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a modular solution
the scottish minister for transport and the islands, humza yousaf, recently tweeted, asking advice on how to help his nine year-old daughter learn to ride her bike. as a fine upstanding scottish citizen who didn't vote for the snp in the first place, i sent a reply, based on years of experience assisting a constant stream of the kids under the jurisdiction of mrs washingmachinepost, not to mention my own two when they were at that age. no doubt, with over 74,000 followers, he garnered more than sufficient well-meaning advice to help solve the situation.
however, once the child learns to be independent on two wheels, that's when the real problems begin. though it's likely less of a worry on the islands, where life is ostensibly safer for kids, but unaccompanied youngsters on a bicycle are probably mostly in danger from themselves, there's the never ending problem of growth. junior bicycles are often classified by wheel size rather than frame, and it's often quite hard for even the most doting of parents to suss out the correct size. in fact, for the financially pressed, there's every likelihood that a size larger than pragmatic will be acquired so that they'll 'grow into it'.
if only there was a practical solution to the average child's growth spurts. for there's little argument that children in their early teens are less than acquainted with present-day economics, wanting a larger bicycle on the very day that the need presents itself. in a round about sort of way, the solution closely resembles a life-size version of lego or meccano.
the curiously named infento offers a wide range of kits that ought to keep most kids on wheels for more than just a year or two. these include the obviously named junior kit, inventor kit, creator kit and for those intent on becoming master of the world, the master creator kit. of course, it's eminently possible that the quandary over which size of proper bicycle to purchase, has been supplanted by which kit to order. and that's hardly taking into account the build time for several of the included variations. for instance, though a trimax scooter ought to occupy a mere 90 minutes of construction time, infento advise that the speedster trike takes a more time-consuming five hours.
based on my own experience of assembling toys ordered by my better half, i'd imagine those might err on the conservative side, thus eating into valuable personal cycling time. and much as i'm in favour of pandering to the kids in an effort to provide them with the little luxuries in life, there has to be a line drawn somewhere. and were you to involve one of the little darlings in the build process in order that they receive early years mechanical training, five hours might very well be the thin end of the wedge.
strictly speaking, many of the variations offered by infento are not bicyces as we would know them, but are surely an attractive alternative to computer games. getting kids out and about at an early age will hopefully convince them that skin is quite adequately waterproof and that mum and dad are not suffering from dementia when one or other takes to the bicycle on a wet and windy sunday morning. according to the company's website, kit prices range from around £125 for the go kit to a few pounds short of £600 for the master creator kit.
the purist in me figures that a proper bicycle is the more traditional way to go, but purely for the various possibilities that an infento kit offers the curious youngster, these might be more than worth considering. and the inquisitor in me wonders if there would be mileage (pardon the pun) in an adults version.
thursday 26 april 2018
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