Pello is a full line of carefully designed, high-quality, lightweight bicycles for kids. The well thought-out choices of materials, components and finish make a Pello bike something that even the most serious cycling parent would be proud to give to their child (and pass down to the next kid!) Once again, Pello will be setting up their popular and exciting kids’ test track at the Philly Bike Expo. Children can bring their own helmets, or wear one that Pello provides. Founder Shane Cusick responded enthusiastically to my interview request. “We always love talking about bikes and getting kids riding bikes!” he said.
PBE What’s your recommended method for teaching the youngest riders?
SC Getting them ready to ride is really pretty simple with a balance bike.
PBE What age do you think is best for a child to start learning how to balance?
SC We encourage parents to start their child on a balance bike as soon as they can. In fact a balance bike is a great baby shower gift 🙂 Even one year old is a great time to introduce a balance bike. We did this very thing to get our little guys. At first they think its a toy and are a bit curious and start to “play” with the balance bike. Before long they have balance down and are ready for pedals. One cool thing about our new balance bike is that the handlebars allow for 3″ of height adjustment, which means you can slam the bars all the way down and they fit a pretty small child, then as they grow you can adjust them upwards and keep encouraging them to ride. Once a child learns balance they have a much easier time transitioning onto pedals (learning one new thing vs two is way easier!). Depending on how tall they are and where they are developmentally we find that 2-3 years is a good time to introduce them to pedals and our Romper 14″ bike is a great first bike that’s light and fits their proportions nicely due to our “ride right geometry”. The biggest thing is to take your time and be patient, your child will let you know when they’re ready to ride and when it happens it’s a special moment!
PBE We received great reviews about the Expo/Pello kids test track – we even heard reports that kids learned to ride there! What age(s) is the test track for?
SC Thanks! Yes we generally have a couple kids that learn to ride on our tracks, it really makes us feel good to see a little one ride for the first time, makes us feel like all the time and effort spent toiling over all the details in designing our bikes really worth it! Our track is good for kids about 1-11 years old.
PBE What’s your favorite part of your business?
SC Seeing kids ride our bikes and having fun!
PBE What’s your favorite ride/route/destination?
SC Here in Richmond VA we have a lot of great trails and places for kids, and big kids, to ride. I guess all of them are some of my favorites depending on what kinda riding we want to do (greenway, single track or even pump track!). Some of my personal favorites are back country roads of Virginia or mountain biking in Pisgah Natl Forest (NC) or in the George Washington Natl Forest here in VA, actually almost anywhere in the world I can generally find a great place to ride my bike!