I would like to put a back brake on my daughters balance bike as she is getting a little adventurous.

We have no problem mounting the calliper (grandpa has a new milling machine & lathe and he wants to play).

At the moment I need to figure out what levers will be best for small hands. We may make some smaller diameter handlebars too, but that can come later.

I’m thinking Clarks M2, Shimano M315’s or similar. I will need to shorten the hose, so something that doesn’t need any special tools would be good.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see them get broken, and with anything for a toddler, it won’t last long, so budget is cheaper is better.

I also need a 20 hole, narrow (89mm!) disc compatible hub.

Has anyone any experience or suggestions?

Cheers,
Pete

I can tell you the BRM-355 set that came with my Wazoo do have the lever reach adjustment with a tiny hex key, but no idea if there are more suitable levers for youngsters.

Sorry budget/time says – just get another balance bike with a brake

thats £40 at Decathlon for a rear drum braked version

Otherwise you will quickly spend the budget on parts and take too long to make it work before it needs updating to something with pedals.

Child finger, caliper / disc interface is the stuff of my night mares. Think guillotine

“I also need a 20 hole, narrow (89mm!) disc compatible hub“

That sounds like a job for grandpa & his machine shop !

Don’t bother. She almost certainly will not use it. It is that much of an issue get her a real bike now and take the cranks off will she is ready to try riding it.

Many shimano levers have reach adjust, but maybe it’s worth looking at a small bike and just take the pedals (or even the cranks) off?

V brake is more than enough for a balance bike.

As above, just swap it for one that has one.

If in 3 weeks she’s already gliding and has her feet up and picking up speed then that’s superb!
Brakes wise, as above, I think a disc is overkill and you might consider having grandpa machine a v brake mount or drilling a hole for a rim caliper brake
I added a single pivot side pull brake to the front of my kids run bike. Enough power to stop a featherweight but not enough to send them OTB. Mounted in the fork with no kids required.

hotwalk brake mount
All the info you need.
If your hotwalk is like the one pictured with the drilled hole in the fork crown, a front brake is a super easy install.

I put an XT/XTR v-brake on the back of my daughter’s balance bike (that I made) as I had them in the spares box. The XT lever works great with her small hands although I made a spacer, that fits inside the cable guide, to reduce the distance from bars to lever.
It’s powerful enough to stop the back wheel with me on it 😀

She has been gliding for ages & is fairly regular in the skills park at comrie croft. The trouble is she wants to tackle some of the bigger drops and the gliding gets a little rapid.

I know that she could ride a pedal bike, but I also know that a small enough pedal bike wouldn’t have the clearance for the trails she already rides. Hence, I have picked up a 2nd hand 14″ wheel balance bike for a while. I think that a cable brake is hard work for little hands, hence looking at putting a hydraulic disc on. I will probably half the size of the friction material pads to reduce the power.

Regarding hand/disc/caliper interface, I’m going to make sure there are no big enough holes in the disc to get little fingers into, I’m more worried about the heat if she does learn to use it.

Smaller diameter handlebars are also on the cards so she has a chance of hanging on.

Double post

You can have my boys balance bike with a brake for £15. Email me if your interested

Thanks for the offer Stainypants. We are already sorted now.