Originally Posted by
cyclotoine
I would discourage the use of tricycles for children today. Training wheels are also obsolete. Kids should be started on a strider and go direct to two wheels. They develop a superior sense of balance this way and learn how to use their body to balance, it's better for their development and far more fun. However, tricycles are cool in a historical kind of way and that looks interesting, it would be good for a child with balance issues. My friend's kid was riding "skinnies" and a teeter totter on a pedal bike before he was 4. The C&V crowd might not know what that is, but these terms originate on the "North Shore" which is in North Vancouver, British Columbia and is perhaps the most influential area for mountain biking as it is today.
Some people don't have the motor skills to ride a two wheeler and a tricycle may their only option. I knew an elderly gentleman that had that issue, he rode a racing tricycle and was a helluva lot faster than many people on road bikes. FWIW his twin brother rode fixed gear had faster TT times than people half his age, they were in their 70's at the time.
Tricycles serve a purpose and there is nothing wrong with them.
Aaron
