About Us

The idea behind Tyke Rider began with a simple phone call.

My family, originally of New York, spent two years in Europe, first in Frankfurt, Germany then in London, England. It was during our initial stay in Frankfurt where we were first introduced to balance bikes. The bicycles were beautiful and the children riding them were having a blast. At the time my two daughters were not quite old enough for balance bikes so despite our interest we did not look much further into them.

In the summer of 2008 we moved to London. Once again we were amazed with how many of these bicycles we saw during our family walks. As my daughters were quickly approaching the age to start on a balance bike, I decided to do a little research. It was during this research that I came upon the story of Mike and Maggie Shaw of the UK who founded Helemill (www.helemill.com).

Several years ago Mike and Maggie were one of the first to import the German concept of balance bikes to the UK. They were passionate about their products and have achieved great success over time doing something they love. In researching balance bikes I was fortunate to get in contact with Mike and he was kind enough to share his story with me.

It was during this conversation that the idea behind Tyke Rider was born.

What makes Tyke Rider so much fun, and why we care so much, is that we truly believe in the developmental benefits of the balance bike and want to bring those benefits to the US. In addition, the people behind the products we sell are just as passionate and excited about their products as we are. We feel extremely lucky to be involved with the brands we carry and aim to represent them the best way we can.

The balance bike model has taken off in Europe and we at Tyke Rider are excited to be part of that evolution in the US.

- Andy