Minibike is a remote-controlled brake that allows parents to bring their children’s bicycles to a halt from a distance.
The MiniBrake consists of two parts: a remote controller and a small brake attached to the rear wheel of the child’s bike. When the parent presses the controller, the bicycle comes to a safe and smooth stop.
Minibrake automatically stops the bicycle when it nears its 50 metre range, when the battery gets low and when anything blocks the signal between the remote controller and the bike.
A significant milestone in life is the moment when the bicycle stabilizers come off and the child wobbles away into the distance. An achievement that represents a real step towards independence, it is as poignant as it is joyous because it relies on the parent letting go.
Would you fit a remote-controlled brake to your child’s bicycle?
Anthony Cartmell
Eeeek! How dangerous is this?!?
Would you really want your child learning to ride a bicycle that, at any moment and without warning, the brakes come on? What if the child was crossing a road at the time when the brakes come on? If you can’t trust your child to brake, why are you letting them ride somewhere where reliable braking is needed to be safe?
It always amazes me how the UK has become so obsessed with “safety” that we’ve forgotten that reducing or removing the source of danger is the only way forward. We invent gadgets like this, force our children to wear polystyrene hats (often riddled with holes, the wrong size, and worn too loosely) and “high viz” clothing. The solution is not to try to make our children impervious to being hit by a tonne-and-a-half of fast-moving car (an impossible aim), but instead to provide places for our children to travel around by bicycle without going anywhere near motor vehicles. It’s not rocket science, the Dutch let their children cycle to and from school on their own from the age of eight, and they do so in complete safety with no needs for protective equipment or gadgets like this.
On a related note, stabilizers are the worst and slowest way to try to teach a child to ride a bicycle. These annoying little wheels actually prevent balancing, so they actually prevent people learning how to balance. Worse than that, stabilizers prevent the bike from leaning so cornering at anything faster than a snails pace will result in the rider falling off. The small stabilizer wheels also catch bumps, or get stuck in grass, very easily, or even protrude beyond the kerb of a pavement, thus suddenly no longer providing the support that’s expected.
Much better to use a balance bike at first (or just take the pedals off a normal bike and put the saddle down) until the rider is happy balancing and steering and braking. Only then should you add pedals so they can learn the difficult action of setting of with a push on a pedal. This learning method works fast, and for adults as well as children.
Anthony Cartmell
it “protects the child after an accident has happened” he says = how? Magic?
Anyway, this isn’t new: Dragons Den featured the “Bike Stoppa” six years ago, although none of the dragons wanted to invest in it. It looks like the product went into production for a while (there was one for sale on eBay recently), but the company Bike Stoppa Ltd was dissolved in 2010. Not a huge success.
Dan Bailey
Yep, load of rubbish if you ask me. Not groundbreaking in any way, shape or form and completely unnecessary. Be a proper parent, if your child is racing off, get a bike and take them on a proper ride! Dont try and stop them!
David
Brilliant idea! I love it.
John Mallows
As a National Standards Cycling trainer, cycling advocate with various local and national bodies, a member of road safety / health groups and reasonably experienced in real risk issues I have to opine that Anthoney is spot on, and very well put. to boot.