PILCH "Góralek" walking bike
Also commonly called "balance bikes", walking bikes for babies are more and more fashionable. They are said to train them much better for the balance than tricycles or side-wheels.Since many of our acquaintances got one for their children, we decided to go for it and then hunted for the best occasion. Wooden models are said to be best so we looked for such. I popped into an internet auction where was a promotion on the "Góralek" ("hyrax") model from PILCH, a renowned producer of wooden toys, eco-manufactured in the Polish Beskidy.
Buying local being always better than some Chinese crap, and the 40€ being a fair price for the product, we decided it would make a good present for his 2.5 birthday.
Mikolaj's first reaction was... throwing it into the fountain of our residence ! (throwing things in water, including toys from others, is one of his new hobbies we try to discourage).
But he soon felt in love with the item, and its cool touchy feeling, despite he did not really understand during long weeks that its main interest was siting on it. Probably watching me coming back from work often with my bike in hand, he did entire long walks as far as the neighboring park, just for the fun of pushing it aside. Turning it upside down to watch how long can the wheels turn is another good fun when weather doesn't allow excursions. The craze went as far as falling asleep with it next to him !
But here we are, patience paid and he now uses it for the purpose it was designed for, and after few heights adjustments seem to ride (or walk, depends from which point of view) comfortably on it. With a marked taste for off-trails riding, already... Going across the grass, or where it goes up or down is better !
The product is advertised as having been prized in several occasions as a top toy. And a random encounter in a children fair led me to to chat with the PILCH marketing manager, a very kind guy interested by perspectives of selling abroad. Discouraged by swindling costs of wooden items in your country and looking for a similar item ? Don't bother, drop an email and get yours shipped !
