Look mom, no hands! Introducing the Gyrowheel

A company called Gyrobike is helping young kids learn how to ride a bike – without training wheels – in a fraction of the time it would take with “traditional methods”. But aren’t skinned knees a right of passage?

I remember the first time I learned to ride a two-wheeler bike. I lived at the top of a cul-de-sac with grass in the center of it. Once I mastered riding my bike on the grass, I ventured onto the pavement, took a deep breath, and ventured down the road. All the while, my mom and dad were standing by with, what I thought at the time were, smiles of true happiness, sharing my joy of a new found independence. Fast forward a few years – I’m going through the very same motions with my 4 year old son at a nearby school with a grassy hill and big empty parking lot. Only this time, when my son takes his first solo ride without my hands holding the bicycle seat, I discover my smile – like that of my parents – is one of a sad happiness; a feeling of letting go for the first time. Visions of my 4 year old growing up, getting his first car, falling in love, having children of his own…all flash before my eyes. For some strange reason, and I know I’m not alone in thinking this, the first time riding a bike without training wheels is a right of passage. To the child, it means freedom, the ability to finally be allowed to venture away from mom, if only for a few feet. To the parent, it’s a milestone that will always be remembered, one that triggers warm fuzzy feelings of their own childhood, but brings on bitter sweet emotions that scream their child is growing up. With these memories also comes the recollection of skinned knees and elbows, the act of picking small pebbles from the skin and the smell of bubbly stinging antiseptic.

To me, these memories are ones that I wouldn’t want to lose. However, if you’re a parent that would rather get the chore of teaching your kid how to ride a bike done and over with and don’t want to hear your kids snorting and snivelling over a little road rash, the Gyrowheel might be what you’re looking for.

The science behind the Gyrowheel prevents a bike from tipping over, resulting in the child staying vertical with intact epidermis. How, exactly, does it work? From Gyrobike’s website:

Gyrowheel has a disk inside that spins independently of Gyrowheel. When the disk is turned on it creates a force – the fancy term is “gyroscopic precession” – that stabilizes the bike. Gyrowheel provides high stability at very low speed, making learning to ride easier, safer and a whole lot more fun!

If this sounds like your sort of thing, don’t get too excited just yet. A 12” Gyrowheel will set you back about $100USD, a little pricey if you ask me. Additionally, although the product’s release date is set for December 1st of this year (or Spring of next, if you’re wanting a wheel bigger than 12”), that’s only for US residents. We Canadians will need to hold out a little longer, with an international availability being set for “before the end of 2010”.

What do you think of the Gyrowheel? Is this something you’d be interested in getting for your child’s bike? There’s also talk of adult-sized Gyrowheels (possibly a good idea for seniors?). Is Gyrobike reinventing the wheel or taking away one of the best childhood memories?

Here’s a video that provides a closer look at how the Gyrowheel works:

Filed Under: Hardware & Gadgets > Toys
Tags: bicycles, bikes, Gyrobike, Gyrowheel, kids, technology