Bringing up a child focuses the mind in all sorts of surprising areas.Take children’s bicycles, for example. As an adult, you wouldn’t normally give them a second glance, but once with child, you’re obliged to buy the things.

In the UK, bicycles designed for children vary from poor to atrocious, both in design and execution. A typical specimen comes with trick suspension that barely moves, pearlescent paint masking agricultural tubing, derailleur gears that don’t index properly, no lights, no bell and no mudguards.

When Alexander was two-ish, we bought him a little 12-inch wheeled bike. It was heavy (7.8kg), had only one brake (on the front wheel, so we had to reroute it to the back), small hands couldn’t grip the adult brake lever, the componentry was poor and the finish was miserable. And that was a good bike from a reputable shop.

The problem lies with Far Eastern manufacture, importers and distributors who, frankly, couldn’t give a damn, and shop prices so low, the retailers aren’t interested. It needed be like this.The Chinese are skilled engineers, and they’ll build whatever we ask – we’re just not asking the right questions.

…Bicycles designed for children vary from poor to attrocious… In Germany, things seem to be different…

In Germany, things seem to be different. When Britain started on the road to wholesale de-industrialisation in the 1980s and ‘90s, the Germans were a bit more cautious. As a result, many mechanical and electrical things are still manufactured there (gasp, swoon).We don’t mean repackaged or badged, but manufactured in the metal-bashing sense. Look closely at most ostensibly German products, and you will usually find that they really are German products, from design through to manufacture.

Back in October 1991, we came across the wooden Like-a-Bike and fell in love with it, as indeed, did Alexander (see A to B 26).You really couldn’t produce a machine like this by franchising the design and manufacture to a company on the other side of the world, and of course, the Like-a-Bike was (and still is) made in Germany. It’s a well-designed, well-crafted product. It may cost a bit more, but you know it will go on pleasing children for years, if not generations, to come.

With Alexander fast approaching five, and already much too large for both the 12- incher or the Like-a-Bike, it was time for new wheels. Assuming, like many Brits, that Puky only produced toddler’s tricycles, we hadn’t given the brand too much thought, but a chance invitation from the distributor to try their bicycle range made us sit up and listen.

Puky

Puky translates rather badly into English, especially if you’re feeling a bit the worse for wear, but when originally established in Düsseldorf, in 1949, the company was called Puck. A mischievous or evil sprite, says the OED, which sounds perfect. A few years later, the name was changed and the company moved a short distance to the little town of Wuelfrath, and has been expanding ever since.

Puky make just about every wheeled device imaginable, from charming frontier-style handcarts to some professional-looking go-carts for older children, complete with ‘Formula One spoilers’, plus a range of bicycles for children of all ages.The bicycles are broadly graded by wheel size: 12-, 16- and 18-inch for the tiddlers, and 18- or 20-inch for the over-fives.

The 18-inch bikes come in two styles: the Z8, a traditional child’s step-thru machine in monstrous red, yellow and blue, and the Cyke 18-1, a Y- frame ATB-style bike, in red or silver.These machines are designed to suit children measuring more than 115cm, or 3′ 9″ in that delightfully graphic language we used to use.

None of the 18-inch bikes has gears, but both are available in road-going trim, with wheel reflectors, stand and dynamo lighting kit, as the Z8B or 18-1B respectively.These things mean little to us, but for a five-year-old it’s the equivalent of a turbocharger and alloy wheels. Prices range from £125 for the basic step-thru, to £160 for the Cyke 18-1B, with the go-faster stripes and turbo.

For older children (broadly seven plus), 20-inch bikes come in four styles: City 20-3 (as the junior step-thru, for the less discerning), Cyke 20-3 (ATB-style, as in 18-inch), Skyride 20-3 (delightful curved alloy frame, aimed at girls), and Alu-Cyke 20-3 (as for Cyke, but alloy frame). Prices range from £205 to £240, according to spec.We might be able to report back on the 20-inch bikes in a year or two, but we’re ideally placed to try the 18-inch range.We settled on the basic Z8, and top-of-the-range 18-1B.

On the Road

The first impression – for better or for worse – is that these are not light bikes. It’s slightly disappointing that a basic child’s bike like the Z8 weighs 11kg (24lb), or just a shade lighter than a decent adult folder. On the other hand, 15kg is not unusual for a Chinese machine, and the Puky bikes are clearly well made, with the sort of frames and componentry that should see out several generations.

The Z8 is styled much as children’s bicycles have always been styled. Mudguards and frame are steel, there’s a neat rack with a spring-thingey, and the chrome certainly appears to be thick and lustrous. Brakes are unusual in UK practise – Shimano cantilever at the front and back-pedal hub in the rear wheel.The arrangement makes sense though, because the back-pedal brake can be applied quickly and precisely by even the frailest child, and overall brake force and controllability is Light Years ahead of what might be considered the norm here.

Alexander has always wanted to be let loose with our G-force meter, and this was his chance.The rear brake turns out to be much less aggressive than back-pedal devices we’ve known. Getting the pedals in the ‘quarter past three’ position took some practise at first, but Alexander still managed some stops in the .26G region, with a best of .31G. With plenty of weight at the rear, the wheel is still some way from locking up at that sort of level, which is probably best on a junior machine.

The front cantilever brake is more powerful, causing the tyre to scuff with a best stop of .5G, but still some way from locking the wheel.The best combined brake figure is a little higher – .53G, or perhaps a little more with practise. Generally speaking, that’s excellent. Provided the front brake is fed in with care, the bike stops smoothly and rapidly, but a poorly-trued front wheel on the Z8 (the 18-1B was OK) made adjustment tricky.

At 45 inches, the gearing would be ideal in Holland, but it’s much too high for Castle Cary, giving a rare old turn of speed on the flat, but failing to clear everyday gradients in these parts. Fortunately, the rear hub is fitted with Sachs/Sturmey splines, so a good cycle shop should stock a range of sprocket and fit one in a few minutes.We settled on a 17- tooth, giving 37-inch gearing. That’s low enough for our five-year-old to stomp up a 7% gradient and just fail 9% (1:10).

Unusual in Britain, the Impac Street Runner tyres are 18-inch (actually 47-355mm), and they look good for many miles, with enough tread to see of the pearlescent-frame jobs on the rough, but fast on the road too.

Fittings and fixtures

Adjustability is a bit limited, but perfectly adequate for the intended 115 – 125cm height range.The saddle adjusts from 57cm to 66cm, and the handlebars from 71cm to 83cm.Typically, children will be ready for this sort of bike somewhere between the ages of 4 and 81/2. Alexander, just over average height, needed both saddle and bars near the bottom of the range.

Like some step-thru folders, the rear frame tubes of the Z8, curve up and around to create a substantial rack – well up to carrying chunky panniers (they’re available as extras), or even a tiny passenger if they’re into acrobatics. As this is the non-road version, there’s no dynamo, reflectors or stand, but the Z8 is well equipped, with substantial ‘bell end’ handlebar grips to protect tiny hands, a proper bell, full chainguard, and a ‘crash pad’ of fabric-covered foam wrapped around the handlebar stem.The bike comes with trainer wheels too, although the more ‘grown-up’ Puky machines like the 18-1B do not.

All in all, the Z8 is broadly recognisable as the sort of machine that most British parents and grandparents will have learnt to ride on from the 1930s to the 1960s: safe, dependable and much more effective than it looks.

18-1B

As for the Z8, except…The frame is completely different, the girly step-thru being replaced by thumping great ‘Y’ shaped ovaliod tubes painted (on our example) in bright red, complete with flame graphics.Tyres are the same size as the Z8’s, but chunky off road Schwalbe Cruiser 11’s, with a narrow slick section in the centre and substantial knobbles elsewhere. Downmarket versions of these sort of features can be found in any British bike shop, of course. But the rest of the fittings are almost unique. Like the Z8, the 18-1B has substantial steel mudguards, but with a bit more clearance for off-roading.Then there’s a spindly steel rear rack (the same design is fitted to all bikes above the Z8), partial chain guard, stand, and all the other safety equipment from the Z8, including those chunky grips.The dynamo is noisy and inefficient, but the (un-branded, non-halogen) front light works surprisingly well,The rear light is too dim, and it protrudes beyond the rear tyre, which looks vulnerable (ours was cracked in transit). If doing any amount of poor weather road work, we’d fit a better quality and more compact standlight. Generally, the lights are a great safety aid, even during the day, when they can be used as Volvo-style ‘day-running’ lights.

At 11.5kg, the 18-1B is heavier than the Z8, and rolling resistance is a little higher (some parents might see this as an advantage, of course).Where this unusual machine really scores is in pushing all the right street-cred buttons, without seriously compromising ridability.This bike is safe, sensible and long-legged, but it doesn’t look it, and to ‘big boy’ five-year-olds, that sort of thing is important.

Conclusion

Alexander is now the proud owner of a Puky 18-1B. Having scoured the shops for weeks, when we tested this machine we didn’t hesitate in buying it, which sounds rather like the Like-a-Bike story all over again.

We had in mind a scary price differential against the Chinese jobs, but we were wrong. An 18-inch bike of uncertain parentage will cost around £100, but you’ll only pay another £25 for the Z8, £35 for the 18-1, and our well-equipped 18-1B – in a different league, practicality wise – is only £160. If children start out on impractical, poorly-made bikes, they’re unlikely to buy better bikes later on, so a few extra quid at this stage could really pay dividends. Full marks to Puky for competing so successfully in a tough global market, but do remind us…Why did we de-industrialise our economy?

Specification

Puky Z8 £125 .
Weight 11kg (24lb) .
Crank length 125mm .
Tyres Impac Street Runner Size 47-355mm .
Saddle height 57 – 66cm .
Handebar height 71 – 83cm .
Gearing 45″
Puky 18-1B (where different to Z8) £160 .
Weight 11.5kg (25lb) .
Tyres Schwalbe Cruiser 11
Manufacturer Puky GmbH web www.puky.de .
UK distributor Amba Marketing (UK) Ltd
tel 01392 840030 mail sales@amba-marketing.com web www.amba-marketing.com