Nikon Fan

Any suggestions for teaching kids to ride a bike? Ages are 8 and 13 (late starters). I have been trying with them but no progress so far. Thinking of giving up and getting them a recumbent type 3 wheel bike.

Tony Marley

Through the years, I successfully taught my wife and three daughters to ride the "old fashioned way" by initially running along behind trying to help them maintain balance until they had enough speed to not wobble. Once they get to that point, you carefully work on turning, slowing and stopping.

Having said that, a recumbent trike would certainly obviate the need for the balancing act.

Kindaslow

Also, take them to the track at the local high school when nobody is there. That is what finally did it for one of my four boys. He just needed a safer environment to get going.

FBinNY 

Do it naturally with a balance bike.

You don't have to buy anything. Remove training wheels if any, remove both pedals so they don't bang their shins, and lower the saddle to where they can comfortably put both feet on the ground.

Find a wide level place, and let them ride the "hobby horse" which is how bicycling stated in the first place. They'll be flying along, steering and balancing in n o time, without any fear. When they have that down pat, install the pedals and raise the saddle, but not so high that they lose the security o putting a foot down while seated. 10 minutes like that and you can adjust the saddle for best riding position.

The entire process takes an hour or so, and you don't have to do a thing. So bring one of those folding chairs and a cooler and look for some shade to watch from.

Nikon Fan

Thanks for the suggestions! I had not thought about removing the pedals. They keep banging their shins with the pedals. Luckily there is a straight, flat, paved 1/2 mile street near my house with no vehicle traffic to worry about. I will definitely be trying that out this week. Thanks!

Nikon Fan

Thanks! I have been trying that method for several weeks now without any results. My 13 year old got frustrated and is reluctant to get back on the saddle. FBinNY suggested I remove the pedals. I'm going to give that a try as well as run along behind them.

FBinNY 

Don't forget the cooler --- really.

Nikon Fan

Thanks! Local schools in my area are closed to the public; even their track areas are fenced in and locked. Luckily I have a safe street near my home I can practice with them without any traffic issues. My guess is that they are having a hard time with the whole balancing issue.

thenomad

If they are dedicated to it, you can do several things. If they dont want to then good luck.

Slight decline, just have them "walk the bike" along and practice raising their feet and coasting. You might remove pedals, but not always necessary.
Show them how the steering counteracts them falling to one side. Then let them "run" the bike along and get a feel for its movement.
Run behind while holding the saddle, try it all on grass if they are afraid of falling.
Practice practice practice. All of a sudden it'll click.

Try taking away the scooters and other stuff they choose to ride instead of the bike.

I advise everyone to stay away from training wheels, they teach all the wrong habits.

mel2012

Do you have an REI nearby? They teach classes on how to ride a bike for both kids and adults. I think with older kids and adults, it helps to have someone you don't know and who isn't emotionally invested in the process do the teaching. I have a friend who teaches elementary-aged kids to bike and their parents are always amazed at how quickly she has the kids riding compared to the tearful exercises they've gone through.

FBinNY 

I've taught dozens of adults to ride, and also many children, if you can call my method teaching.

IME - actively getting involved slows the process, especially with older or larger people. I've found that if provided with something that makes people feel secure that they won't fall, they'll take to it faster and with less stress than with someone involved. Also, most people find having their own two feet able to reach the ground much more comforting than having to rely on someone holding them from behind --- especially true of adults.

As I said, I'm not sure my method qualifies as teaching, since I do so little besides a hint or two. It's more like directed play.


BTW- we're all used to the notion of training wheels or "teaching" a child how to ride on two wheels, but has anybody ever heard of a child that needed help learning how to ride a scooter? Bicycling is very instinctive once we get past the fear of falling.

geehue

This worked for both of my kids, but they were younger -- go to the top of a grassy hill (not too steep). Have them straddle the bike and then gently push downhill. Tell them to put their feet on the pedals, but not to actually pedal. Tell them not to put their feet down until they feel themselves beginning to tip once they have reached the bottom of the hill.

Repeat.

The momentum of the bike will keep it from falling over as it goes down, the grass will be soft, and they will learn that a bicycle can balance itself without too much input from them.

You don't have to chase behind them with bent back ...

GravelMN

I taught my grandson to ride at 10 years old using a method similar to what others have described. We started on a grassy surface with a long, gentle downward slope that led to a gentle upward slope. I set the seat height so that he could rest the balls of both feet on the ground while staying seated. I took the pedals off and let him coast down the slope (about 50 yards) using his feet as needed at first and then having him hold his feet up. He didn't have to worry about turning or braking as the upward slope brought him to a gradual stop. Within 20 minutes he wanted the pedals back on. Within an hour he was pedaling, turning and braking reasonably well so we graduated to an empty parking lot. Another hour and he was pretty much good to go. After a week, he was riding with his friends as if he had been on a bike for years. Just a year later and he's riding in the skills park at the local MTB resort.

atbman

Never, ever, hold the seat. The bike then goes where you're pushing it, which might not be in quite the same direction that they're naturally steering. Instead, place your hand on their upper back (better for yours as well). No need to hold their clothing, just light pressure is enough to keep them reasonably upright, while not interfering with their ability to learn to balance/steer.

We teach about 50 kids per year to ride usng either balance bikes (for ankle biters) or their own bikes/one of ours with the pedals off using the methods already described. Only twice in the last 17 years have I used the "traditional" method of teaching a youngster to ride with the pedals on - reason: total refusal on their part to do otherwise (both were older kids of 11+). Worked perfectly well.

However, since the sine qua non of bike riding is balancing, pedalless adresses that first. Once they've learned to balance, pedalling comes easily (relatively in some cases). Very few fail to learn in a single session - a 14-year old with severe dyspraxia took four, but he learned.

MarkND

I taught my daughter how ride a bike without training wheels when she was 4. I think it took like 5 minutes. I took her to where the grass in my yard was the longest and thickest. That made her have to pedal harder, which I think helped to keep her balance. And knowing the soft grass was there in case she fell, she wasn't worried about falling. It worked great, within 5 minutes she was riding without me running along side keeping her upright.

Mark

fietsbob

balance bikes , ie, without pedals considered ?

Since of the shelf ones are for smaller, younger, children , take the cranks and chain off a bigger bike.

Hawgsnawt

We kind of took a combination approach mimicking several of the suggestions above....

we took him to an area that had a small grassy hill and had him " walk " the bike down the hill....it took him about 3 tries before he was " coasting "down the hill on his own...

3 or 4 times " coasting " down and he had learned to get his feet on the pedals rather than just letting them dangle...once or twice after that and he learned that he could pedal once he hit bottom to keep going....

took 30 minutes total maybe...

flyjimmy

+++1 This works every time!!

cmc4130

Definitely agree with the above, re: no-pedals BALANCE BIKES.


On another note, re: FEAR. . . . I once helped a small-for-his-age 8 year old. He was very scared of falling.

I decided to make falling seem fun, like a game, so I repeatedly fell off my bike onto the lawn on purpose, hamming it up.... which cause him to laugh like crazy. Then he started deliberately falling in the grass and rolling around.

The family told me later on the he learned to ride within that week after I left.

CliffordK

It looks like this thread is 2 months old. I hope all the OP family members are riding. At least one has learned.

I've taught a few kids to ride. Usually with a normal bike, and hanging on and trying to explain them not to "lean", then over time holding less and less until they're off.

The balance bike idea sounds good, maybe I'll try it with the next kid that is problematic.

I did get an Afterburner (Alley Cat Shadow) for my bike, and towed one kid that was a bit problematic with it. Got him pedalling, and then worked to the ordinary bike (on the front lawn). Later I tried him with a Tandem, and he hated it... considered it a kid's bike. I guess I ruined that

A grass lawn is nice and soft, but also harder to pedal.

One mistake I did with the last kid. I like my seat pretty high, but it is good to have the seat set so that the kid can get both feet on the ground. Oh, and if they're looking down, remind them to look forward.

YogaKat

I am so glad to have found this thread.

A couple of months ago I was trying to teach my 11 year old daughter to ride a bicycle... with training wheels. Basically the dang things would end of lifting the back tire up resulting in it spinning and going nowhere. She got so frustrated she thew the bike down and gave up. Since then she has seen me riding every day and decided that she wanted to try again. I searched the forum and found this thread.

Last night I gave her the bike without the training wheels. I sat in my chair and told her to just walk around on the bike and get used to the feeling of it. It took about an hour and she was riding up and down the street. I can't believe it was so easy after our previous attempts.

Pretty soon, she and I can cruise around together. I'm a happy momma.

travbikeman

My son basically took off riding a bike with very very little help from me. My 9 yr old daughter on the other hand had refused to ride without training wheels for a long time. This past spring I tried and tried to get her to be interested in riding, but she refused to even try to learn. So my 11 year old son and I continued riding ourselves.

When my son's friend asked to go riding with us, something sparked that little bit of jealousy or something in my daughter. She insisted to learn how to ride before my son and his friend went riding with me, yes there were tears involved (by her, not me). Took about 5 or 10 minutes or learning time and she was off riding with us. She has very much been enjoying going out for rides with me since.

FBinNY 

This is precisely why I strongly advise parents never to start with training wheels in the first place. They become a crutch, and cause a crisis when you discuss removing them. The longer they're on, the worse it is to take them off.

If you skip the training wheels and move directly from a tricycle to a two-wheeler at an early age, the entire process goes much easier. In many places, they skip the tricycle phase entirely and put infants on balance bikes almost immediately after they start walking (even before in some cases). In Italy it isn't all that rare to see 2 year olds riding tiny bicycles with 10" wheels, pedaling furiously as they try to keep up with the bigger kids and adults.

dwmckee

My son is 10 and has his own business teaching other kids to ride. He uses basically this same technique. Most of his clients are riding in 2 - 3 1/2 hour lessons. He has made a couple hundred bucks this way and all of his former clients are riding now and sending him referrals. The only thing I'd add is to do this where you have a gentle downhill slope as that makes it easier to start and keeps some speed up to make balancing easier. Maybe a 2 - 3 percent grade will do it.

We found that a lot of kids will not listen to their parents (go figure) but lessons from a peer 10-year old often goes a lot better.

YogaKat

This is one of the coolest things I have read. What an entrepreneur you have there.


Also, I have to add that after we did the 'teach yourself' method without the training wheels night before last. I got on my cruiser and gently rode with my daughter through the neighborhood yesterday afternoon.

She is a bit terrified of cars (or was) so first we went around the block for a couple of streets then came to the stop sign of the main neighborhood road that has a bit more traffic and I taught her about hand signals and explained that we were going to go right. She looked at me and said is this *** Road, it has cars on it? I told her yes, and explained about traffic laws and how bikes and cars co-exist. After riding a little on that road for a little while until she was comfortable, we ended up riding all through the neighborhood for about 4 miles. By the time we got back on our street, she was riding like she had been doing it for a long time. I am so proud of her.