How and why Monkeycycle was designed

After buying a high end wooden balance bike ( heavy and with no brakes) I wondered why no one had designed a pedal kit to add, especially as our kid was ready to pedal after just 3 months, for sure there were other kids like him.

Turns out some had, and failed, it's tricky.

But I knew it could be done and it would save a lot of waste too.

The flipped frame and almost everything was done when I reached out to Michael Downes, a bike designer with over 20yrs experience for Giant, Raleigh, Diamondback and many more. He improved the design and added our unique inbuilt steering limiter (now copied) and created a timeless design.

Bradley Hughes came on board with the distinguished history of co-developing STRIDER and Prevelo along with many more brands, an industry veteran who has been at the highest levels of the bicycle industry. With over 40+yrs experience, Brad has a unique skill set.

early sketches

still figuring things out

Many other freelance designers, advisors, and engineers have contributed, too many to list, thank you all.

Although it's not quite Jony Ive or Da Vinci level, we leant on Apple for the feel and simplicity, using excellent geometry and still having modular functions.

In fact our geometry is almost identical to the WOOM models, just better, thanks to the design experience of Michael Downes.