Welcome to our comprehensive review of the Specialized Hotwalk balance bike for kids.
Specialized Hotwalk Specifications
Product: Specialized Hotwalk Kids Balance Bike
Recommended For: Kids 18 months to 4 years
Price / Best Place to Buy: AUS $280 at Specialized.com.au
Frame and Tires: Specialized A1 premium aluminum frame, 1″ threaded headset / Rhythm Lite Airless 12″ tires
Wheel size: 12″
Wheelbase: 544mm
Seat Height Range: 13.5″ to 17″
Bike Weight: 10lbs or 4.5kgs
Features: Footrests (Yes), Steering limiter (No), Brakes (No)
Warranty: Lifetime warranty once product is registered
Overall Rating: 8 / 10 – this is one tough bike!
We like to begin our reviews with a statement that set’s the scene for our readers, as this is crucial when considering which balance bike may be best for your child.
“not all balance bikes are created equal, and every child is unique!”
It is our goal in this article to provide you with all the information you need to decide if the Specialized Hotwalk is a balance bike that will suit the needs of your little rider.
So, we now invite you to sit-back with your favorite means of hydration and enjoy our comprehensive review into the Specialized Hotwalk balance bike for kids. We hope you enjoy.
Let’s get into it!
Specialized Hotwalk Review – Overview
What we really like about the Specialized hotwalk
- Dual threaded clamp plus stem headset
- Maintenance free airless tires are super hardy with excellent traction
- Low stand-over frame makes it easy to mount and dismount
- Large seat-height range available
- Extremely durable design
What didn’t we particularly like about the Specialized hotwalk
- may be a little heavy for younger toddlers around 18 months
- footrests are large and can get in the way
- exposed axle bolts
Specialized Hotwalk Comprehensive Review
Let’s now take a deeper ride into the above points, giving you some greater insights into what features we really liked and some that we think may not be so helpful when learning to ride a balance bike.
We have completed our own thorough research and given this bike a little work over on the road so that we can provide you with the latest and greatest unbiased review that you, our readers deserve.
We hope you enjoy it!
What we liked about the Specialized Hotwalk and Why?
Dual threaded clamp plus stem headset
The Specialized Hotwalk comes with a true headset design, which includes a 1″ threaded headset and stem, like the big bikes.
This is also known as a true headset design and allows your child to steer with greater control and is the bike feature that holds the fork in place securely.
This feature isn’t always provided on balance bikes yet is a valuable addition. The headset and stem provide greater stability and strength through the handlebars when riding, allowing your child to feel more confident in maintaining control in any conditions.
Maintenance Free Bullet-Proof (almost) Tires
The Specialized Hotwalk rolls on what they call Rhythm Lite Airless 12″ tires (see images below). These are also wider than most foam tires at 2.3″ (for example the Cruzee foam tires are only 1.75″).
Thankfully, airless tires mean you will never need to pump these little number’s up. Better yet, they never go flat. Essentially, they are maintenance free. That’s right, you can breathe a sigh of relief as you won’t need to carry a pump or replacement tube when riding this bike, ever.
Brilliant!
These airless tires are also extremely soft and grippy yet have superb durability almost unmatched for any airless tire that we have seen on the market. This does make these unique to the Hotwalk as most solid foam tires cannot match this seemingly air-tire performance with an airless tire.
A real design winner in our eyes.
Low Stand Over Frame
Another great feature we liked is the low stand over, step-through design.
This allows even the smallest of rider’s to easily mount and dismount the bike when required, but also allows a sense of freedom in front of the rider’s legs so that they feel super comfortable when either walking, running or gliding along.
We believe this low stand over to be a real tick in the Specialized Hotwalk’s design.
Large Seat Height Range Adjustment
Seat height adjustability is an important component for any balance bike. It allows the younger toddler to begin their riding journey on a balance bike and continue riding the same bike for years as they continue to grow like a mushroom.
The Specialized Hotwalk has a great seat height range from 13.5″ to 17″. This should be adequate to allow most children to continue riding this bike close to the recommended age-rage (18 months to 4 years).
One downside to this feature is the tool required adjustment on the seat post. This shouldn’t be a problem as long as your prepared to carry the right tool along on your rides and are sure to check the bolt for correct tightness before you head out the door.
Durable Design
Overall, this is probably Specialized Hotwalk’s greatest strength, literally. This bike is one tough machine.
The design features complement this durability, including the soft yet hard wearing seat, robust A1 aluminum frame and alloy wheels, true head set and overall build quality.
While the airless tires are not going to perform as well as air tires for more aggressive riders who are into offroad, hilly terrain riding that feature jumps or ramps, they do handle very well for your allrounder who likes both on and offroad terrain that is mostly flat.
What didn’t we particularly like about the Specialized Hotwalk and Why?
Potentially too heavy for younger toddlers
We have just spoken about the Specialized Hotwalk’s excellent durability being a great asset, however, this durability does come at the expense of some extra weight.
The bike weights 4.5kgs (10lbs) and is certainly one of the heaviest 12″ balance bikes on the market.
In comparison, the Strider 12 Sport (3kgs), Banana Bike GT (3.7kgs), Chillafish (2.5kgs), Cruzee (1.9kgs), Kriddo (3.6kgs), GOMO (3.2kgs), Lava Sport (2.9kgs) and the Woom 1 (3kgs) all weigh significantly less.
This may seem like a small difference, but all weight is relative.
Your little rider’s overall weight is tiny, so we need the bike to be superlight too.
As a useful reference to use when it comes to the correct weight bike for your child, the balance bike should weight no more than 25-30% of the child’s overall weight.
For example, a 13kg toddler’s bike should not weigh any more than 3.9kgs (30% upper limit of 13kg body weight).
When it comes to learning how to ride a bike, the lighter the better, as this allows the child to have greater ease of control, rideability, comfort and generally less struggle.
Large Footrests
Footrests allow a safe, efficient platform for kids to place their feet when gliding. While we don’t believe these are necessary, there are some great footrest designs out there available that have kept these unobtrusive, discrete and functional.
Some better designs are found on the Strider 12 Sport, GOMO and the Vuly 12″ balance bikes.
The Specialized Hotwalk has very large footrests that extend too far toward the front tire of the bike and well forward of the front end of the seat when viewed from above.
This can cause problems particularly with younger riders who are walking and running along, as their legs may clip the footrests. Basically, this is something to be aware of for younger toddlers beginning on the Hotwalk.
No Brakes
We are a big fan of hand brakes on balance bikes.
The highly durable qualities that make the Specialized Hotwalk a great bike to ride both on and off-road highlights this sorely missed feature. With such rugged durability throughout the design, this bike is primed to take out on any surface.
That being said, without a hand brake to help control riding speeds, the Hotwalk is not recommended for hilly terrain or for adventurous rider’s wanting to complete jumps, ramps and airborne tricks.
A handbrake would be an excellent addition that we recommend for Specialized to include in future Hotwalk iterations.
How does the Specialized Hotwalk Compare to Other Bikes in its Class?
When compared to other bikes at a similar price point, the Hotwalk is the only bike without air tires.
It’s also a mid-range size when comparing wheelbases. Let’s take a look at just a few bikes with similar features at the higher-end price point to give you an idea of how the Hotwalk compares.
Specialized Hotwalk (AUS $280)
Summary: Weighs 4kgs, 12″ airless tires, no handbrake, large footrests, low step-through frame and strong durable design. Excellent seat height range with tool adjustment. Recommended for a rider who likes to ride on or off-road, however not recommended for adventurous offroad riders wanting to explore hilly terrain with jumps or ramps.
Summary: Weighs 3kgs, 12″ air tires, rear handbrake, no footrests, low step-through frame and quality design. Excellent seat height range with tool adjustment, steering limiter. Recommended for smaller, lighter rider’s around 18 months just starting out. Will handle all terrain riding very well.
Summary: Weighs 2.9kgs, air tires, 12.5″ wheels, magnesium alloy frame and fork, no handbrake, neat footrests, low step-through frame, excellent quality design with true head stem, excellent seat height range with tool adjustment, hidden axle bolts and sleek looking color options.
This bike is a great quality package for smaller toddlers taking their first steps on a balance bike who have an adventurous spirit, as for all-terrain riding. Not suited to hilly terrain due to lack of hand brake.
Summary: Featuring a larger frame with wider handlebars, weights 4.7kgs, 12″ wheels, air tires, rear hand brake, durable aluminum alloy frame, true head set design, slightly taller seat height range of 13″ to 20″ with quick release seat clamp adjustability, best suited for 2.5-to-5-year riders, quality upholstered saddle and long wheelbase.
This is a slightly larger bike with some great features and a quality finish. Recommended for taller toddlers around 2.5+ years, who are ready to tackle any terrain, including hills, ramps and jumps.
Although this is just a small sample of similar options available, you can see that there is quite a difference in price and features for what we would categorize as higher-end balance bikes.
** Keynote for buyers
When you are looking for a balance bike for your child, regardless of price-point, we highly recommend that you take into consideration the unique needs of your budding riding champion and match the bike perfectly to suit their needs.
For some great tips, ideas and in fact, all the information you will need before you go balance bike shopping check out our post Balance Bike Buyers Guide. Relatedly, for all the information you need to correctly fit the bike to your rider, head over to our post Balance Bike Set-up Guide.
We think you will find these reads super helpful!
Overall ilovetoridemybike.com Conclusion
Thanks for reading our comprehensive review of the Specialized Hotwalk balance bike, we hope that you have found this helpful and now feel comfortable in the knowledge that this bike may or may not be suited to your little rider.
Overall, we think the Specialized Hotwalk is a rugged, almost indestructible bike that has some solid features and rolls on possibly the most durable airless tires we can find. That being said, it’s an expensive purchase without the inclusion of air tires and a hand brake.
It’s best suited for stronger, heavier built toddlers who enjoy all-terrain riding due to its heavier overall design. We also think it is best to avoid hilly terrain, jumps and ramps on the Hotwalk due to no hand brake being included.
Finally, the large platform footrests are something to also watch out for as younger riders are just learning to walk and run on the bike.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave these below, we are here to help and feel free to let us know what your experiences have been with a balance bike so far. Your testimonies are super helpful and valued by us.
Happy riding!
Hey Dale,
How are you doing bud. Thank you for such a great review on the Hotwalk. This definitely made my decision a lot easier! I think my two younger kids will love this. Do they have many color options? I love that the chain is gone. Also never having to worry about a flat tire is great.
Thanks again,
Matt
Hey there Matt,
Thanks for your message and following us. Did you find us on Google?
So glad that you found our review helpful. There are 3 color options, pink, red and blue. Yes, the practicalities of having maintenance free riding is awesome with these bikes.
Let us know how you go with your purchase and riding experience, it would be great to hear how you got on.
Happy riding!
Hi Dale, Thank you for sharing your review of the Specialized Hotwalk balance bike. As someone who is not very familiar with balance bikes, I found your article very helpful. I was wondering if you could share some tips on how to choose the right balance bike for a child based on their age and height. Are there certain features or specifications that are more important than others?
Thank you again for sharing your insights.
Hi, your most welcome.
To answer your question, we have two great posts that target exactly what you are looking for. First up, head over to our article, Balance bike buyers guide, and then our article Balance bike set-up guide.
The buyers guide walks you through everything you need to know to make sure you get the right size balance bike for your child. It basically comes down to inseam height of your child, and the seat height range of the bike.
Let me know how you go. Thanks for following and sharing. Send through any further questions, it’s great chatting with you.