Upon a closer look, you get the idea that the black beauty on 16” wheels is a motorised balance e-bike. “It’s called Grommy and for under 800 euros, you’ll not only get a bike that will let your kids learn how to ride but it is a toy you wished you had when you were their age,” Richard says.
Since Eleanora got used to that self-propelled machine with easy-to-control 250W power unit and 3 electric gears, she has been refusing to ride a normal bike. On the other hand, she now asks her father to stay on an old MX track with lots of bumps and turns where she can go full throttle and using the fast-rotating rear wheel, whirl the sand up. “Some parents might object that teaching a kid on a balance e-bike is weird but I’m sure that Eleanora will swap this toy for a real bike as soon as she grows enough to pedal and join me on biking trails around our city,” Richard says.
According to him, the best advantage of Grommy is the easily changeable battery unit the size of a battery most of us are familiar with from the rechargeable drilling machine. “You just pull it out, put it in the charger and in about one hour, the bike is ready to ride again for another 60 minutes,” Richard says. Mastering the three-speed controls is something that Eleanora learned as quick as dressing dolls. The maximum speed is slightly over 17 km/h yet you can limit the gears until the kid gets used to higher velocity or turn the motor off entirely, so the kid can ride it as an average balance bike.
Like other Mondraker alloy bikes, Grommy is designed in Alicante, Spain. It’s delivered in two sizes as Grommy-12”, intended for ages 3-5 years, and Grommy-16”, for 5-8 years. Each features an individually-designed frame and fork geometry to ensure comfortable handling on both tarmac and dirt. Richard suggests that Grommy would suit best kids of parents from the MX communities since the rear brake lever is fitted on the left-hand side of the handlebars while the right site carries an electric throttle like on motorbikes. “My daughter likes it anyway, and since she owns Grommy, I don’t need to persuade her to go out anymore,” Richard says. And how about Eleanora’s opinion? “I really like the full-face helmet and doing skids in the sand, that makes fun!”
