Our Story
Where, How and Why KOKUA Bikes started
The beginnings
The KOKUA Bikes story starts in Germany, Roetgen, a small village near the beautiful High Fens-Eifel Nature Park reputed for amazing trails and forests.
There, in the 90's Beate and Rolf Mertens, parents of a young boy eager to learn how to cycle were inspired by the work of Karl von Drais, best known for inventing the "Laufmaschine" (running machine), later called the velocipede, draisine, or "draisienne," which is considered the precursor to the modern bicycle.
The "Laufmaschine" was built in 1817, it was a two-wheeled, steerable, human-powered vehicle that was propelled by the rider's feet pushing against the ground.
First Version
After many iterations, research and hard work, Rolf Mertens came up with a final prototype, paving the way to what would become the very first commercially available balance bike: the KOKUA Bikes Like a Bike.
True to Karl von Drais vision 180 years earlier, early tests demonstrated that balance bikes are the perfect design to enable children to build up the necessary motor skills and confidence to be ready to transition to pedal bikes. KOKUA Bikes was born in 1997.
KOKUA Bikes: Like a Bike, balance bike
The Like a Bike Series - 1997
The Like a Bike was an instant success, its perfect geometry, excellent design, high quality materials made it the "go-to" bike to gift a child to start his or her riding journey. This model would be the KOKUA Bikes flagship model for many years.
The Jumper Series - 2005
Constantly evolving the design, KOKUA Bikes created the next gen Like a Bike model, the result of 8 years of constant feedback from users in 2005. The Jumper series was created, packed with innovation. A new body frame with improved geometry made of aviation grade light and durable aluminium, a shock absorber, a steering damper, high grade rims and ball bearings.
KOKUA Bikes partnered with renowned brands like Velo, SKS, Schwalbe, Saccon to craft the best possible custom parts for the Jumper.
The Jumper series was also an immediate hit: sturdy, very light and nimble, children riding it quickly learn how to leverage the freedom it brings, fuelling their thirst for adventure in a very safe manner. It comes in many colours and two sizes. 12 Inches and 14 Inches, respectively Jumper 12 and Jumper 14 which packs by default a rear brake.
One of the key benefit of a balance bike is that it creates the right foundation for a fast and smooth transition to a pedal bike. It can take as little as 10 minutes and no side wheels at all.
The Like to Bike series
The KOKUA Bikes promise to support children's cycling adventures continues with the "Like to Bike" series which was introduced shortly after.
True to the core values of the company, the Like to Bike is articulated around key learnings at different progression levels.
Like to Bike 16S - LtB 16SRAM
The first pedal bike offered by KOKUA Bikes is the LtB16 (16 inches wheels). It abides to the same quality, durability and geometry standards as the balance bikes series. Parts are also custom made by renowned partners like Schwalbe, Velo, SKS, Tektro, Shimano, Biologic. It innovates with a SRAM Automatix 2 gears hub system: above 7 km/h it automatically shifts to the second gear allowing the rider to enjoy speed but without to learn gear shifting (yet). This allows him or her to focus on building their experience with pedals without sacrificing speed.
Like to Bike 20SR - LtB 20SR
Like to Bike 24SR - LtB 24SR
Final evolution of the Like to Bike series, the LbT24SR delivers full power to its rider, while retaining all the qualities of its little brothers, it comes with evolved gear shifters and optimised frame and geometry. The LbT24SR also comes with optional fenders, rack custom made by SKS.
KOKUA Bikes in the world
KOKUA Bikes's reputation quickly outgrew Germany and spread in Europe (France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, UK, Belgium etc.), eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary etc.), Russia, United States and lately Asia and South East Asia with Singapore in 2023.
Since its creation over 25 years ago, KOKUA Bikes has pioneered balance bikes as the de-facto method for children to learn and enjoy the world of cycling.
KOKUA Bikes has been the inspiration for many popular brands, benefiting kids all over the world!
KOKUA Bikes Riders in Action
