Bicycle! BIKE!!! BIIIIIIIIKE!
Posted on July 17, 2009
Wal and I have been on the lookout for a bike for Squidge, one that didn’t have slutty dolls, princesses or cartoons. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a bike like that?? I didn’t want it to be pink either, I like primary colours so thought that a nice red bike would be fantastic. We finally struck gold when Wal checked out Ridgeback (Wal has a ridgeback mountain bike) and found they have a fantastic line of kids bikes. The bike is pink (sigh) and it is devoid of any decals depicting slutty dolls, silly prinesses or big breasted Barbie dolls. There are no explorers or tanks and trains or anything like that. It’s just a plain bike. <insert contented sigh here>. Now I’m sure most of you are wondering why it’s such a big deal and I suppose in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal. I just feel like she is exposed enough already. I don’t need her toothbrush to have a Thomas the Tank engine on it or her bike to be sponsored by Bratz. They should just be toothbrushes and bikes. So while I still have a little bit of control I’m made a conscious decision not to buy items that are emblazoned w/ the latest and greatest cartoon.
OK so I lied a little bit– the bike DOES have a decal on it. Do you see it on the top picture? That little blog on the bar right under the seat? It’s a cartoon face of a girl. I’m thinking it’s suppose to be Honey as that’s the ‘name’ of the bike.
Squidge is getting to be an expert on the bike. When we were at the bike shop she didn’t even know how to get on so anything would be an improvement. I’ve added a cute bell and a basket (not shown) so she’s styling. Now we have to get my bike and we’ll be able to head out for a bit of family fun– I can’t wait!!
Edited to add: This is not to say that she doesn’t own loads of ‘disney’ just that I try to find alternatives if they’re available.
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7 Comments so far





A lovely bike. Squidge looks like a pro already.
Love the bike!!
Cool!!!!! Caitlin and Noah love riding theirs.
She looks like she’s in heaven. And she looks adorable in that patchwork dress.
I never realized how hard it is to find a “plain” bike for a kid. It just goes to show the mass marketing targeting children. Kind of scary.
no worries. you are allowed. you are the mama still!
Oh, wow, a first bike is one of the big childhood milestones
I hope the three of you have fun going riding together!
love the bike — it is nearly impossible to find any product these days without some characters plastered all over it!