More than a year ago I made an attempt to tether my eldest daughter to my bike using the bicycle-towing Trail-Gator –a device with excellent intentions mated to ham-fisted execution. Unfortunately, the attempt resulted in near-catastrophic failure at the base of our driveway, before we could even get underway. Alright, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but palms were scuffed and a little girl cried, so ‘catastrophic’ isn’t too far off the mark. Whatever the case, this little mishap scared my daughter and set her back a bit in going solo on her bike.

Trek T900: perfect rear frame height for packing a tiny tiger

Fortunately, thanks to a combination of time, the ceremonial burning of the Trail-Gator, and a new steed in the stable, we’ve solved the trail-a-bike issue. First and foremost, we acquired a spanking new Trek T900 tandem –which my daughter simply adores. The Trek provides all the benefits of the trail-a-bike, with dramatically improved rigidity and far lower weight, which makes for a comfortable, efficient ride. What’s more, the 14.5″ rear frame height makes it ideally sized for my oldest daughter, who just finished her kindergarten year. Now that the Trek has entered our stable, my daughter has gained a whole new competitive spirit on bike rides. She loves for us to go fast and really works hard to contribute to our velocity. One of the best features of the T900 is that you can get your hands on an extremely well-made, child-friendly aluminum tandem for $1,100. Good luck finding another tandem at that price-point that features a rear frame height of less than 15 inches. Our rocky start to follow-behind-biking has been nearly completely forgotten thanks to the T900. One down, one to go.

With our youngest daughter approaching the age of independent flight, I’ve been baffled by whether to try a pedal-free bike, training wheels, or something altogether different. Unfortunately, the options haven’t always been diverse. Enter the Gyrowheel. Gyrowheel is basically a bicycle wheel with a gyroscope embedded inside, making unsteady riding a thing of the past. As per the Gyrowheel website:

“Gyroscopes are spinning wheels that exhibit a special property called precession. When a force is put at the top of a spinning wheel (such as a rider falling on a bicycle), rather than falling, the gyroscope simply turns, or precesses, in the direction of the fall. This occurs on normal bike wheels when the bike is traveling at higher speeds. Hence, it is easier to ride a bicycle once you ‘get going.’”

Gyrowheel takes advantage of the natural properties of the gyroscope to enable the benefits to occur even when the bike is moving slowly, as in the case of little tigers learning to ride. The disk inside the Gyrowheel spins independently of the outer bike wheel. In this manner, when a rider is moving very slowly on the bicycle, the precession of the interior gyro will still be actively present. If the rider begins to fall, Gyrowheel precesses under the rider’s weight, restabilizing the bike.

Now, Gyrowheel isn’t a means to keep the bike upright at all times –it’s not the same type of active electronic gyro used in a Segway scooter. The Gyrowheel merely prevents the little slow-speed spills that traditionally plague young riders learning how to use a bicycle. According to the manufacturer:

“…Gyrowheel has been empirically proven to increase stability of a bike by 6-8 times as compared with an unaided bike. This added stability makes riders feel more confident and safe and allows them to learn to ride more quickly, or simply enjoy riding with added stability. Gyrowheel has also proven to be ‘cool’ to ‘extremely cool.’”

I’ve embedded an excellent video below, which illustrates the basic principles of Gyrowheel in action –If I manage to get my hands on one for testing, I’ll post the results here for your enjoyment:

Note to iPad users: you can view the video on your iPad by using the YouTube app, searching for: Gyrowheel by Gyrobike interbike 2009