Balance Bike
Build a lightweight, durable balance bike that helps kids learn to ride. Easy plywood construction with a fun, motorcycle-inspired design.
Introduce kids to the joy of two wheels with this sturdy, lightweight balance bike. Designed for young riders learning to balance and steer, this pedal-free bike is a proven way to build confidence before transitioning to a traditional bicycle. The durable plywood frame features cutouts to reduce weight without sacrificing strength, and the simple joinery makes it a fun and approachable weekend project.
Styled like a classic motorcycle with a faux gas tank, headlight, and cool handlebar grips, this balance bike stands out from the crowd. It’s built to handle real-world play and built to last — ready to be passed down to the next eager rider. Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, or woodworker looking to combine craftsmanship with outdoor fun, this project is a great way to roll out creativity and learning.
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What You Get:
- 15 printable (digital) pages of step-by-step instructions
- 30 full-color photos and illustrations and exploded views
- Hardware sources and materials list
Product Recommendations
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Imperial Plans
The United States Customary System of Units (USCS or USC), more commonly referred to as the English or Imperial system, is the standard set of units for our plans. It uses inches and feet for measurement. This is the one you probably want if you are in the United States, and it is the one we have traditionally offered on this website.

Metric Plans
The International System of Units (SI), more commonly referred to as the metric system, is the alternative set of units that we have available for some of our plans. It uses millimeters, centimeters, and meters for measurement. This is the one you probably want if you are outside the United States. These plans are provided by our business partner, Australian Woodsmith, and are based on the original Woodsmith plan. However, dimensions and other elements of the plan may vary between the metric and standard versions. Be sure to double-check the plan before building.


Premium Plans
All of the information that you need to build our plans can be found in the standard plan. However, if you want even more granular detail to make your job easier, you should consider our premium plans. These come with additional shop diagrams that we drew when creating the prototypes. Shop drawings are not available for every plan.

Gift Plans
We have added the ability to buy plans as gifts for other people. If you enter someone's email address into the gift recipient email box, when you complete your purchase, that plan will be emailed to the recipient you indicated instead of to yourself.
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In order to reduce spam emails generated by bots who would purchase and send unsolicited plans to random people, we have restricted gift purchase recipients to people who are already registered on the site. If you wish to purchase a plan as a gift for someone you know, please confirm that they have registered on the site beforehand. For this same reason, free plans cannot be gifted. Otherwise, bots would constantly purchase free plans for random people, who would receive unsolicited emails from us.
There is no need to worry about accidentally buying a duplicate plan for someone who already owns it. If your intended recipient already owns the plan, you will not be able to add it to your cart for them.
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