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Review on 🚲 BELSIZE 16-Inch Belt-Drive Kid's Bike: Lightweight Aluminium Alloy Bicycle (12.57 lbs) for 3-7 Year Olds by Chris Dildine

Revainrating 5 out of 5

The perfect bike. see video and updates

Short version: Super light and so smooth with a lube free maintenance free belt. Long Version: Beautiful and functional, this is a modern marvel of bicycle engineering in a compact package. From the brushed and painted aluminum frame to the belt drive, kids ask for more and their parents marvel. Fully loaded with 16" pneumatic tires on aluminum rims, front and rear V-brakes (no coaster brake!) are smaller than most inexpensive 16" wheels. With a minimum seat height of 19″, this is the perfect first pedal bike for any balance bike grad. While the brushed aluminum frame overshadows it, the belt drive is the icing on the cake. Not only does the belt require no lubrication or maintenance, it also prevents snagging on clothing and, unlike a chain, does not stretch or slip off the gears. Another important advantage is the lack of a foot brake. The CPSC-mandated footbrake on all bikes with a minimum seat height of less than 16 inches often does more harm than good to balance bike graduates who are used to handbrakes. When learning to pedal, many children accidentally kick backwards. On a foot-braked bike, pedaling backwards will bring the bike to a sudden stop, causing it to lose all of its momentum, while a non-foot-braked bike is much more forgiving and keeps moving forward. Instead of a foot brake, it has two short-travel V-brakes front and rear. My 4 year old rides it for an hour a day. I will continue to update this review. Update 05/18/20: I have the opportunity to compare it with the Woom 3. The translation of the Woom is very low. Children cannot ride Woom fast. The components of the Woom are much smaller and better, the chain is noisy and constantly rubs against the case, the case is thin, thin, moves while riding, it's not bolted to the frame, it just sits on top of the chain. While a 2lb lighter is great until I figure out where they cut corners and use cheap parts. All Belsize parts are branded; Continental belts, Kenda tires, Tektro brakes. The Belsize's flat handlebars are probably too aggressive for children under 5, forcing the child to lean too far forward. The good news is that this is a standard 1 inch size and you can replace them for around $20. Children sit much more upright on the Woom 3. The version has riser bars, much better than the flat but still on the aggressive side, perfect for mountain biking. Too bad my son won't have this new version to test because now he is very happy with the Woom 3. He stopped using the 2020 version from last summer due to the poor flat handlebar design.

Pros
  • Happy so far
Cons
  • I have no negative feelings about it, everything is fine