Recreational & Family - Teach a Child to ride: Remove the pedals

Have you tried removing the pedals to teach your child to ride? A friend of mine mentioned doing this with his grandson. Basically the idea is if you remove the pedals and drops the seat down as low as it can go the child pushes himself/herself around with feet on the ground until they get the "balance thing" down. They then will ask for the pedals back and be ready to ride. I tried it with my twin grandchildren (one boy, one girl) and it took less than an hour for them both to pedal away. Actually my grandaughter got it first (she's about an inch taller and it was easier for her to reach) and then my grandson decided he had to do because his sister could. The guys at my bike shop say it works every time! Sure worked for us:)

Works quite well. This was discussed just a short time ago in this Rec & Fam forum.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=514643

Works quite well. This was discussed just a short time ago in this Rec & Fam forum.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=514643

Sorry, I missed the previous thread. I was just so excited about my grandchildren riding the bikes I gave them for Christmas.

It is exciting watching them learn so quickly. Separating the "steer" process from the "pedal" process works very well. Glad your grandchildren picked it up so fast. It's amazing to me (my brothers are twins and we did foster care with twins) how a bit of competition motivates them as well. My oldest boy cried for a few minutes when his younger brother rode a motorcycle without help before he did. It was a matter of less than five minutes until he didn't need my help anymore. If his brother could do it, so could he.

How does one ask the moderator to make this subject a sticky? There must be at least a dozen threads around this general area.