I started a thread ages ago about making a balance bike for my little girl. Things didn’t really get going but now I’ve had a chance to make a start and it’s going along nicely I reckon 🙂
I wanted to make as much of the bike as possible but will need to buy a few bits.
A few pics of progress:
Downtube (2″ aluminium tube)

Swingarm (CNC machined out of solid billet)



Stem (CNC machined from solid billet. 28mm offset)


Bars and stem

Just need to turn the headtube, seat tube and swingarm fixing.
Hopefully get it done in time for Christmas…

Cool as hell. I like.

If you don’t get a move on she’ll be asking for the keys so she can borrow the car.

“No, I can’t take you to University, a few more bits and I’ve nearly finished your balance bike”… 😆

Fantastic work OP, I’d love to be able to do something like this. I take it you have a background in metalwork? And have the tools to hand or access to a good workshop?

Thanks guys!
breatheeasy: yeah, the idea started ages ago but I’ve only just had a chance to do anything about it. 3 days to do the bits above..
tonyd: I’m a CNC programmer so have access to lathes, mills etc. Makes it much easier to do stuff like this 🙂

Nice work, fella. I’m a CNC programmer myself – wish I had chance to make cool parts like that!

I have a very good boss b&b 😉

Oooooo…. nice!

What do the 3 bolts on the back of the stem do? I can’t see a split to close-up.

What do the 3 bolts on the back of the stem do?

I’ve not split it yet. Just waiting til I get the forks done to make sure it’s a good fit (easier to open the bore up on the stem than alter the steerer)

cool – ta

Hmmm interesting. Awaits fully built pics.

Swingarm (CNC machined out of solid billet)

suspension?

Was tempted to do some sort of suspension but then realised it would be a nightmare to fit it into the design..

Ti plate instead of pivot?

Very cool!

Are you going to paint it, laquer it? Would look ace in the bare metal but not very girly.

Yeah, probably going to paint it but will see how it looks in raw 1st..

Logos and valves lined up….tick.

Dust cap….fail.

Other than that, looks superb. It’ll have to go on the wall when she grows out of it.

Design help needed…4″, 5″ or 6″ headtube?

You can always add spoacers to increase the height of the 4″ one, so I’d always go that route.

Tait said, you can probably machine the 6″ one down if you need to.

I think the 5″ looks best for proportions.

You are insane. Love it.

Fab!

Are you doing the welding or getting a colleague involved? Any heat treatment or just letting it age?

Finished in time for Christmas?

And please misalign the tyre and valve just to annoy trivialists 🙂

You clever bastard ! That’s awesome !

I’ll be letting our welder do the welding but I’ll jig it all up.
Not going to heat treat as our aluminum supplier said there was no need.
Aiming for Christmas but she’ll still be a bit young for it…

I’m looking to make one of these myself from mild steel but I have no idea what size of tubing to use. How are you going to install the headset cups?
thanks

Mild steel might be a bit of a lump. Harvesting some tubes from an old frame might be better. Saying that, for a single tube frame, some 1.5″ ERW tube would be about right size, cheap, easy to get and won’t be too heavy.

Nicer stuff would be Columbus cro-moly in 0.8mm wall from Ceeway for about £12 plus VAT for a 1.5m length. I made this bigger bike (for 7 to 12 yr old) with 1″ top / down tubes. Seat tube will generally be 28.6 (1 1/8″) for a 27.2 seatpost.

Bit more progress today. Got the headtube machined and made some simple gussets:

@lurchh: I’m using an FSA headset for a Giant OCR. It’s a funny size so CRC were selling them off cheap. I’ve just made the headtube the correct size for these cups. The main tubes on this frame are 2″ diameter with a 2.5mm wall.

Looks great – what is the little machined groove / pocket under the down tube? (in the gusset photo)

Nice work – really looking forward to watching this progress 🙂

I had intended to do a single 10mm wide gusset but decided it would look better to have 2 thinner ones. Will be filled before painting so it won’t be seen 😉

Looking forward to seeing this finished. Great work so far fella.

Excellent stuff.

Just picked up some nice, free scandium bars. Need to cut them down a bit and get them anodized..

Looks the absolute dogs ! Chapeau !

Stunning work OP!! Love home built bike threads and this is right up my street.

Im currently planning a carbon balance bike for my little one, he is only 7 month so i have a good time scale to get it done 🙂

Keep up the good work and i look forward to updates

Ooh, carbon balance bike! That would be cool..look forward to seeing that take shape.

What a very lucky child. I wish I was this talented! I think the final build should get a review in the mag or at least an appearance in fresh goods Friday!

More progress! Front end all welded up..

Looking good!! Impressive work! 🙂

@ stevied – I saw that you were after some old fork stanchions the other day on classifieds. I have some Fox 36 stanchions that you can have for the price of postage. Obviously they’re worn out for suspension use but I imagine would be fine for a project like this. 195mm, 1 1/8” steerer, can’t send them until Monday though. E-mail if you’re interested.

Good work with the project by the way.

e-mail by eddkh, on Flickr