Learning on a fixed wheel

ChrisSA

Hello,

My daughter has a fixed wheel hand-me down, with stabilisers. She is confident with riding/steering it but I cannot feel she would be better off with a freewheel. This would allow her to coast and learn braking, and when we come to remove the stabilisers she will be able to stop pedalling and hopefully not fall off.

Has anyone here taught their child on a fixed wheel bike?

I like the idea of removing the pedals, so may do that when my son is old enough (2yrs now). I think my daughter will resist the pedals/stabilisers being removed now she's got used to them.

Thanks.
Chris

baudman

I don't have any experience with kids learning on a fixed, but I tend to agree with you. It will teach pedaling, but not much else. May as well be riding a trike (not that there's anything wrong with that... initially anyway).

With respect to your daughter resisting... are there any other kids she can see without them? Could she try their bikes? And could their parents have a word in her ear?

Sometimes, it's doing these things with someone other than their parent that can make a difference.

(I'm taking the stabilizer's off a girl's bike tonight, after her trying my daughter's runbike this morning, after seeing my daughter being able to zoom around easily and not get stuck all the time - oh, and I would've posted the above anyway, but this morning sorta adds to my enthusiasm)

bikermaze

You can let her start small from now and work without the stabilizers but under supervision. Keep to your lawn/home space where you can watch over her and let her practice in small increments without them, until she can feel confident to bike without the pedals. It's just a matter of confidence for her so she can bike without them.

Hope that helps.

Mike Healey

Had our usual Saturday morning success - 6yr old Gabriel earned his "I Learned to Ride My Bike" certificate before the half-time break. Using the tried'n'trusted no-pedals method.

Warned his dad that his troubles were just beginning