Our philosophy

We want people to fall in love with riding.

For children, that means not for a term and not for a certificate, but for the rest of their lives. Skills that keep them safe when no adult is watching: reading the road, holding a line, stopping exactly where they mean to. Skills that make them independent, confident and competent riders, so a bike is something they reach for at fifteen and at fifty.

Everything we do follows from that.

It's why we fit two hand brakes

The Australian standard requires a back-pedal brake on children's bikes 16 inches and under. We sell those bikes as the standard requires. But we don't teach on them, and here's why.

A back-pedal brake teaches a child to stop by pedalling backwards. Every bike they'll ride after that (the 20-inch, the 24-inch, the commuter, the e-bike) stops with hand brakes. So the first thing we'd have taught them is the first thing they'd have to unlearn.

Two hand brakes from the start teaches the real skill: modulating the front and back brake with your hands, the way every bike on the road works. We'd rather a child learns it once, at five, on a bike we've set up for their hands.

So on any bike 16 inches and under, we offer to fit two hand brakes before handover. It isn't a small job. It means taking the back wheel out, rebuilding it around a new hub, respoking it and putting it back, about two hours in the repair shop. We don't charge what that costs. Every bike we sell subsidises it, because that's how strongly we believe in it. If you'd like it, add it when you buy the bike and it'll be done before the bike leaves us.

It's why we bring the bikes

Nobody should learn on a bike that doesn't fit, and nobody should have to own one before they know they'll ride. Every class includes a bike sized to the rider and a helmet that fits. Bring yourself.

It's why we fine-tune for free

A bike that fits gets ridden. A bike that doesn't gathers dust. Every bike we sell comes with two weeks of free fine-tuning (seat, handlebars, brake reach) so it fits the rider, not the box it came in.

It's why we're not a sport

We teach riding as transport: to school, to the shops, to work, to a friend's place. Ordinary trips, made on a bike, for a lifetime. That's the change we're after, and it starts with a child who knows how to stop.