BMW Balance Bike with 3D Printed Parts

Balance bike is a training bicycle that helps children learn balance and steering. It has no foot pedals, no chain, no gear and no gear shifters. The first balance bicycle was built in 1817 by a German inventor; now it’s 2020 and a Dutch designer creates a bike that is still for children, but a luxe BMW and parts of it are 3D printed – unimaginable two centuries ago!

Roel van Heur is a talented Dutch designer that recently independently built a BMW K75 balance bike with the help of 3D printing technology. It’s not the first time van Heur replicated a BMW, a little while ago he helped a friend build a custom K75 Café Racer. Now that his friend is expecting a baby, Roel got inspired to design a matching balance bike, and used additive manufacturing to facilitate the process, which also contributed to the gorgeous look of the Café Racer.

The Dutch designer started by sketching the two-wheeler in the CAD program SOLIDWORKS. Then, he bought a large amount of stainless steel tubing to bring the Café Racer to life. The frame and forks were bent, cut and welded into shape and then hand-brushed for an authentic touch. To preserve a retro style of the bike, a 3-inch yellow glass headlight—the same old bolt-on part from classic cars—was attached to the front. Additionally, its LED is powered by batteries hidden in the steering tube. Van Heur chose to wrap the standard 12-inch balance bike wheels in Kendra tires because of their classic tread pattern and minimalist spokes to match the overall aesthetic of the Café Racer. The BMW badge was etched onto the body, while Heur’s own logo, which is tastefully small but clearly visible, appears on the top yoke of the bike.