Ditching the training wheels

[akmom]

Has anyone taught a child how to ride a bike without training wheels? We've been at this for a few days, and it's just not clicking. We don't have any paved roads with shoulders in our community, so we've been commuting to a paved parking lot. Also tried a large field, where the snow just melted, but the grass hasn't grown in yet so it's still flat. I read a website that recommended taking the pedals off to practice, but I cannot get the pedals off. Perhaps my child's bike is built differently, but it looks like the pedals have to stay on.

I bought the knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmet... all stuff I didn't have as a kid, and I still learned in one afternoon. My child does fine with training wheels, but has definitely outgrown the bike that has them, so it's time to move on. Any tips? Fear of falling seems to be a BIG issue.

 

[Odetta]

I don't really have any specific tips, but nobody else is posting. I have two boys, and one learned quite easily, while the other took more time. We did the same as you - took them to an open parking lot for practice. Actually, my husband did it, so I don't really know his specific techniques, just that they eventually got it.

I 've never herd of the taking off the wheels thing, though. I remember when I was a kid, training wheels where adjustable, meaning that you could move them further and further off the ground. Is that possible with your kid's bike?

 

[ALEA40]

Have you ever thought about a strider/balance bike? I think kids in Europe use them a lot.

Strider Bikes

 

[akmom]

Well, she finally mastered it, and now all she wants to do is ride.

Her biggest hang-up was the fear of falling, so I just had her practice controlled stopping. I'd hold her bike up while she pedaled, and then when I said "Brake," she would brake and stick her foot out to catch herself. We practiced that until she mastered sticking her foot out to stop herself (instead of falling).

But after that, she pretty much learned by herself. She needed her own space to experiment and practice, I guess. I let her be for awhile, and the next thing I knew, she was riding all by herself!

Now we're working on the four-year-old. He has training wheels, but struggles with the motion of pedaling. Any tips on that?

 

[Beth1231]

Just reading along and hoping my seven year old will catch on eventually. My husband and I tried the old school method of running alongside her, but she's tall and 55lbs and we both had sore backs at the end of practice.
I'm assuming at this point that she will decide on her own to master it when she's ready.

 

[keith99]

What is pretty much hte standard suggestion on the cycling board I frequent

Bike Forums

is to lower the seat and remove the pedals and let the kid learn balance while his feet can hit the ground.

One other is to find some firm grass and learn there where falls don't really hurt much.

One problem with learning to ride is if you are going too slow it makes it much harder to balance, but if you are afraid of falling you tend to go slow and that means you are going to fall. I think this may be a major factor in why some kids learn right away and others have a really hard time. Sometimes even in a direction opposite of what one would have thought. Just getting lucky or unlucky the first time can determine the path to learning a kid is on.