When Bode McFarland was 2, his parents bought him a small bicycle. Even before he had a chance to sit on it, his dad, Ryan McFarland, began modifying the bike.

McFarland, of Rapid City, is a mountain biker, motorcyclist and self-confessed tinkerer. Over the years, he has invented and marketed a number of devices, mostly notably the Thudbuster, a shock-absorber for bicycle seats.

Bode's bicycle, McFarland said, was just too big for the boy. "It was beyond his inseam, which was about 12 inches," he said.

So McFarland removed the pedals. Then, he lowered the seat. The seat was still too high, so he started cutting the frame apart. … And cutting some more.

His wife, Kristi, McFarland remembers, was a bit horrified to see what Dad was doing with their child's brand-new bike. But McFarland ended up inventing a new type of bicycle, called the Strider, made specifically for very young riders.

Weighing in at less than 7 pounds, the Strider is part bike, part push scooter. Kids can straddle it like a bicycle, but they push with their feet. When they want to coast, they plant their feet on the frame. To stop, they drag their feet on the ground.

In the process, they learn to balance on two wheels, at their own pace and within their own comfort level. And they learn quickly, McFarland discovered.

"It's best not to push; let them figure it out," he said. "They learn how to balance, and they'll never need a tricycle or training wheels."

Bode, now 4-1/2, can ride a pedal bike. Other kids who started on a Strider are riding bicycles when they are as young as 33 months old.

"They keep on the Strider even after they learn how to ride a pedal bike," he said. Most kids alternate between the two until age 5 or so.

McFarland and his partners - Joe McFarland, his father, and Gene Woodle, a friend and patent attorney - hope to turn the Strider into a nationwide product.

They created Strider Sports International. The first shipment of 1,240 Striders, manufactured in China, arrived in Rapid City on Friday.

To introduce the new bike to the public, Strider Sports International has rented space at the Rushmore Mall from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1. During that time, a number of pint-sized Strider riders will be racing around a small track between Herberger's and the Santa Claus display.

McFarland, drawing on experience gained from marketing the Thudbuster, took his Strider models to the recent Interbike Expo, the industry's leading trade event, in Las Vegas. As a result, Strider has scored a spot in the 2008 Quality Bicycle Products catalog, which McFarland describes as the bible of the bicycle industry.

Strider Sports International is also selling Striders at area bicycle and motorcycle shops and on the company's Web site, www.stridersports.com.

The Strider, which retails for $89.95, has no pedals, no chain, no grease. Tires are filled with foam, not air.

The brake is optional but not necessary. In fact, Strider Sports International recommends that you don't install the brake until the child has been riding a while. It's simpler at first for the child to simply put his foot down.

Strider's primary target market is children ages 2 to 4. But kids as young as 1 and as old as 5 years can have a good time riding one, McFarland said. For toddlers, it's almost like a two-wheeled walker.

When he started developing the Strider product, there wasn't anything like it on the market. Now, he has competition. There's a wood version in Europe, and other manufacturers are coming on board with similar products.

In fact, McFarland said, Strider could be on the front edge of a big change in children's bicycling. In five years, he believes, every major bike maker will be selling some type of push bike. He also believes tricycles and training wheels will become obsolete.

Trikes and training wheels are counterintuitive to learning how to balance a bike, he said. When you turn on a trike or a bike with training wheels, you turn the handlebars in the direction you want to go - kind of like steering a car.

But on a bicycle, you actually start by turning the handlebars slightly in the opposite direction you want to go. That makes the bike tilt toward the intended turn, and then the rider simply brings the front wheel around during the turn. Training wheels don't teach you how to do that.

"This is going to change the way people think about how a child learns to ride a bike," he said.

McFarland's other son, Jesse, turned 1 in October. "And, yes, he's getting a Strider for Christmas," his dad said.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com