DMR’s Sidekick Balance Bike is well-built and well-thought-out. It’s lightweight, sturdy and well-balanced, and looks the business at the bike park. This robust, quality balance bike is designed for little nippers over 92cm tall (37cm inside leg) and has been put together to inspire confidence when learning to roll for the first time. It’s a mullet bike, meaning a 12-inch rear wheel and a 14-inch front wheel. This along with the low-slung frame, long rear end and chunky tyres, creates a bike that is really stable and easy to handle for little ones getting to grips with a bike for the first time.
- Buyer’s guide to kid’s mountain bike helmets: how to choose the best lid for your racer-in-waiting
- How to buy the best mountain bike for your child - whatever their age
- Specialized launch the new Hotwalk - A carbon balance bikes especially for kids
DMR Sidekick balance bike - Technical details
If you’ve been around the web researching balance bikes or first pedal bikes for your children you’ve probably read it many times before: ‘There are a lot more options available than there used to be’. Even with the OGs Islabikes ceasing production, there are way more brands using trickle-down technology to build little bikes inspired by the big ones. However, not too many are targeting little shredders. The DMR Sidekick Balance Bike ticks the boxes that it looks good - just like an adult mountain bike - and it is more than capable off-road.
Made out of lightweight aluminium, the Sidekick tips the scales at 4.4kg – only marginally heavier than some other well-known, lightweight 14-inch bikes such as the Frog Tadpole Plus, Hornit Airo 14 and the Dirt Hero 14. Rupert finds it very easy to carry around and it’s not much of a burden for mum and dad when he decides he wants to “jump like a frog” the rest of the way home.
The 2.25in Vee Tire Crown Gem chunky tyres are a massive plus. Balance bikes that my children have ridden before have all had much skinnier, slicker tyres with limited clearance to alter this. Where other balance bikes have struggled, the Sidekick copes very well on wet tarmac and when venturing off the Tarmac – giving the rider and the parents heaps of confidence.
Another neat feature, although a relatively small thing, is the steering limiter. It’s a little rubber tether that stops the rider from oversteering and has reduced the number of wipeouts my children have experienced.
DMR Sidekick balance bike - Performance
My son (4) and daughter (2) both tested the Sidekick Balance Bike. Rupert, the elder, has already progressed to pedalling and learnt on a Vitus 14 which was recently stolen, so he has loved having this balance bike to rag around on. He tells me it’s “fast, super grippy and easy to control” and the way he displays immense confidence on it at the pump track or on the trails launching over any bumps that get in his way, I'm inclined to believe him. My only concern is that he is too confident and the lack of brake is going to be his downfall as he hares off towards obstacles or groups of people.
My daughter, Etta, tries to emulate everything her elder brother does. She’s recently got going on an Islabikes Rothan 12 balance bike, but now all she wants to do is ride the white one! “It’s not Ruperts, it’s for sharing”. At only 86cm tall she’s under the recommended minimum height and she’s on her tiptoes. The mullet set-up helps her mount the bike and when she gets going she picks up a lot of speed but I wouldn’t say she’s 100% in control, and when it’s time to stop or corner at speed it’s quite a lot of bike for her to manoeuver – a brake would give her parents more confidence.
It is therefore worth considering if you have a very small rider (under the recommended height for the Sidekick) throwing their leg over a balance bike for the first time it might be a little too much bike for them to learn to balance on and they’d be better off with a smaller, traditional 12-inch balance bike.
My main gripe about the bike is the lack of brake and that DMR states that it is disc brake ready as a feature, but it's not signposted anywhere how you can find a compatible brake system. If you do want to add a brake, you’ll need something like the Tektro J285 Hydraulic Kids Disc Brakes and 140mm Tektro Disc Brake Rotors available from Upgrade and this will set you back close to £70 including an IS mount. This may seem a little daunting for anyone without a little bit of mechanical know-how, and unless your little one is doing some serious off-road riding a disc brake might be a little overkill.
DMR Sidekick balance bike - Verdict
As a point of reference, the Dirt Hero from Kids Ride Shotgun is available with and without disc brakes and in the 14-inch size it’s £230 brake-less or £300 with disc brake: a price difference of £83. The Kokua LIKEaBIKE Jumper 12 with 2.0in Schwalbe Big Apple tyres is £185 with an option to add a V-brake for just £23, and the 14-inch version with V-brake included is £230. The Frog Tadpole which George praised when he tested it for road.cc, comes in a ‘Plus’ 14-inch option with 1.5in tyres and V-brake as standard for £240.
Value
With all this in mind, at £210 the price of the DMR Sidekick is on the slightly high side of reasonable for a balance bike without a brake. If you’re little one is going to be sticking mostly to hard ground the Hornit Airo 14, which Oli was very impressed with over on road.cc, is £190 and the Vitus Smoothy 12 is a very reasonable £90. If you want a brake on your balance bike there are the options mentioned above, but the most comparable (a balance bike extremely capable of riding offroad) is the Dirt Hero from Kids Ride Shotgun, which comes with a rather large price tag.
If you do have deep pockets and are willing to make a big outlay the Black Mountain Pinto tested by Stu (again on road.cc) is another great option which converts from a balance bike into a pedal bike with an extendable frame so you get a bike that will see your child through the earliest stages of balancing to the heady heights of pedalling.
With that being said, if you’re looking for something your kids can follow in your wheel tracks on, and you can start to take them to your local bike park and trails then there isn’t a huge amount of choice. This is where the Sidekick comes into its own, and it is a great little bike. It's worth every penny if the little ones are then inspired to pedal and take up mountain biking as a result.