Almost a year ago, Justin Raymond from Wild Child Bikes (www.wildchildbikes.com) emailed me to suggest that we work on a bike together. I had heard of companies doing collaborations. Collaborations have a fun trendy sound, right?
Justin and I know each other through the industry. I make kids bikes. Justin makes high performance balance bike components. Justin sells Prevelo bikes on his website. This is how we came to know each other. It was business...or at least as businessy as things can be when you sell kids bike things for a living. But we have a lot in common. We're both Dads that got so excited about our kids riding bikes that we decided to start a business making kids bike things. You can question our judgement and sanity, but it's undeniable that we both love what we do. Over the past couple of years I have come to consider Justin a friend. We've seen each other's businesses and products evolve. Our kids have ridden bikes together.
Justin is immensely humble, and his humbleness prohibits him from telling you how much he understands the performance balance bike world. Justin is hyper focused on balance bikes...and on making balance bikes fast. If I wanted to make my kids go blisteringly fast on a balance bike, Justin is the person I would call. Fast kids are awesome, and are good for the cardiovascular fitness of their parents.
When Justin asked me if I wanted to make a Wild Child version of the Alpha Zero I was flattered and honored. So here we are, presenting the Alpha Zero Wild Edition. It's an Alpha Zero decked out with Wild Child Pro Wheels, a DaddyLab flat bar, lockon grips and stem, and slathered in Wild Child's company colors - deep metallic teal and racing orange.
This bike is awesome and I love it. It's what I would want for my kids, but they are post balance bike age, so I'm keeping one for myself. It's on display in my office. It's a daily reminder that sometimes you just have to make something awesome for the sake of making something awesome. It's what happens when two obsessed Dads work together.
The Alpha Zero Wild Edition is available exclusively at wildchildbikes.com
If you are going to have your kid ride this blistering fast balance bike, please make sure that they wear a helmet and you wear your running shoes.