The Balance Bike & Scooter Holder is out, for three frames at once — the CYBEX Gazelle S and eGazelle S, the UPPAbaby Vista and the UPPAbaby Ridge. It solves the oldest problem in parenting: they ride the whole way to the park, and they do not ride the whole way home.
But the part turned out to be more useful than the name suggests, so this post is partly a release note and partly a list of everything we have ended up hanging on ours.
What it actually is
Two open cradles, printed in black PETG, that clip onto one side frame tube. The openings face up. There is nothing to thread, tighten or unclip — the thing you are carrying goes in from above and comes out the same way, one-handed, while you are already holding everything else.
The cradle is 46 mm (1.8 in) across on the inside and about 55 mm (2.2 in) deep. That number is the whole compatibility question. Measure whatever you want to put in it at its widest point — the top tube of a balance bike, the steering column of a scooter, the handle of a bottle — and if it is under 46 mm, it drops straight in.
Two ways to load it, which is where the range comes from
This is the bit we did not plan.
Things can rest in the cradle. A balance bike's frame sits in both cradles and is held down by its own weight. A kick scooter hangs by its steering column. No strap, no bungee, nothing to fasten.
Or things can hang from it by a strap or a handle. A 46 mm opening takes a purse strap, a helmet's chin strap, the handles of a grocery bag, or the loop handle on a big water bottle, with room to spare.
Here is what we have actually carried on ours, which is a shorter list than what probably fits, because we would rather name the things we have tested than guess:
• A balance bike
• A kick scooter
• A purse or handbag, by the strap
• A helmet
• Grocery and shopping bags, by the handles
• Water bottles with a handle — a BruMate Era 40 oz and a 64 oz Owala have both ridden around on ours
One holder is plenty for a bag. A bike wants both.
Heavy things go low — and this is not the handlebar
If you have read anything else we have written, you have met this rule: hanging weight is the single most common way a stroller tips, and it is why every stroller manual tells you not to hang a bag from the handlebar.
So it is worth being precise about why this part is different. The handlebar is the worst place to hang anything: it is high, and it is behind the rear axle, so every pound there works as a lever trying to rotate the frame backwards — most dangerously at the exact moment you tip the stroller up a curb.
These holders go on the side frame tube, low and outboard, well inside the footprint of the stroller. The load sits where the frame carries it instead of where it levers. That is the entire reason we were willing to make something you hang a bag on at all, and it is why there is no handlebar version and never will be.
The spacing along the tube is yours to set, and it is a real control. Set the pair where your bike hangs level. For anything heavy, mount them lower down the tube — the further down the side tube the weight sits, the less of it is working against you. We move ours for a loaded grocery run and move them back after.
The clip itself is load-closing: the weight rotates each holder into its hook rather than off it, so the more you put in, the tighter it pulls onto the tube. A push-on clamp does the opposite and walks off the corner under load. We know, because that is what an earlier design did on the bench, and it is the reason this one is shaped the way it is. A rubber grip strip in each clip keeps the pair from creeping along the tube.
Three frames, and which side each one takes
Each frame gets its own version. They are shaped to that frame's tube and they are not interchangeable.
• CYBEX Gazelle S and eGazelle S — on the Gazelle S, either side. On the eGazelle S it is the left tube only: the electric frame's upper tube is not the same shape on the right. If you want a right-side eGazelle version, tell us and we will build it.
• UPPAbaby Vista — V3, V2 and the 2015–2019 frames, either side. Vistas from 2014 and earlier use a different frame and are not compatible.
• UPPAbaby Ridge — the V1, either side. The model number is printed on the left of the frame above the rear wheel, and the V1 reads 1401-RDG-US. We have not had a Ridge V2 on the bench yet, so we are not claiming it. The V2 is not a full redesign, but its fold mechanism changed and this holder sits near that hardware. If you have a V2 and you want this, message us — that is what moves it up the queue.
What it carries, and what it never carries
The pair is rated to carry 50 lb — many times what a balance bike weighs, which is the point. The rating should not be something you have to think about on the walk to the park. As with everything we publish, that figure is never more than half of what the part was tested to carry.
It is not a child restraint and is not certified to any child restraint standard. It must never be used to support, restrain or carry a child. It carries the bike or the scooter only when no one is on it — never put a child on a bike or scooter while it is in the holder, and never let a child sit, stand, lean or climb on the holder or on what it is carrying. It is not a seat, a step or a perch.
And it comes off before the stroller folds
Take the bike out, then the holders, then fold. Folding with them fitted can damage the holders, the bike or the frame. Same rule as every part we make — see installation and safety.
Why this one took three frames at once
Most of what we make bridges two brands that never had a reason to talk to each other. This one is different: no manufacturer makes this part for any of these strollers, so there was no gap to bridge — just a thing every parent of a three-year-old ends up carrying under one arm.
Once the shape worked, adapting it to a second and third frame was a question of the tube section, not the idea. So all three shipped together, which is not how the rest of the catalog has gone and probably will not happen often.
Get it
• Balance Bike & Scooter Holder for CYBEX eGazelle S & Gazelle S
• Balance Bike & Scooter Holder for UPPAbaby Vista
• Balance Bike & Scooter Holder for UPPAbaby Ridge
• Fit guide — what fits what, across brands, in one place
Every order is a matched pair, printed in black PETG after you order it and inspected before it goes in the box. Every product is test-fitted on the actual stroller before we launch it. We own all three of these frames, which is the only reason we are willing to say "it fits" rather than "it should fit."
CYBEX® and Gazelle® are trademarks of their respective owner. UPPAbaby®, Vista® and Ridge® are trademarks of UPPAbaby. BruMate® and Era® are trademarks of BrüMate, Inc. Owala® is a trademark of Trove Brands, LLC. Stroller House is an independent aftermarket maker and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them. Brand and model names appear here only to identify the products this accessory is designed to fit or has been used with.