Balance Bike Lugged Kit
First-bike kit · a gift

Balance Bike Lugged Kit

Beginner-friendly · no experience needed~8–12 hrs · a weekend

A bamboo balance bike light enough for little legs, simple enough to build over a weekend, and personal enough to keep forever. It's the same bike a parent builds for their own child on our prison programme — so the one you make at home helps fund a place for a family to be reunited.

£165
In stock — ships ~twice a week from our London workshop, fully tracked.

Klarna and Shop Pay at checkout

Quantity
Prefer a workshop?

Not sure it's for you? Book a free 10-minute call

1-year kit warranty · 14-day returns on unopened kits · ships in ~2 weeks

Build your own — and help fund a place on our Build to Bond prison programme.

Build with a buddy — buy a second kit and save 15% on both. Better builds, better stories.
  • No power tools required — just basic hand tools
  • Illustrated manual + 15+ hours of step-by-step video
  • Lifetime community of 4,000+ builders for support
  • Cycle to Work accepted — save through salary sacrifice
what arrives

everything but the parts you already own.

The frame kit: tubes, lugs and adhesive. Wheels, saddle, bars and headset come as the balance bike components pack, shown here with the kit.

  1. 1 bamboo tubescut to length
  2. 2 pre-formed aluminium lugs
  3. 3 bonding adhesive
  4. 4 assembly instructionsand the video series

Spares included. If anything in the box is not right, we replace it.

The balance bike, lugged kit laid out flat
what it takes

the build, honestly.

A weekend project. Everything you cut and bond is in the box; the components pack bolts on at the end.

build time 8–12 hrsa weekend
difficulty No experience neededa first build for many parents
tools Hand tools onlyhacksaw · sandpaper · tape
space A kitchen table
Documents1:1 frame plan — in the boxBuild manual and video course — with your kit
shipped worldwide from the London workshop

no customs bill at the door

Delivered duty paid

The price at checkout is the price the kit costs you. We pay the import duty and tax before it ships, so the courier has nothing to collect when it arrives.

Packed by hand and shipped twice a week, tracked all the way. Kits have reached 45 countries.

Every kit does more

your build helps fund accredited skills courses — inside prisons and schools.

You build
a balance bike
Profits fund
accredited skills courses
A life changes
skills · confidence · futures
See our impact
What it costs to actually ride

complete your build, the easy way.

The kit is the frame. Add a matched component pack — fork, wheels, groupset, finishing kit — and you're ride-ready. Or source parts from any bike shop; your frame fits all major groupsets.

Frame kit
£165

Everything to build the bamboo balance bike.

Component pack
Priced by build

Bars, wheels, drivetrain and finishing kit, chosen for your build.

Ride-ready, all in
From £810

A complete, one-of-a-kind balance bike — built by you.

Add the component pack

Prefer to choose your own parts? Skip the pack — the frame works with any standard groupset, and we'll advise.

Age range
Designed for sized by inside leg
Weight
Light for little legs
Build time
8–12 hrs — a weekend
Finish
Hand-sealed natural bamboo

spec — BS ISO 22157:2019 · tensile 84.3 MPa · Swansea University

What's in the box

in the kit

Heat-treated Moso bamboo tubes (with spares), a full-size frame blueprint, a plywood alignment jig, the CNC metal parts that the steering, cranks and wheels bolt to (head tube, bottom-bracket shell and dropouts), flax fibre (the reinforcing fibre you wrap each joint with), two-part epoxy resin, and an illustrated manual plus 15+ hours of step-by-step video tutorials.

you'll add

Fork, wheels, groupset, handlebars, saddle and finishing components. Grab a complete component pack from us, or source parts from any bike shop.

Build with confidence

you've got this — and we've got you

you can't really ruin it

The glue is slow and adjustable, each joint wrap is additive (more = stronger), and a cured joint simply sands back to shape. The kit even ships with spare bamboo — at no single point is a mistake permanent.

tools you'll need

  • Hacksaw
  • Files
  • Sandpaper
  • Tape measure
  • A rounded wood file
  • Electrical & masking tape
  • A 1200×600mm board
  • No power tools needed

you're never on your own

Stuck mid-build? Get help fast through our builder forum, step-by-step YouTube videos, WhatsApp and email. Most of our builders start with zero experience.

After the build

caring for your frame

Seal the bamboo and store it indoors; dry it after wet rides. A frame you built — and understand — is one you can maintain and repair yourself for years.

warranty, returns & shipping

  • 1-year warranty on the kit materials
  • Full refund within 14 days on unopened, unused kits
  • Ships in ~2 weeks · UK £12 · Europe £25 · USA £45 · rest of world £75
Watch the build

See a frame come together.

The same hand-build every kit follows — start to finish, on camera.

Bamboo Bicycle Club — frame build film

Taps into 'the IKEA effect' — that extra bit of affection people reserve for objects they put together themselves.

Financial Times
Builder reviews

rated by the builders who made one

Built this with my daughter for her 3rd birthday. The look on her face when she realized we made it together was priceless.

Proud Parent · Balance bike builder, London
3,500+
frames built at home
BBC records · since 2012
84.3 MPa
bamboo tubing, tested
Swansea University · BS ISO 22157:2019
2012
building since — early builds still ridden
BBC records
~2×/wk
shipped from London
full tracking
Common questions

before you build.

What age and size is this for?

Designed for children roughly aged 2–5, as a balance (pedal-free) first bike. The right fit depends on your child's inside-leg measurement more than age — send us their height and inside leg and we'll confirm it suits them.

Is it light enough for a sized by inside leg to handle?

Bamboo is naturally light and the balance frame is small, so it's made to be manageable for little legs. We don't want to publish a weight we haven't measured — we'll share the exact finished weight on request.

Why no pedals?

Balance bikes teach the hard part first — balancing and steering — without pedals or stabilisers. Children glide with their feet, then move straight to a pedal bike, usually skipping stabilisers altogether.

How hard is the build, and how long does it take?

It's our simplest kit — fewer parts than an adult frame and around 8–12 hours, comfortably a weekend. No power tools: just basic hand tools (hacksaw, files, sandpaper, tape) and a work surface. Most builders start with zero experience, and our community can help if you get stuck.

How strong is the finished frame?
Bamboo frame tubing tested at Swansea University to BS ISO 22157:2019 — 84.3 MPa ultimate tensile, comparable to mild steel at a fraction of the weight. That figure is for the tubing we supply, not for a finished frame: how strong your bike ends up is decided by your joints. Follow the manual, let the resin cure fully, and check the joints before every early ride — and call us if anything looks wrong.
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