Teaching them to ride

slowbike

well done - I still believe it's much easier (for most) not to do the stabilisers to start with - but there you go
We didn't have the benefit of peer pressure, so had to use incentives instead... hot chocolate was a favourite, stickers were close - but the final straw was promising him a "GPS just like Daddies" - cost me £20 that promise did ... but he realised he could pedal and didn't need to scoot the whole way...

wolfsbane2k

Slowbike wrote:

well done - I still believe it's much easier (for most) not to do the stabilisers to start with - but there you go
We didn't have the benefit of peer pressure, so had to use incentives instead... hot chocolate was a favourite, stickers were close - but the final straw was promising him a "GPS just like Daddies" - cost me £20 that promise did ... but he realised he could pedal and didn't need to scoot the whole way...

Oh aye. By the time I got around to getting lWB1 out on a bike of any sort (he loved scooting everywhere on a low level scooter), he was too big for the balance bikes around, and he was more interested in pedalling and kicked of a massive fuss when I took the pedals off to use it as a balance bike, (and the ability to go a lot faster worked very well for us actually getting places , so we just accepted it.

slowbike

We're just fortunate to live in a very quiet road and the neighbours have got used to seeing Little Slowbike out on his bike - day/night. We were lucky in getting him interested from before the age of 1 ! Took a couple of years to progress to pedaling though

wolfsbane2k

Slowbike wrote:

We're just fortunate to live in a very quiet road and the neighbours have got used to seeing Little Slowbike out on his bike - day/night. We were lucky in getting him interested from before the age of 1 ! Took a couple of years to progress to pedaling though

My biggest issue with getting mine stabiliser free has been my own time - I generally only manage to get home just in time for bedtime, and then at weekends its' all about other jobs
The road I live on is generally low traffic (1-2 cars every 10 minutes), but some people really speed on it.

slowbike

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

We're just fortunate to live in a very quiet road and the neighbours have got used to seeing Little Slowbike out on his bike - day/night. We were lucky in getting him interested from before the age of 1 ! Took a couple of years to progress to pedaling though

My biggest issue with getting mine stabiliser free has been my own time - I generally only manage to get home just in time for bedtime, and then at weekends its' all about other jobs
The road I live on is generally low traffic (1-2 cars every 10 minutes), but some people really speed on it.

yup - time is critical - if anyone can do it and the child doesn't have peers to play with - then I can really advocate getting a kids bike and scooting around with them - using it like a balance bike - we're fortunate enough to have a suitable place just outside - plenty of warning if there are cars approaching. Finding time is tricky, but I'm so glad we did - even if it hasn't made a difference to the type of rider he'll become - we had fun and I'll always remember that.

shirley_basso

Thisll speed them up:

drhaggis

This teaching them to ride is not like I was expecting at all! I got a beat up Islabike Cnoc 14 for Tiny Haggis (4 y.o., 42 cm inseam). We then went to a park and, after seeing him a bit confused, removed the pedals so he could compare the feeling of the bike with his Decathlon balance bike. After literally 50 meters of scooting, the pedals went back in, and Tiny Haggis became one of us!

It was so easy and natural for him, I don't even think he considers it special. Now I only need to train him to start properly, and to avoid breaking with his shoes.

tangled_metal

Our kid is now 6 so been riding for something like two and a half years. He never truly got the bb down. He walked on it rather than scooted.

So we tried to get him to ride a proper bike a bit early. He knew he wasn't ready so stabilisers until we started with the positives about riding a bike without stabilisers. Talk about summer tour and all the fun things. So we started without the stabilisers and with the pedals. We knew the bb principle never worked with him.

Anyway early spring he didn't like it. Two weeks later he asked to learn out of the blue. A week later a tarmac slope and he got it within 5 minutes. Day later he was riding along the front near us. That summer he did 15+ miles per day on his bike both solo and attached via a FollowMe Tandem. Year later that on his own with a set of two panniers!

Started school, did cycling lessons. Spent them doing stunts. Yr 1 he's winning all the cycling races. This year we're planning on joining a local kids cycling group. There really is no stopping them once they decide it's time to learn and then they get the bug. It's freedom. They're the captain of their own vessel!

Whatever technique you use, go in for it 100% bit listen to your kid. They know it's time better than you. You do have to bring them with you on this journey or you might not get a cyclist out of the process.

Sorry for the ramblings of a proud dad of a cyclist!

slowbike

We went on a bit of a ride yesterday - with an afternoon tea shop stop ... (what else!) - saw a couple with bags on their bikes - asked them if they'd come far - or going far - they were down from London on their way to portsmouth, then off to Spain for a 2 week ride ... sparked Little Slowbikes interest and we may be off for a cycle tour this summer ...
Oh - and having watched me pre-set his gears - he's now stopping to change his gears before setting off again (doesn't matter that it's deraillieur gears - we'll worry about changing on the move when he's a bit older!)

tangled_metal

Yes, gears are something to teach. Our son is kind of resisting changing his. He spins wildly in lowest gear then we convince him to change to a higher gear. Then we find he's not changed down again at the hill, he's powering up the hill in 8th gear!

This summer the goal is to teach him to use his gears better. He can change on the go and does respond to suggestions but he needs to do it for himself. These things come though.

evanssophiya

Hi!
What was the first bike you bought for your child? I have a son of 1.5 years and he is already showing interest in children on bicycles in a children's playground near our house. What can you advise for this age? And can he ride a bike or wait up to three years?

drhaggis

It depends on how tall he is. At 18 months, he may be able to "scoot" on a small balance bike. The smallest pedal bikes have 14" wheels, and a proportional inside leg length requirement. I've seen very few kids under 3 cycling properly (w/o stabilisers), but it's doable.

Following my experience with my youngest, my cousin, and based on what others here say, I would avoid stabilisers at all. These only teach kids how to pedal forward... and bad balancing habits. Go balance bike, and once he can advance on a slight downhill slope without his feet, he's physically ready for a bike (but wait until he's mentally ready!).

slowbike

Our son started on a wooden trike (present from a friend) - he still uses this over 3 years later ... he was very interested in bikes from an early age (hardly surprising given the number of bikes in the house) - as he was small (although tall for his age) we bought him a Puky balance bike - he'd seen one on holiday and was transfixed by it ...
Saddle height is 30cm+ so as long as his inside leg measurement is 30cm or more then he'll fit it - but they do grow very quickly so don't worry if he's not quite there yet. Our son still rides it - despite now being on a 20" bike ...

We didn't do a pedal bike until he was 2 1/2 - then we got him an Islabike Cnoc14 small as it was the one with the lowest standover height.

matt_n-2

evanssophiya wrote:

Hi!
What was the first bike you bought for your child? I have a son of 1.5 years and he is already showing interest in children on bicycles in a children's playground near our house. What can you advise for this age? And can he ride a bike or wait up to three years?

My lad started on a Specialized Hotwalk (12” wheel) aged around 2 and then transitioned to a Frog 43 at just over 3, straight on it pedalling away.

There are some small balance bikes out there, take a look at the Frog Tadpole Mini, 10” wheel and suits an inside leg of just 21cm.

Micro do a couple of different ones that are quite small too.

Or go with something like the Chillafish Bunzi which starts as a trike and can be turned into a balance bike.

Really depends how tall they are.

roastie_cyclocross

What is the best way to teach them to use pedals?

My daughter was riding by 3 1/2 & my aim is to get my son riding by 3. He'll be 2 1/2 this month & last weekend I bought a little 12" pedal bike off eBay for £9 with the view to put it away until he is ready.

Out of curiosity I thought that I would put him on it just to see where he will need work. He has great balance, when I give him a push & let him go.

The only problem is that he is currently pedaling forwards half a rotation & then back pedaling, then forwards half a rotation, then backwards half a rotation etc, rather than forwards for a full rotation.

I'm picking him up a pedal trike on the way home tonight (Hopefully he's big enough to use it as he's a bit of a short arse ) thinking that should be a good way for him to learn in isolation and not have to concern himself with balance.

I was just wondering how everyone else has taught their children to use the pedals correctly?

Willer544

Do you think it has any kind of effect it is lighter? Going from a light bicycle to driving pedals round on a heavier bicycle?

slowbike

Roastie_Cyclocross wrote:

What is the best way to teach them to use pedals?

I don't think there is a "best way" just alternative methods that work differently on different little people!

Our son had his first pedal bike at 2 1/2 - wanted to ride it, but didn't know how to pedal / didn't have the co-ordination to turn the pedals - plus it was a different geometry to his balance bike. So we tackled it two ways.
1) we removed the pedals so he could ride it as a balance bike independently.
2) we towed him on the follow-me tandem with the pedals on - often putting them on mid ride - and encouraged the pedaling action.
It took a couple of months for him to get it - he had a lot of self-doubt that we had to encourage him through - videos of him riding helped enormously ...

The two bits I would advocate are
a) get down and ride at their level so they have someone to ride with
b) make it about more than just riding a bike, so make it games or riding to somewhere for a purpose (usually a treat).

I rode a 20" bike with our son from the very start - he had no peers to ride with, it meant I could play bumping up and down curbs, across drains and stopping for the trains whilst scooting or pedaling - all on his level. When we went further it was usually to go somewhere for a hot chocolate or sweets - even if we had the hot choc in a flask... He's 4 now and can ride >5 miles solo including off-road, on the 20" bike that I used and is starting to tackle some gradients.

drhaggis

Slowbike wrote:

b) make it about more than just riding a bike, so make it games or riding to somewhere for a purpose (usually a treat).

This, This, and a thousand times This. Something fun that makes it not about the bike worked great with my youngest too. Even our eldest, who'll turn 8 soon, is happy going along, but is not into riding the bike for its sake.

roastie_cyclocross

DrHaggis wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

b) make it about more than just riding a bike, so make it games or riding to somewhere for a purpose (usually a treat).

This, This, and a thousand times This. Something fun that makes it not about the bike worked great with my youngest too. Even our eldest, who'll turn 8 soon, is happy going along, but is not into riding the bike for its sake.

Thanks both for taking the time to offer advice, apologies for the slow reply.

I can confirm that he quickly learn't how to pedal the trike, but this did not transfer onto the bike like I hoped that it would. Trying to keep it fun for him & just trying him again every 7-10 days to keep it all fun & new, the good news is that he definitely wants to learn

Had a bit of a brake through last night where he was actually turning the pedals all the way round (but then we had to go in for dinner :roll: ), so fingers crossed it will all click into place soon.

mugensi

I taught both mine to ride at the age of 3 with a balance bike but they also had a 12" bike with stabilisers so as to teach them pedalling skills. Once they were confident scooting about on the balance bike without putting their feet down, I removed the stabilisers and got them to try the bike. They both mastered it immediately (like within 2 minutes) I think balance bikes are the way forward and they appear to get confident on them very quickly.

roastie_cyclocross

Yeah I was considering the stabiliser route just to get him to grasp how to pedal properly, I still might (I don't think that my back can take much more bending down & holding onto him ). He's been on a balance bike for over a year, so he's got balancing down, plus he will still be using his balance bike, so won't become reliant on stabilisers for balance.

MugenSi, the user name rings a bell from ITR-DC2 forum???

roastie_cyclocross

roastie_cyclocross said:

Yeah I was considering the stabiliser route just to get him to grasp how to pedal properly, I still might (I don't think that my back can take much more bending down & holding onto him ). He's been on a balance bike for over a year, so he's got balancing down, plus he will still be using his balance bike, so won't become reliant on stabilisers for balance.


MugenSi, the user name rings a bell from ITR-DC2 forum???

I thought that I would update this thread as it's been a long time since anyone posted in here.

My son did indeed grasp pedalling in the end and there was no need for stabilisers, I think that the trike helped towards this.

He actually mastered riding his pedal bike the same day he turned 2 years 9 months which I was quite proud of.

We got him a 14" bike for his 3rd birthday which he loves and has even ridden 2.6 miles not long after turning 3 when he did the #2.6challenge.

unluckypete

I taught my son to ride blue trails with me by the time he turned 5, now he's 5y4m and he's learning to jump and riding quite challenging technical terrain.

The most important things that worked for us:

• Let them learn on a balance bike without pedals first
  
• Don't use stabilizers but help your kid balance pushing them by their back, not by the bike (they will cheat:)
  
• Don't be too overprotective. Equip them with a good helmet and knee/elbow pads and let them fail
  
• Buy a high quality and light kids bike. This can make or break their relationship with the bike
  
• Ride with them as much as possible
  
• Don't be afraid to push them (and you) out of their comfort zone little by little
  

Here is a short video showing his progress over 3 years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uM6kB23N5s

And here is my detailed post about his progress with details about bikes, equipment and our overall mountain biking experience: https://unluckypete.com/2020/07/riding-with-my-son-from-balance-bike-to-singletracks-by-the-age-of-5/

Hope this helps someone

mpatts

Teaching your kids to ride is a great analogy for parenting generally:

Too much support and you ruin it for them, too little and will never get started.

The middle ground has tears, scraped knees, worry, frustration, but massive satisfaction and joy. Parents learning to let their kids sail off and make their own mistakes stands you in very good stead for the future (says the father of a 14 year old!)