How do you teachsomeone to ride a bike

DonDaddyD

OK, yes i was taught to ride a bike. I remember being taught, I was on a BMX it had stabalisers and these were taken off, but I don't remember how I was taught.

Cycling is second nature to me, I often don't understand how some don't get cycling or struggle to ride a bike.

So is there a set technique or a general list of rules - a process if you will - to teaching someone how to ride a bike?

How do you teach someone how to ride a bike?

kelsen

I just taught my 3 year old son to ride a bike but presumably the following will work for all ages:

1) Remove stabilisers
2) Run along behind them holding onto the saddle to keep them upright whilst shouting 'Don't worry, I've got you!'
3) Repeat
4) On the 10th time let go of the saddle but keep shouting 'Don't worry, I've got you!'

DonDaddyD

Awesome. Thanks.

Do those no pedal bikes (the wooden ones you get in Evans) for toddlers help?

And what about teaching an adult?

Cafewanda

kelsen wrote:

I just taught my 3 year old son to ride a bike but presumably the following will work for all ages:

1) Remove stabilisers
2) Run along behind them holding onto the saddle to keep them upright whilst shouting 'Don't worry, I've got you!'
3) Repeat
4) On the 10th time let go of the saddle but keep shouting 'Don't worry, I've got you!'

That scenario works for 42yos too , along with loads of reassurance and praise :roll:

bails87

DonDaddyD wrote:

Awesome. Thanks.

Do those no pedal bikes (the wooden ones you get in Evans) for toddlers help?

And what about teaching an adult?

Yep, apparently. Balance bikes are supposed to be much better than learning with stabilisers, because the kid actually learns to balance the bike, rather than bouncing off the stabilisers then all of a sudden having them taken away.

kelsen

Yeah, he had a balance bike before that and definitely speeded up the process I reckon.

Same principle for adults I guess. Put the saddle low enough that they can get their feet on the ground and have them scoot along until they're confident about sticking their feet on the saddles.

Torvid

kelsen wrote:

Yeah, he had a balance bike before that and definitely speeded up the process I reckon.

Same principle for adults I guess. Put the saddle low enough that they can get their feet on the ground and have them scoot along until they're confident about sticking their feet on the saddles.

At that point with teaching my flat mate to ride a bike, she just dosnt quiet have enough confidence to peddle yet.

Oh and do it somewhere soft to land like a park, no point putting them off with to many scrapes early on

rjsterry

Electrodes and a small shock applied each time they get it wrong. I'm only half-joking: lots of my dad shouting and me in tears after the umpteenth attempt to ride a few yards along the quiet country lane my parents live on. All's well that ends well, though eh? :shock: I'm not saying I recommend this method, but it did work.

Seriously though, I'll be going for the balance bike approach - get the hang of steering into the direction the bike is leaning, then worry about pedals later.

AidanR

I was under the impression that you stick the learner on a bike at the top of a massive hill and let nature and physics take its course.

bails87

kelsen wrote:

sticking their feet on the saddles.

:shock:
You're doing it wrong!

king_jeffers

kelsen wrote:

On the 10th time let go of the saddle but keep shouting 'Don't worry, I've got you!'

Ahh yes.... my dad did this with me. The lying bast*rd

Rich158

kelsen wrote:

I just taught my 3 year old son to ride a bike but presumably the following will work for all ages:

1) Remove stabilisers
2) Run along behind them holding onto the saddle to keep them upright whilst shouting 'Don't worry, I've got you!'
3) Repeat
4) On the 10th time let go of the saddle but keep shouting 'Don't worry, I've got you!'

I tried that approach with my youngest, he seemed to have a sixth sense for when I let go and not wanting to risk the wrath of my other half for taking him home broken I'd grab hold of him pretty damn quick again. I persevered being determined to teach him how to ride a bike, it was only after a few weekends of this I realised the lazy bugger quite enjoyed being pushed arround and had little intention of pedalling. It took another few weeks of pushing him off on grass and many falls before he eventually got it. The idea of balance bikes if great as they can learn to balance without having to pedal as well, then when the balance thing is cracked a proper bike with pedals comes along

PedalPedant

kelsen wrote:

Yeah, he had a balance bike before that and definitely speeded up the process I reckon.

Same principle for adults I guess. Put the saddle low enough that they can get their feet on the ground and have them scoot along until they're confident about sticking their feet on the saddles.

I saw an article (may have been on the local news) where cycle training was being given to adults who had never ridden before. They did this but took the pedals off first to avoid banged shins. Once they were confident coasting along they put the pedals back on.

It appeared to work very well, I wish I'd heard about it before teaching my kids to ride, the old run along holding the seat method plays havoc with a dodgy back

PP

will3

AidanR wrote:

I was under the impression that you stick the learner on a bike at the top of a massive hill and let nature and physics take its course.

Worked for me.
They never told me how to stop which is why I'm still going.

kelsen

bails87 wrote:

kelsen wrote:

sticking their feet on the saddles.

:shock:
You're doing it wrong!

Ah, maybe you have a point there...perhaps I'm being a tad over ambitious with the little blighter

CiB

It's all down to confidence; everyone can ride a bike due to the physics involved, so target the confidence factor in whatever way works best for your subject.

We taught both of our boys when they were about 4; they'd had the stabilisers on for a while and whilst one couldn't wait to take them off, the other one was keener on them staying put. The standard approach worked for both - laps of the garden with me hanging onto the seat, with successive trips needing less & less intervention on my part. After a very short while it becomes clear to both parties (+ worried looking mother watching on) that additional support isn't needed. That and them both just being used to dad being on a bike for any and no reason, makes it a normal thing to do, so they don't have any hang-ups about having to learn.

I'm not fan of special kit or hocum-pokem psychology. It's all about inertia, and knowing that anyone can do it.

rhext

My youngest had a balance bike. By the time we got him his first pedal bike he could balance already. I took him down the park to use Kelsen's approach, and he went shooting off on his own!

tgotb

Balance bike worked very well with my youngest. When she graduated to a proper bike, we never gave her stabilisers, and I did the running alongside thing. However, I held her shoulders (less back pain), and not very firmly at all, basically doing the bare minimum to keep her on the bike.

To begin with, this meant that her body lurched from one side to the other as she tried to steer, but because she knew she wasn't actually going to hit the ground it didn't bother her too much. As she got better, her body stayed more upright but the steering was a bit wild (picked a very wide path and had to grab the handlebars a couple of times). Again, she didn't get scared because she knew she wasn't actually going to fall off. Finally graduated to taking my hands off her shoulders and holding them an inch away, still running alongside. Again, the idea was that she was doing all the work, and I was just providing the safety net.

Managed the whole thing in about 7 or 8 sessions, mostly around 10 mins each, with no falls.

Her first actual fall was caused by showing off; after demonstrating riding with no feet on the pedals, one hand on the handlebars and sharp U-turns, she decided to do something Dad couldn't do, and ride with her eyes closed :shock: Luckily no damage to the parked car she hit...

Rich158

will3 wrote:

AidanR wrote:

I was under the impression that you stick the learner on a bike at the top of a massive hill and let nature and physics take its course.

Worked for me.
They never told me how to stop which is why I'm still going.

I can still remember turning up at my uncles farm with a shiny new bike and stabilisers. he took one look at it, exclamed you dont need those bloody things and took them off. I was then gput on the bike and given a hearty shove down the sloping farmyard. In hindsight teaching me how to stop before I hit the wall at the other end may have been advisable.

i haven't looked back since

AidanR

Rich158 wrote:

I can still remember turning up at my uncles farm with a shiny new bike and stabilisers. he took one look at it, exclamed you dont need those bloody things and took them off. I was then gput on the bike and given a hearty shove down the sloping farmyard. In hindsight teaching me how to stop before I hit the wall at the other end may have been advisable.

i haven't looked back since

Did you suffer some kind of neck injury?

veronese68

We thought my eldest was ready for no stabiisers but he just didn't seem to get it. So we left it. A couple of weeks later we were at my parents when he heard his slightly older cousin had learnt to ride a bike. That was it. Straight round to the park and off he went.
I'm sure he would have managed 2 weeks earlier had he wanted to. He just needed to actually want to for himself.
Balance bikes were quite a new thing at the time and we went down the stabiliser route. Balance bikes make much more sense.

Oh, one more thing for DDD. I think it mght ne a bit early for dd to learn to ride a bike.

UndercoverElephant

AidanR wrote:

Rich158 wrote:

I can still remember turning up at my uncles farm with a shiny new bike and stabilisers. he took one look at it, exclamed you dont need those bloody things and took them off. I was then gput on the bike and given a hearty shove down the sloping farmyard. In hindsight teaching me how to stop before I hit the wall at the other end may have been advisable.

i haven't looked back since

Did you suffer some kind of neck injury?

That is quality.

londonlivvy

I taught a (32 year old!) friend a couple of years ago. Top tips:

1) remove pedals
2) drop the saddle so they can comfortably get both feet flat on the floor

Take them somewhere large, empty and flat. (the Crystal Palace car park worked well for us).

They then do the scoot, scoot... wheeeeee thing that kids do on balance bikes. Then encourage them to learn to use the brakes. Then encourage them to learn to steer a bit (round a corner etc).

Eventually, when they're happy with that (this can take more than one session) you then put the pedals back on. Then run along behind them, shoving them upright when it goes wrong and dishing out sympathy when they skin their shins and splat into the tarmac.

Then get them cycling round a park - learning a bit about gears and starting and stopping and so on. And then eventually onto roads.

Then (much later) put the saddle up to the correct height.

tgotb

londonlivvy wrote:

Then (much later) put the saddle up to the correct height.

This is the dilemma I'm having with my 5-year-old. How much later?

I took her along to Hillingdon Slipstreamers last weekend and she was dabbing her feet down quite a bit when doing slow manoeuvring exercises, but she struggles to get the power down on hills, and watching her do a full lap of the circuit with the saddle several inches too low was painful...

veronese68

Put the saddle up when they're happy being that bit higher. I can't remember when it went up to a sensible height on my eldest's bike. My 9 year old still has it on the low side but whilst she's very capable she's lacking in confidence and if she doesn't feel happy she just won't go, and no amount of cajoling will change her mind.

nickthetrick

I taught an old girlfriend (24 at time) how to cycle.

I was amazing at how bad it was for the first 10-min session. I figured this will never work.
But after about 5 sessions (10-20 mins on consecutive days) she was off on her own with only occasional wobbles.

The only time she fell off was when I crashed into her (I was showboating next to her at the time!)

And she loved it! (the cycling, not the crashing).

I never removed pedals, nor even lower the saddle too much.

Just got her on it, held the back of the saddle, and got her to push off. At first she couldn't do a revolution of the pedal, but 2nd day she was on to 1 revolution, day 3 on to a few in a row and like I said by day 5 she had it.

ooermissus

nickthetrick wrote:

I taught an old girlfriend (24 at time) how to cycle...

The only time she fell off was when I crashed into her (I was showboating next to her at the time.

Emphasis added.

lost_in_thought

Put the saddle up a tiny bit at a time.

For kids, do it when they're not around, they'll never notice. If the same approach won't work for adults, or kids old enough to be canny, tell them it'll make it easier (which it will) or faster (which it will); whichever appeals.

estampida

take the cranks and chain off to make a wheel about

they self teach in less than 10 mins

once used to brakes and balance, put the cranks back on

the problem is that bikes are sold with stabilisers, and it takes an age to not make mistakes with no safety net

Kieran_Burns

AidanR wrote:

I was under the impression that you stick the learner on a bike at the top of a massive hill and let nature and physics take its course.

That was my brothers method with me.

The gits.

Applespider

One of my pals learned in her 30s. She said the most helpful two things that her instructor taught her were - how to stop so that she knew she could if she felt out of control. And how long it actually takes a bike to fall over and how easy it is to catch yourself by putting a leg down.