Sideburn Ben tipped me on this beautiful toy.
The Dunecraft balance bike is based on an early 1920s Isle of Man TT
winning racing motorbike.
It is made of top quality birch wood and comes
fully assembled with a stand.
The balance bike is suitable for children
from the age of 3 or those above the height of 86cm.
The seat can be
adjusted to three different heights. The bike weighs 8 kg.
The Dunecraft
balance bike is hand-made from the start to the finish.
A balance bike is the best way to start before learning to ride a
bicycle.
Ever since Gijs Dune discovered his father’s toolbox in the basement (at
the age of 5), he started unscrewing things,
curious to see what was in
the inside and how it worked.
"The beautiful antique clock which my
parents received as their wedding present also had to give way to my
curiosity.
I remember very well my father’s reaction after he discovered
what I had done…
I have been fiddling with tools ever since then."
His interest in how things work grew and motorbikes in particular
became his passion.
"My ultimate dream came true in 2000 when I restored
my 1948 Vincent Rapide, to original factory standard."
Gijs is mainly self-taught in all his skills. He inherited his technical
interest from his father
and the artistic creativity from his mother.
The
result is the beautiful wooden, high quality, hand-made Dunecraft
balance bike.
The company is based in Leiden, a university town in the Netherlands
where bicycles are the main form of transportation
due to the narrow
streets, dense population and the short distance between destinations.
More info here on the Dunecraft site
When I was a little kid I dreamt about having my own motorbike.
Dunecraft can make that dream come true for a lot of kids.