Recreational & Family - What age for a trail a bike

What age did your children start riding on the trail a bike?

It ranged from 3.5 to 4.5. Then they would continue to ride until about 7 or 8 when they would be independent enough on their own bike. Although for longer trips we will put them on the TAB if they can't handle it on their own.

My son turned three in Jan and I was thinking he seemed like he should be able to handle it this summer. Wife thinks its too young that I should wait until next year though. So he'll be 3.5 here soon.

My now 7.5 yr old went on at 5. Or was it 6. Anyway, yeah, now he either rides himself (at his speed, which is to say s-l-o-w-l-y) or on the TAB if time is of the essence. Still waiting on the 4 yr old. Could probably adjust it for her, and she is really eager to move up, but use it w/ big bro enough that I leave the bars set for him and put her in the trailer.

The riding on the TAB at 3.5 was very limited. They could not reach the pedals so it was very much a holding on for life ride, nothing too bumpy or fast. Had to stop often to give their hands a break from gripping so tight. I'd recommend having a trailer or seat that they can rotate into if you want to do longer trips for when they get too tired.

~5 years is when it seems I don't have to worry so much about them on the TAB.

ok, so maybe next summer would be better, he'll be 4.5 then.

The do make seatbacks for the tab. It essentially is like a chair back and it has straps and sometimes hand rails. It can give you a little piece of mind that they won't fall off. I honestly don't know where to purchase them though.

I started my older child at 4, when I bought the TAB, but he had to stop using it at 6 because he grew out of it too fast. My youngest is almost 4 now, and has taken a few short rides on the TAB with a seatback. Any bike shop can order the seatback.

We bought our seatback at REI. Used it ONCE!

My first kid was 4.5 when we got it. She's 7 and still uses it (when we're pressed for time, otherwise she rides her own bike). I also have a 3.5 year old who uses it. The first time he used it he was 2.5--VERY young--but for only a very slow jaunt around the sidewalks near our house. He was enthusiastic to try it, seeing his big sister doing it, and he was able to hold on tightly enough that we could have the experience. Now that he's almost 4, we use it all the time with him, but he doesn't pedal and I attached a back rest (he, like many 3.5 year old boys has the attention span of a gnat, fell off once because he wasn't paying attention, and so it's helpful to have that support for him)

We started out transporting our daughter in a trailer at age 2. She tried a Trail-A-Bike at 5. Even though she no longer could sleep while being taken somewhere, there was no going back -- she absolutely loved it. Now, at 10, we are reaching the point where she will soon prefer riding along with us on a bike of her own. That means that the end is in sight for our Trail-A-Bike.

Paul

The Young Prince was starting at 4.5. He is just over 5 and still loves it. We have been getting him use to training wheels, but most bikes are so heavy that he can't pedel them for long and give up.

Jerry

We purchased the trail a bike compact model and he started on it at 2.5 years old. We obviously started out slow and I think the longest we went was 15 miles one day before he turned 3. We stopped at playgrounds and looked at a lot of scenery along the trail. My suggestion would be to buy the back rest. Definitely keep an eye on them with the mirror.

I think we got our first one when the kidlets were 4. They loved it so much we had to get a second one so both twins could ride at the same time.

Why not a tandem?

I first bought the Adams model from REI when my son was 3.5. He was a bit young for it, could barely reach the pedals, got antsy back there, similar to what others have written.

Regarding the Adams bike itself --terrible clamp setup. It actually broke on us at the beach last summer and my son fell over while we were riding. Took him awhile to get over that. That's where REI's return policy came in handy. We traded in the Adams for REI's own Novara Afterburner, which has a much more sensible and robust clamp.

I did purchase a seat back for my son, and that has worked out beautifully. When he was smaller it gave him the option of letting go of the handlebars and I had extra peace of mind that he was strapped in. I suppose it's the kind of accessory you could get lots of places, but I found mine online at Sunrise Cyclery on Long Island. www.sunrisecyclery.com

At what point (size) is a kid too big for one of these things?

My daughter started riding a tab just before her 4th birthday. She couldn't pedal, but really wanted to. I wish that we had gotten the compact model because she would have been able to reach.

At what point (size) is a kid too big for one of these things?
Adams rates most of their TABs at 85lbs. I had 10 y.o. girl on mine and her legs were definitely too long for it, but she did not care and managed a short ride just fine.