RAPID CITY, S.D. (BRAIN) — Strider Bikes, launched in 2007, has recently sold its 2 millionth balance bike, less than three years after celebrating the sale of 1 millionth bike.
Entrepreneur Ryan McFarland was inspired to launch the company by his then 2-year-old son. Now, the brand has helped popularize the category and encouraged younger children to start bike riding.
"It really was born in my garage out of necessity," said McFarland. "I went down the rabbit hole as far as I could go with what the market offered to get children riding. From tricycles to bikes with training wheels, I invested more than $2,000 into products that weren't designed with the child's success in mind. My solution was to create something my son could begin learning two-wheeled skills on from day one, and that required separating balancing from the act of pedaling in learning to ride."
Strider has recently grown exponentially outside of the U.S. This year, the company has opened distribution in Israel, India, Spain, France and Germany, for a total of over 75 countries that distribute Strider Bikes. Next year Strider plans to increase its sales to major retailers, including Target.
"I never envisioned this solution I was creating for my son would have grown to what it is today," said McFarland. "Now that I have seen how an amazing first-bike experience can impact a child's current and future success, I don't want to stop. So long as training wheels still exist — which severely hinder the learn-to-ride process — we're keeping the throttle pinned."
