Viewing 36 posts - 1 through 36 (of 36 total)
  • Teaching kids to ride
  • Xylene
    Free Member

    I seem to recall grandad running alongside me until I could balance on my own, but I don’t know how old I was.

    What is the best way to teach a child to ride and what age?

    Little Q is tall for 5 years old and is on the cusp of 20″ wheels according to the helpful guy at Edinburgh bikes. He thinks 16″ would be for less than a year. Mini Q is all legs

    She will rise with stabilisers quite happily, but raising them a little bit makes her unhappy.

    Looked at those gyroscopic wheels
    Bikes but no idea how if they are any good or not, or available here.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    Balance bike from a young age. Couple of days learning how to pedal. Job done.

    Xylene
    Free Member

    So I need a time machine.

    She never liked her balance bike.

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    qwerty
    Free Member

    Balance bike, you can always remove cranks & chain on a regular bike to create one if their bigger kids. Definitely NOT stabilisers as they just learn to fall one way and then the other and then need to unlearn that without the stabilisers. Find a gentle downslope to add a bit of momentum so they don’t have to add the drive themselves and can just focus on the balance.

    pedlad
    Full Member

    Mine learned early at 3.5 but in combination with a balance bikes I found wrapping a strap (I used a climbing sling) under their armpits really useful. It means you can run along without bending down to hold the scruff of their jumper so you can do it for longer.

    It gives them some confidence and v soon you’re just doing it without actually pulling it tight and after a few runs you tell them that you weren’t actually supporting them and away they go.

    Happy times – enjoy!

    iainc
    Full Member

    stabilisers off, pedals off, let her push it around , balance on it, will come naturally that way

    sandwicheater
    Full Member

    I’ll tell you after Christmas, sandwicheater jnr is getting his first pedal bike on Christmas day and i don’t know who’s more excited.

    He’s been on a balance bike for the last year and has cracked gliding along for a fair bit with legs off the ground. He’ll be 4 in Feb next year.

    Like the idea of the sling pedlad, will break out my rack tonight and get a sling ready for Christmas day. Was just planning on playing about on the local footy field.

    poah
    Free Member

    took my kids less than an hour to learn to ride at about 7 years old. it really doesn’t take much to get them going

    fisha
    Free Member

    stabilisers off, pedals off, let her push it around , balance on it, will come naturally that way

    that is basically the essence of it. Our lad had a balance bike, and mastered that eventually. Got him an early rider belter with the seat right down so that he could walk it along for a while, then asked him to try pedalling with it supported. After half a down times, he was pedalling himself along unsupported.

    The balance on their own is the thing to get mastered first.

    Only other advice is dont push it with them going on the bike. We would be on it for a few times and if he had enough, then that was it, we stopped. Didn’t force him to try … and so avoided negativity towards the biking.

    He loves it now, and cycled 6km in one go last week. He only started riding in the summer. So good luck, its great fun and a very big dad-proud moment, but dont force it.

    Xylene
    Free Member

    Belter is that the cool stainless steel belt drive bike for kids?

    allfankledup
    Full Member

    pedals off, trundle down a gentle slope to get balance – that worked for kids 1&2.

    Kid 3 just got on the bike and pedalled off…we’d learnt about balance bikes and scooters for her..

    stevied
    Free Member

    My daughter is good on her balance bike now but it is too small really.
    When she moves onto a 16″ bike I’ll probably take the cranks off for a while so she can get used to the size of the bike before trying to come to terms with pedaling it too.

    aphex_2k
    Free Member

    Having just got the trainer wheels off my 5 year olds Spesh Hotrock only last week. Been riding with trainer wheels for a couple of years but never confident enough to try without. Last weekend I took the wheels off, told him to scoot, as you would on a balance bike, and when he felt comfortable to put his feet on the pedals and keep going. I got home from work this arvo to find him (supervised by MrsAphex) doing loops of the cul-de-sac. Absolute joy to see!

    TiRed
    Full Member

    Can she ride a scooter? Find a nice flat long kerb. Have her scoot along with one foot on pedal, the other on the kerb. Repeat in opposite direction. 10 minute sessions. She needs to learn about balancing via steering. Then progress to walking with her and steering in the direction of the fall. That is counter intuitive, and she will soon learn that only tiny inputs are needed. I walk along providing the initial input, no need to hold the saddle!

    I’ve taught dozens of children from age two using this technique. Balance bikes not required, and in my opinion ion, do not teach kids pedalling. Which is actually a harder skill than balance.

    stevenmenmuir
    Free Member

    I’ve taught kids in schools on a slope, sometimes a wheelchair ramp. Something with a flat run out so that once they’ve got the hang of balancing you can then try and get them pedalling to keep going. Have you got a mate that knows your kid, or somebody with kids that can already ride? Sometimes kids feel under too much pressure to please mum and dad.

    danradyr1
    Free Member

    Balance bike. Mine is riding without stabilisers at 3.5 years old. I suggest taking the pedals and stabilisers off whatever bike they have and give them a push. They’ll be balancing in no time, then put the pedals back on.

    NZCol
    Full Member

    This > stabilisers off, pedals off, let her push it around , balance on it, will come naturally that way

    Also a scarf under the armpits if you want to crash on with pedals and no stabilisers, means you support them not the bike. But I would do the former as it makes them balance the bike.

    Proud Dad as my 3.5yo had a balance bike lying around the house from 2 which she used a lot then a Cnoc14 with no pedals, a few months back she announced she wanted pedals. Got on and promptly rode off before i could do anything ! Incredible.

    mark90
    Free Member

    Eldest started off on a bike with stabilisers. Took them off and she really struggled. Balance bike for a few weeks. Back on the pedal bike and she was away, aged about 4.

    Youngest has had a toddle bike around the house, which he doesn’t bother with too much, but also has a balance bike for outside and he loves that. Hopefully get him on pedal next summer. Currently almost 3.

    Watching biking videos certainly helps keep his interest in riding his bike. His favorites are Imaginate and Road Bike Party 2 as he likes the loop the loop. Also anything with riding on and jumping off roofs, which he says he’s going to do on his bike.

    chief1409
    Free Member

    The grandparents bought my eldest a bike with stabilisers without my knowledge (rather than a balance bike which i’d have bought) but didn’t have the heart to tell them to swap it so we persevered. She got off the stabilisers aged 5 and a half. Tbh she could have done it earlier but she just wasn’t interested in it.

    My youngest then refused to ride a balance bike as he thought it was better to have a “big-boy” bike with stabilisers. His balance is very good in general so when he had just turned 4 we tried without the stabilisers but he was having none of it. Eventually (after 6 months or so) i persuaded him to take the pedals and cranks off and use it as a balance bike and within the hour he was coasting down hills with his feet up off the ground completely with no help whatsoever from me. Took him to a flat bit of ground and put the pedals and cranks on and off he went with a single push.

    Next day he was riding the pump track at Cunningar Loop in Glasgow unaided! 😀

    I agree with mark90 – watching biking videos definitely keeps the interest up when you are at the almost pedalling stage….

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    Did the “pedals off, crusing down slopes” thing with my lad when he was 5.

    After a few goes he starting miming pedalling, so the pedals went back on and he was away.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Balance bike from a young age. Couple of days learning how to pedal. Job done.

    Not for everyone. Depends on the kid, as you can see from the stories above and the one below:

    My eldest was so flat out scared of falling off she’d not touch a bike unless it had stabilisers – even the balance bike (yes, really). My youngest took to the balance bike really well but was so flat out scared of change she refused to touch her real bike and kept on the balance bike for years.

    Both got it eventually though, so I’d suggest time, encouragement and sympathy rather than forcing anything. What also helps is spring loaded ‘suspension’ stabilisers from Halfords. They give a bit when you lean on them which helps avoid the classic high-side incident by allowing them to lean a bit, which then transfers to proper riding. Because there’s give, you can also sneakily raise them a few mm at a time and the might not notice.

    Search for stabilisers on Halfords site because their URL is ridiculous and messes up the forum.

    cpon
    Free Member

    Daughter was 4 years old riding happily with stabilisers. She had a balance bike but rarely used it.

    Found a grass coved shallow hill which was just steep enough to freewheel down at a steady pace, probably 10m before going to flat.

    1. Removed stabilisers and pedals, sent her down the grass bank and got her to lift her legs and freewheel down it. Repeated this 10 times.

    2. Put pedals back on, sent her back down the bank, freewheeling with her feet on the pedals another 10 times, after about five goes she was pedalling at the bottom on the flat.

    3. Took her on the footpath which also had a shallow slope and repeated, got her to freewheel/pedal down that a few more times.

    That was it, about an hour all in from no confidence to happily riding without stabilisers. This was on a heavy small wheeled Disney Princess bike, for her 5th Birthday we got her an Islabike Cnoc which she’s loved riding ever since.

    takisawa2
    Full Member

    Balance bike or pedal / crank free normal bike & let them scoot, need to be on toes not flat foot.
    When they are gliding along, feet up, it’s time to move on.
    Once on pedals, don’t hold the bike, hold them, under the armpits.
    What your looking for is them instinctively leaning the opposite way as the bike leans.
    If they haven’t got that try again another day.
    Some will get it quickly, others not.
    Dont stress, they will.
    Quite often they get the balance before the strength to pedal, 3yr old legs are still quite weak for pedalling.

    If you want them to come on leaps & bounds, head to the Islabikes fun day, usually in March.
    They barriered off a little track. Seeing others doing it spurred mine on no ends.

    My youngest got it just turned 3, his brother nearly 5.

    andyfla
    Free Member

    Stabilisers off and a nice shallow grassy slope, she will keep going and if she falls off then its a soft landing

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Mine learned early at 3.5 but in combination with a balance bikes I found wrapping a strap (I used a climbing sling) under their armpits really useful.

    Top tip to try that, running behind bent over is killing my back!

    philjunior
    Free Member

    My daughter is 5, I think some concerted effort may be required to achieve this, but I don’t want to push her, she can do it in her own time (and we still have a while before her brother requires her seat on the tag-along)

    razorrazoo
    Full Member

    mrblobby – Member
    Mine learned early at 3.5 but in combination with a balance bikes I found wrapping a strap (I used a climbing sling) under their armpits really useful.
    Top tip to try that, running behind bent over is killing my back!

    My eldest got the hand of it using the scarf method pretty quickly. Doing with with the youngest now, main problem is her wanting to look at anything but where she is going!

    Wish I’d been more focused on getting them both on balance bikes rather than just having the ease of a scooter as their earliest mode of self propelled transport.

    jobless
    Free Member

    I used this method on two kids. Both done in 10 minutes.

    – get a flat piece of ground.
    – pedals level
    – get them to push down and start off with one foot
    – stop (about 1 foot later) using the brake
    – repeat until they have starting nailed
    – then get them to put the other foot on
    – Stop
    – repeat
    – then get them to do one revolution
    – stop
    – repeat
    – then two revolutions
    – stop
    – repeat
    – at that point you don’t have to get them to stop and they’ll be off down the road.

    The advantage here is that you don’t have to run along bent over
    your scarves do not get stretched
    they learn how the brakes work
    it takes 10 minutes and you don’t actually have to move.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    So I need a time machine.
    She never liked her balance bike.

    Just getting my almost 5 year old going on a pedal bike. He was never bothered about a balance bike but now I’ve got it out again for his little sister he’s whizzing around on it. Doesn’t seem to bother him that it’s far too small. Going to let him carry on doing lots of that while we do a little pedal bike each day too.

    lesgrandepotato
    Full Member

    Balance bike aged 2, Cnoc aged 3, now 3 3/4’s and lapping the pump track happily and doing 5 miles in a sesh.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    at that point you don’t have to get them to stop and they’ll be off down the road.

    Learning how to brake was a big thing with my two. Given where we had to learn, it was quite important!

    Xylene
    Free Member

    Thanks for the scarf suggestion

    30 minutes with the scarf technique holding her up.

    next evening no scarf, just pushing 30 minutes and letting go

    following night she rode off on her own.

    Now she can ride around in circles quite happily, total time probably 2hours.

    nicnag
    Free Member

    One of those and an empty field has so far worked for us (and about 5 other kids in the neighbourhood). As soon as i can remember which family has it at the moment will be getting the youngest sorted who is coming up to four.

    johnnystorm
    Full Member

    Having read so much about balance bikes and how they were the way forward I’m glad to see I’m not the only parent of a child that just couldn’t see the point of one. Since getting a Riprock with stabilizers she loves riding.

    senorj
    Full Member

    My boy was a whizz on his balance bike from about 3, got him a pedal @4 and made the mistake of leaving the pedals on. He didn’t like it, in fact it put him off .Pedals off and I’ve told him to tell me when we put them back on.
    His peer group look like the best motivation for him at the moment.
    I got him a belter, he likes to look at it mostly. Ha.
    I like the strap idea too.

    jonnyboi
    Full Member

    Having read so much about balance bikes and how they were the way forward I’m glad to see I’m not the only parent of a child that just couldn’t see the point of one. Since getting a Riprock with stabilizers she loves riding.

    It’s not that they are the only way forward, but if you want to get your child riding without stabilisers then they are the best way.

Viewing 36 posts - 1 through 36 (of 36 total)

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