Dream Fulfilled - Riding with Kid

EKE_38BPM

LockStock666 wrote:

My son is really struggling with riding, (he is 4) he doesn't seem to have quite mastered the art of pedalling. He has been this way since his first teeny bike, trike and his latest bike, which to be fair to him is a relatively heavy 16" one as he is a very tall 4 year old.

Put him on the slightest decent and he will roll down it but he doesn't seem to understand that pushing one leg at a time and pushing harder will make him go faster. He just grinds to a slow halt on the flat. I cant even think about taking stabilisers off as if he can't pedal he hasn't got much chance. I wondered if the gearing was too high but its a single speed kids bike, how high can it be? I know its not the 'best' he could have as its quite heavy but I bought him this particular one because its branded with something he loves.

He can be very stubborn at times so I try to let him do things in his own time or it scares him off and that the last thing I want when it comes to cycling.

Any ideas on how to get him going? What did you guys do to get your nippers on bikes so young? (sorry for the thread hijack)

I think my 8 wk old daughter will get a balance bike as soon as she can walk!

Stabilers are rubbish. Take them off immediately. Also, take the pedals off and turn it into a balance bike.

Start again from scratch, let him scoot around and BE PATIENT!

A rushed reply as I'm off to work now, teaching 10 & 11 year olds how to ride safely on the road and then 6 year olds control skills.

theslowone

Just a quick note.
I tried the taking pedals off a standard (cheap) bike once my son had outgrown his balance bike to tide him over until his birthday (Isla bike). Be careful! the rear wheel studs on some of the cheaper bikes can be good ankle scrapers when used as a balance bike (running motion)

mpatts

EKE_38BPM wrote:

LockStock666 wrote:

My son is really struggling with riding, (he is 4) he doesn't seem to have quite mastered the art of pedalling. He has been this way since his first teeny bike, trike and his latest bike, which to be fair to him is a relatively heavy 16" one as he is a very tall 4 year old.

Put him on the slightest decent and he will roll down it but he doesn't seem to understand that pushing one leg at a time and pushing harder will make him go faster. He just grinds to a slow halt on the flat. I cant even think about taking stabilisers off as if he can't pedal he hasn't got much chance. I wondered if the gearing was too high but its a single speed kids bike, how high can it be? I know its not the 'best' he could have as its quite heavy but I bought him this particular one because its branded with something he loves.

He can be very stubborn at times so I try to let him do things in his own time or it scares him off and that the last thing I want when it comes to cycling.

Any ideas on how to get him going? What did you guys do to get your nippers on bikes so young? (sorry for the thread hijack)

I think my 8 wk old daughter will get a balance bike as soon as she can walk!

Stabilers are rubbish. Take them off immediately. Also, take the pedals off and turn it into a balance bike.

Start again from scratch, let him scoot around and BE PATIENT!

A rushed reply as I'm off to work now, teaching 10 & 11 year olds how to ride safely on the road and then 6 year olds control skills.

I find being around older riding kids helps too.

Do they still do the cycling proficiency test type thing? I'd love to get Amy on one.

lockstock666

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Stabilers are rubbish. Take them off immediately. Also, take the pedals off and turn it into a balance bike.

Start again from scratch, let him scoot around and BE PATIENT!

A rushed reply as I'm off to work now, teaching 10 & 11 year olds how to ride safely on the road and then 6 year olds control skills.

Ok thanks, I will try these things as suggested. I can see the benefits of taking pedals and stabilisers off.

Seeing him scoot along will be better than the current situation and might actually mean I can ride with him. which would be a huge improvement.

Any more pointers welcome later. Cool job btw!

clarkey cat

I have routinely bullied my son for the last year to ride his Islabike balance bike. He's 2.5 years old and he's pretty good on it. I make him practice on the turbo.

veronese68

Peer pressure of finding out someone else can ride works well. My son showed no interest at all, then he found out his Italian cousin could ride without stabilisers. Within half an hour he could ride a bike. They need to want to do it, wherever that motivation comes from.
He is now 14 and rides to school every day.

EKE_38BPM

3 2 1 and I'm back in the room.

Kids learn at an astounding rate. I had a lesson today with a girl of about 10 years old, who wasn't quite up to going out on the road and was classed as a beginner. Straight away she was setting her pedals, starting off, covering her brakes as she rode, riding in figure of 8s around the playground (with a few unscheduled dismounts), stopping where I told her to etc
She was obviously a beginner who still needs to practice to improve and isn't ready to go on the road yet, but after our lesson today she knows to set her pedals immediately after stopping, how her gears work, what safety checks to perform before going for a ride and probably more stuff than I can remember right now.

She couldn't ride at all before Monday afternoon!

If how you are teaching Little LockStock isn't working, try something different.
Stabilisers, at best, teach how to pedal but they instil bad habits which have to be unlearnt. I've seen kids who were used to using stabilisers sit on a bike (without stabilisers), put both feet on the pedals (whilst stationary) and fall sideways.

The hardest part of cycling is learning to balance. A bike with stabilisers don't teach that but balance bikes do. Get the balancing sorted and then re-introduce the pedals when they have mastered scooting and balancing.

I hope that helps.