Teaching children to cycle.

PLL

My oh is a keen cyclist, competing in all Ireland competitions when he was in is teens. He is keen to pass his love of cycling onto our daughter who is three at the moment, he has a seat for her on the back of his bike and she loves going on cycles with him.

Today when they went for a cycle my oh had to stop off to get some oil for the bike and our daughter went mad for the bikes in the shop, my oh pushed her around on a few and she didn't want to leave, which I am very excited about. I am ashamed to admit I cannot cycle myself. Crazy I know.

My question is about something the salesman in the shop said to my oh about getting our daughter a bike in the summer (a few months before she turns four). He said he would bypass stabilisers altogether and teach her to cycle without them, teaching her to balance from the start. I was wondering if any avid cyclists on this forum had any thoughts on this? It worries me, yet, I know nothing about cycling so a variety of a opinions would reassure me.

Many Thanks.

lennymc

possibly talking about a balance bike. No pedals, child uses their legs to push themselves along. They learn steering, balance, braking. essentially everything they need to ride a bike but without pedaling. My nephew (2 yrs old) got one a while back and loves it.

amtw

All of my kids could ride a two wheeler before they were 4 years old. The eldest was given a hand-me-down bike from his cousin who had outgrown it. I brought him out into the cul de sac that we lived on at the time and after a few times of me pushing him he just took off on his own. As the others came along they just copied him and none of them seemed to have a problem with the balance. At first getting the balance and peddling was a bit difficult but they soon got the hang of it.

Don't fuss her and she'll be grand.

Mec-a-nic

A new Irish company has developed a balance/pedal bike that grows with the child - https://www.littlebigbikes.com/ and they are available now.
My son is 4.5 now and I would have gotten one last year if they were available.

(I am in no way affiliated in this - I just think it's a good idea and to support our own)

Lumen

Yes, stabilisers are evil.

Either get a balance bike or just a regular small bike with the pedals removed.

Ryder

Got my 4yr old Daughter A Balance Bike For Her Birthday In March. Was cruising on it in a week. Got her a proper 2 wheeler kids bike (islabike) for Christmas. .....cycling first go. Literally.

Manxmania

Just bought my 2year old a Puky Balance bike for Christmas - he's flying on it already and loves it. His older cousin went from a balance bike to riding a bike without stabilisers.

Nisio

We got our 3 year old a balance bike from Halfords.

She ignored it for a couple of weeks in favour of a scooter thing then picked it up of her own accord and was flying around on it.

I have a bigger bike that I've taken the pedals and cranks off waiting in the wings for this summer. Going to avoid stabilisers.

carltonleon

My son was without stabilisers just after he turned 4 and our friends son was just 3.5 and he never used stabilisers. Some kids pick it up much quicker and are more confident than others. It is fine to do it both ways with and without but I would say yours would pick it up very quickly as she seems very interested. Don't fret about it. My son learned in Newbridge House as there is grass on both sides so if he lost a little bit of control he could have a soft landing, although I think it only happened once or twice before he was fine cycling.

sonandheir

Good website

http://m.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/teach-child-to-ride-a-bike.html

Macy0161

We went stabilisers with ours, the in laws went balance bike. I genuinely don't think there's much between either way after seeing both first hand to be honest.

easygoing39

Get a balance bike for youre little girl and let her progress to a proper 2 wheeled bike in the summer. Stabilisers are evil things as they become a "crutch" for kids and stop their natural learing ability to get balance.In mainland Europe and up in Scandinavia you see 90% of children on balance bikes,its only us and the UK that still seem to think stabilisers are a good thing.

Hi Ho

I don't think stabilisers were invented when I learned to ride a bike - they certainly hadn't reached my neck of the woods. But kids seem to enjoy whizzing about on them.

JMcL

+1 for the balance bike - get one skill down at a time. Our second girl (going on 4) is now flying on the one her older sister learnt on. The older sister meanwhile took to stabliser free pedaling like a duck to water. My only concern with removing the pedals from a bike route is that most kids bikes seems to be made out of pig-iron and hence weigh a ton, with the exception of Islabikes, Early Rider and the like. By contrast, the Decathlon Run Ride we have cost about €30 at the time, and weighs about 3kg - important consideration for the inevitable "I don't want to ride my bike any more, you carry it" moments