 1 ORIGINAL, which fits most kids ages 18 months – 3.5 years old. Since then I’ve had so many conversations with people (both friends in real life and friends on the ‘gram) about this amazing balance bike. So today I’ll answer all your questions and share all about how Milo taught himself to ride a bike in 15 minutes.
Psst: I want to mention this early on! For a limited time, woom is doing free shipping. It’s just a temporary promotion, but it saves you $30 – $100.
What is a woom balance bike?
If you haven’t heard of them, woom bikes are the some of the most popular balance bikes on the market.
(Now that you’ve seen one, I’m sure you’ll noticing kiddos riding them all around your city!)
A balance bike is basically a bike that’s small enough for a child to ride it while touching their feet to the ground. They learn to ride it by pushing with their feet, gradually lifting foot at a time (and then both!) and learning to balance.
The best part? NO MORE TRAINING WHEELS! Can we just all agree that those contraptions were absolutely miserable? Thank goodness they’re not really used any more, especially since they do absolutely nothing to help a child actually learn how to ride a bike.
So, the woom ORIGINAL is a balance bike that helps kids learn how to ride (thus falling in love with biking!) at a super early age.
They’re the lightest bikes on the market (about 40% lighter than the average bike) and they’re bright and colorful and have all sorts of other tricks that make them soooo wonderful for young kids to learn how to ride.
Here's my personal experience with woom bikes
The first time I heard about a woom was I was at my friend’s house.
We were chatting in her backyard and her little 2-year-old daughter was FLYING on a tiny (I mean teeeeeny tiny!) little bike.
The bike was bright blue, had no pedals, and I was like, “what in the world is that thing and how is your baby daughter riding it sooo well?”
So my friend told me. And I was intrigued.
Fast forward a few months, and I decided to buy Milo his first woom bike for Christmas. I kind of hate the consumerism culture that seems to be pushed on us all the time. If I have the option, I love to buy high-quality, long-lasting gifts for my children on significant holidays, rather than a bunch of poorly-made items that they’ll forget about in a few weeks.
(Btw, I love the upCYCLING program that woom has!)
I had been thinking hard about what I wanted to give him for Christmas, and as soon as I heard about woom I knew that it was perfect for my 2-year-old.
^ I snapped this picture on Christmas Eve! Seeing Milo’s shiny new woom bike sitting under the Christmas tree made me sooo happy!
Ok, here’s the kind of funny part:
So, I invested in this beautiful bike for my 2-year-old. Woom has a location here in Austin, so I drove out and picked up this beautiful, shiny, bright red bike. On Christmas Eve, I put it under the tree and felt giddy with excitement about him seeing it!
And on Christmas morning, Milo saw it. And you know what he did?
Ignored it.
For four months.
HA! Welcome to parenting, my friends.
How did I get my toddler to ride a balance bike?
Fast forward four months, and he is now riding his bike and looooving it. Even though he wasn’t instantly in love with it on Christmas morning (I mean, he’s TWO y’all. He’s going to do whatever he wants to do), he eventually decided to give it a try.
Here’s what I did:
I left the bike in our living room from December – April. Every now and then I’d say, “do you want to ride your bike?” and he would always say “no.” I didn’t push him on it, but every few weeks I reminded him that it’s there for him when he wants to give it a try.
And one day, he decided to try it! I’m not sure what inspired him, but for some reason he decided to get on and give it a try inside our house.
And (I kid you not), within 15 minutes he was full-on balancing on this tiny little bike. We got him a helmet and brought the bike outside and now he’s riding around our neighborhood. AMAZING.
5 Reasons Why Parents Love The Woom Bike
If you’re looking for beautiful, high-quality items to gift to your kids or grandkids, the woom ORIGINAL is it. I totally understand that it’s an investment (they’re not cheap, but that’s because they’re not cheaply made.) Here’s why parents love the woom:
1. The tiny size is made for toddlers
Since the wheels are just 12 inches on the woom 1, toddlers can easily hop on and hop off. These bikes are easy to steer, navigate, start, and stop very easily.
2. The woom 1 original is just 6.6 pounds
Did you know that bikes that are too heavy is one of the main reasons that kids decide they don’t want to learn how to ride?
If the bike weighs a bunch, they feel like the bike is controlling them.
With woom bikes, the toddler is able to easily lift/carry their own bike (yep! Milo is just 2 and he can easily lift the entire bike). The aluminum frame is sooo lightweight, so the toddler feels in control and empowered.
3. Bright green adjustable hand brake
The hand brake is bright green, so Milo knows exactly where it is and how to use it.
Bonus: it’s adjustable! If your little one can’t quite grasp/squeeze the break, she’s not going to use it. Since woom makes the hand brake adjustable, kids learn to use the rear break at an early age.
4. High quality, so it lasts
If you have multiple kiddos, you’ll definitely want to pass down this high-quality bike from kid to kid.
If you are done with it after your little one sizes up, you can trade it in with their upCYCLING program so that another young person can enjoy that exact same bike while you move on to the next size. Less waste. Less material. Better for our earth.
5. This company has created an incredibly easy way for your child to fall in love with biking for LIFE!
I’m sure you’re the type of person who wants to create a culture of health, activity, and joy of movement in your family. We all want that!
The beauty of this company is that woom has thought of EVERYTHING that gets in the way of your child loving bike riding, and they’ve figured out a solution.
We are woom fans for life over here.
I think what I love the most is that, in Milo’s eyes, it’s just a fun red bike that he gets to ride. He doesn’t understand the steering limiter, or the lightweight aluminum frame, or the AMAZINGNESS of getting to learn to ride without those dang training wheels. (Ha! Can we all agree that training wheels are the worst?) In his little world, he’s just hopping on a bike and enjoying the ride!
FAQs about woom bikes
How much does a woom bike cost?
You can see all of their current prices here. It’s an investment piece that will help your little one to have a life-long love of biking, and I was sooo happy to be able to buy a beautiful gift for Milo, rather than a cheap plastic thing that he would forget about in a month. If you want a pre-owned bike, woom sells those too so you can save a bit of $!
What age is a woom bike for?
They have lots of lines of bikes for ages 18 months – adult! But the one that I bought, the woom 1 ORIGINAL, is made for 18 months – 3.5 years. Isn’t that AMAZING? I currently have Milo on their smallest available bike, but when Dayton (my youngest son) turns 18 months, I’ll let him experiment with the woom 1 and MIlo will get a woom 2. Actually, my grandpa (Milo’s great-grandpa) has already said that he wants to be the one who buys Milo his next woom bike. He’s seen how much fun Milo is having while riding that bike, so he told me he wants to gift the next size up. So sweet.
Can I buy a used woom bike?
Yes! I wanted to do this when I bought Milo’s last year, but they didn’t have any pre-owned woom bikes in stock at the time. (This brand is in high demand!) But you can check here to see if there are any of your size/color available right now.
Can you put training wheels on a woom bike?
No. You don’t need training wheels, and here’s why.
How do you get your child to ride a balance bike?
I can only share my experience. And I’ll say what I always say when I share any parenting tidbits and advice: take what works, and ignore the rest. But here’s what worked for me:
I left the woom bike in my living room for FOUR MONTHS. As a neat freak who is also married to a neat freak, this was very hard for me. Haha. There were about a hundred times that I wanted to move that bike into a corner of the garage! But I reeeeaaally wanted Milo to have a love of biking at an early age, so I left it in our living room.
And eventually, after four long months, he started to pay attention to it. I gently reminded him of the bike, but I never pressured him to try it. He did it on his own timing! He was about 2.5 years old when he finally decided he was ready to ride his woom bike.
And now he’s obsessed. : )
Ok, Are woom bikes worth it??
You clearly know what I’m going to say. 🙂 You truly get what you pay for in this department. I consider this a life-long investment in my son’s health, joy, and self confidence. It is SO cool to see him riding that little bike with a big smile on his face. I can tell that he’s so proud of himself! Yes, 1,000%, I’m recommending that every parent buy a little woom 1 ORIGINAL for their toddler.
A few other gadgets I've gotten for Milo's woom bike
We got this little bell, and Milo thinks it’s hysterical. He loves ringing it! I had to remind him not to ring it inside (because he often brings his bike in the house) because it’s pretty shrill and it definitely lets people know that he’s coming!
We have this wooden bike stand. Since the woom 1 is 6.6 pounds, they’re obviously prioritizing low weight and so there’s not a kick stand on it. The bike dock is an easy way to keep it upright, thus is better condition for the long term.
I also got some cute reflective stickers. In Milo’s world, it was just a fun 5-min activity to stick them on, but in reality it makes my mama heart feel a bit better knowing that he has some reflective stickies on his bike for evening rides.
Tiny bike pump. You don’t need one of these, because each woom bike comes with a pump adapter. (The woom wheels are only 12 inches, so a normal bike pump doesn’t work.) But this one is just a bit easier to use. And if you don’t own a full-size bike pump at home, go ahead and just get this one that’s made especially for the teeny-tiny tires.
I wasn’t sure if I’d love it, but the butler bike bag is actually really convenient. I put it in the stroller when we’re out on walks. Then, if we get a 1/2 mile from home and Milo decides he’s tired and wants to get in the stroller, I put the bike in the bag and carry it on my shoulder. (Rather than awkwardly carrying it in my hand while pushing a double stroller…)
The cutest helmets. These have been in and out of stock, so I haven’t been able to snag one yet. But check and see if they have them!
If not, just be sure to get another helmet. From the very beginning, we told Milo that he can’t get on the woom bike until he has a helmet fastened, and he’s never questioned that rule.
Seriously, I am in love with woom. (Thanks for sponsoring this post, woom!) I truly hope this inspires you to take the plunge and buy a woom bike for your little one. I plan to keep my kids on them throughout their childhood, so I’ll share more as we age up and move on to the next sizes in the future!
It looks like he is having a blast
they’re amazing! I cannot believe how fast kiddos take off on these bikes
He is just the cutest!! This sounds awesome- will have to get one for Townes one day.
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