[Closed] not just new to mountain biking - New to actually riding a bike

helmets ARE cool!

Start with SPDs, then he won't have to 'unlearn' ridding with flats 😀

never ridden at all?

take the cranks off and get them to balance bike it for a bit, until they can confidently lift their feet and cruise along.

+1 on balance bike method!

Just push them down a grassy hill was good enough for me

Ringo isn't that just your method of riding anyway?

I taught my ex wife to ride a bike at about 24 years old. She had never ridden one before.

As an adult she had an ok starting point for balance so it was just about helping her find the balance and launching for the first few starts (like an old manual tt shove start) then teaching her how to push off and get on the saddle. The rest is practice.

Haha yes andy it is 🙂

Get someone to film it.

That is all.

definitely helmet.

email a few skills schools and ask if they have a course.

i always reckon, after not riding mtb for a while, it hurts like hell for a month of regular riding before it starts to get fun.

I did this with the other half when she was nearly 30. Agree with the balance bike method, removing the pedals.

Another good thing I did was demonstrate that bikes want to stay upright. I did this by riding across a gently sloping bit of grass in the park at jogging pace, then jumping off the back and watching the bike continue ahead in a perfectly straight line without any human input whatsoever.

Once I showed her that, something seemed to click.

Just make sure there's nothing for the bike to hit, that there's a hedge or something at the bottom to catch it, and that there are no dodgy looking folk in the vicinity, because bikes can ghost ride for a scarily long time and can end up a long way away before they eventually hit the ground.

We found early Sunday mornings in the summer in the park was a good time for learning to ride a bike.