Hi,
I have heard some people say they get their kids on bike from the time they are starting to walk. I thought this was a little early but it makes some sense. As they begin to find their balance walking sit them on a "push" bike (a very small frame without cranks) and let'em rip.
Anyone have experience with this early start?

thanks

I guess you mean on a wheeled vehicle? They pretty much tend toward things they can sit on and make roll. When they are just starting to walk they have four and 3 wheeled scooters with no pedals they can scoot around on. They eventually will get to tricycles but reaching the pedals is one limitation and the others being learning the pedaling motion and learning to steer :). Some learn faster some learn slower, others are not interested. I have seen a 3 year old navigate one of those small wheeled aluminum skateboards with the T handle (literally pushing with the one foot and then gliding and steering it). That was pretty amazing, but he had older siblings. I personally have an almost 5 year old that I have to cajole to ride their bike ("you can't go to the park with us unless you ride your bike there") who does not like to go fast. In fact speeds faster than walking are pretty much verboten with that one. Our 20 month old likes to ride the 4 year olds bike. Can't pedal or steer but likes to sit and be pushed on it.

My belief is, if they like it and have the opportunity to ride, they will. If they don't, they won't. You have to make that choice of how hard you will push, in their best interest, them to acquire that skill if they resist. We are still deciding where that point is with the 4 year old.

Just to share what I did with my kids.

I have a 6yr old that I put into a 20" Diamondback (Octane) 6 speed as his first bike. Just in an hour or so he was able to ride without taking a spill and stopping. Another short afternoon to learn to use the gears and getting on and off without any help. Now he is dealing with controlling speed uphill/downhill. The bike was his Chrismas present just past and we try to ride once a week.

Another kid, 3 1/2yrs, on 16" bike with training wheels. Its taking quite bit of effort to get him to ride it and have him continue. Not at all confident on the bike. He graduated from a tricyle where he was quite fast and good at it. Another Christmas present (we thought it would be great to get bikes for everyone for this year - we didn't have any)

So, I think its matter of child's readiness to take on a bike. My 6 yr old has been controlling Kette-Car (steerable 4wheeler, with pedals since he was just over a year old), whereas my 3-1/2yr old has not really played with the car.

Btw, this forum helped me pick the right bike for my 6yr old. Much discussion just before the holidays about size, weight and so on. In the end I returned a toy store bike that I had bought with full suspension and lots of gears (just looked cool!) for better build bike with decent components for the money - thanks everyone...