laneo blog - the blog of laneo!

Appreciation for the value of the environment - starts with kids - 14 Sep 2007

One of my favorite moments at the EUROBIKE show came when I ran into the LIKE A BIKE company. This little gem of a business has everything that makes for great and stimulating story. Children + Natural Products + Education + Craftsmanship + Sports + History = one heck of a model company. LIKE A BIKE makes a range of wooden bikes WITHOUT PEDALS for very young children and some fun accessories to make it even safer and more enjoyable. It all started 10 years ago when a German couple witnessed, as all parents do, their son having a terrible time mastering the art of riding a bicycle. Being creative and a skilled handyman, founder Rolf Merten went into his garage and proceeded to remove the training wheels, the pedals and even chopped a bit of the seat stem off in order to lower it. What happened a few minutes later changed his son’s life and eventually his own.

Since then LIKE A BIKE has continued to design new and better versions of his invention, using wood and other natural materials to make the bikers safer to use, easier to repair and easily accessible even to toddlers.

As I stood their talking with Delphine Mordenti, who distributes these bikes throughout Europe, I witnessed countless little kids whipping around on their “Mountain” models, deftly avoiding all the “big people” who were mesmerized by all the bikes on display and who wouldn’t have seen them anyway. What surprised me the most was how very small children, some who barley walked well, “rode” their bikes, by pushing themselves around with their two legs, like Venetian Gondola drivers with their canes. It also struck me that these children were highly independent and at the same time, very responsible, since they held their “presence” (in space & time) in their own hands.

The bikes themselves are of exceptionally quality (the wood is beautiful) and come in a variety of sizes and colors and are surprisingly transportable (with a simple Allen Key, anyone can pack it up in under 2 minutes). LIKE A BIKE is an ingenious product that teaches children the fun of living an active lifestyle, the importance of valuing time, and most importantly the connection that nature provides in terms of resources and settings.

Posted by: andrew
Tags: family, brands, society