Bye bye training wheels?
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Bye bye training wheels?
Postby Xplora » Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:47 pm
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby TimW » Fri Dec 13, 2013 9:00 pm
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby MattyK » Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:16 pm
Remove pedals (and maybe cranks)
Play balance bike for a while.
Or so I've read, as I've not gone through this phase yet.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby rheicel » Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:29 pm
My daughter did not use training wheels at all. I just saw her riding her big brothers old bike when she was 3.
Let your son play with other kids who don't use training wheels and he will figure it out quicker than you expect.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby bychosis » Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:36 pm
For sheldon brown, help your child balance by holding the shoulders/under arms, not the bike. Helps them learns how to balance sooner.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby Xplora » Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:59 pm
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby im_no_pro » Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:59 pm
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master6 wrote: Moderators are like Club Handicappers; I often think they are wrong, but I dont want the job.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby bychosis » Sat Dec 14, 2013 8:37 am
Good plan, we had a spot out the back similar and used that for training no training wheels for a couple of kids. Son two with balance bike didn't need it.Xplora wrote:Had not thought abut taking the pedals off and dropping the seat. We have a shallow decline nearby which he could use to roll down easy enough. Will give it a go tomorrow morning
A bike that is a bit too small is also a big help, if they can't react the ground easily makes it heaps harder.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby jaffaman » Sun Dec 15, 2013 3:18 pm
Next were some flat paths and by then she was fine provided we steadied her to start off.
Really surprised how easy it was once the trainers were gone and she had to keep herself up. No I have trouble keeping up with her!
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby Mububban » Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:03 pm
Same with my daughter, took her to the local park, down the grassy slope so all she had to concentrate on was balance not pedalling to start with. Then I told her to keep pedalling as far as she could go before the grass friction slowed her, and she'd just put her feet down. 10-15 minutes of that and she was ready to go on the flat concrete, and she took to it like a champ.jaffaman wrote:I took my daughter to a local grassed park when I removed her trainers. It had a gentle slope and I would push her off at the top and get her going. Provided she kept pedalling just a bit she was fine.
It also helped that we did this with a bike that was slightly too small for her, so her legs could easily get on the ground for any "oh sh**" moments. Her newer bike that's the right frame size for her is waiting for her to get brave enough to try out sans wheels
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby WarbyD » Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:39 pm
My eldest (nearly 6) is majorly lacking confidence when it comes to riding and has been very apprehensive about losing the training wheels (she didn't get the bike until she was 4).. She wants a new bike for her birthday at the end of May though, so I'm keen to use that as the motivator to get rid of the training wheels (and she has agreed with the caveat that new bike will not have any training wheels).
Middle child (3) also rides with training wheels, but is much more confident than his big sister so I will probably just take both of them down to the park, pull the training wheels off and get them started. Might even help if there is a bit of competition between them (It usually does with these two..)
Youngest (1) will be getting a balance bike!
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby Mububban » Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:33 pm
Save the 3 year old's bike, drop the seat right down and remove the pedals and crank. Instant free balance bikeWarbyD wrote:Youngest (1) will be getting a balance bike!
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby KGB » Sun Apr 20, 2014 10:21 am
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby cray- » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:54 am
My daughter was 2 last week and we got her a FirstBike. She's very tall (92cm, 97th percentile) so I thought I'd get away with not ordering the lowering kit, but she can only just put her toes down. So all we've done is push her around a bit so that she gets the feeling of sitting on the bike and holding the handlebars. Lowering kit has now been ordered.
I think she's slightly too young for it, last thing I want to do is force it and scare her away, but while she's keen we'll keep playing.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby Mububban » Sun Apr 27, 2014 4:39 pm
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby MattyK » Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:03 pm
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby Mububban » Thu May 01, 2014 12:44 pm
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby ColinOldnCranky » Thu May 01, 2014 1:22 pm
I don't know if there ever was or is anything retailing but it seems such an obvious way.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby KGB » Thu May 01, 2014 8:18 pm
I took the opinion that I was happy to help/support them if they were a little too short at the start, they'd be big enough one day and the bike would be ready to go when they were.
At 3.5 my daughter does an easy (somewhat wobbly) glide and my son 2.5) is almost gliding, kinda like a run. In any case, they love it.
We have a giant pre; great bike, I'd get one again. Normal bike components except the stem/bars, has a little tab that prevents bar spins. We also have an Avanti Lil Ripper; another good choice, I got this one second hand. All normal bike components, inc bars, stem (threadless). Seat is a little higher that the Pre (mostly due to seat design, not frame) and the bars spin 360.
I'd pick the Giant over the Avanti but both are very good IMO.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby im_no_pro » Fri May 02, 2014 10:03 am
My daughter got one for her 2nd birthday. She's a shorty, so she couldnt quite manage sitting on the seat, but could walk it straddling the frame. It has seen little use in the 6 months she has had it, but im fine with that. She has probably just hit the height to be able to ride it with the seat fully down. I let her dictate how often she wants to use it. At the moment she prefers the little 4 wheeler plastic thing we got from target for $12, which is fine by me as she can use that inside. Quite happy for her to progress at her own pace. The only thing I was firm on is that she will never have training wheels (including bikes at grandparents houses).cray- wrote:Just curious what age you all started your kids on the balance bikes?
My daughter was 2 last week and we got her a FirstBike. She's very tall (92cm, 97th percentile) so I thought I'd get away with not ordering the lowering kit, but she can only just put her toes down. So all we've done is push her around a bit so that she gets the feeling of sitting on the bike and holding the handlebars. Lowering kit has now been ordered.
I think she's slightly too young for it, last thing I want to do is force it and scare her away, but while she's keen we'll keep playing.
master6 wrote: Moderators are like Club Handicappers; I often think they are wrong, but I dont want the job.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby Mububban » Fri May 02, 2014 12:53 pm
Why? Not saying one way is better than the other, but what's the reason behind never having training wheels?im_no_pro wrote:The only thing I was firm on is that she will never have training wheels (including bikes at grandparents houses).
I'm sure most cyclists started out on training wheels, and I don't feel it impinged on my riding/handling/balancing abilities as a <10 rider, teenager or adult rider.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby im_no_pro » Fri May 02, 2014 2:00 pm
IME kids learn to ride more quickly and confidently without them. On a plane at the moment but will hunt down some links later.Mububban wrote:Why? Not saying one way is better than the other, but what's the reason behind never having training wheels?im_no_pro wrote:The only thing I was firm on is that she will never have training wheels (including bikes at grandparents houses).
I'm sure most cyclists started out on training wheels, and I don't feel it impinged on my riding/handling/balancing abilities as a <10 rider, teenager or adult rider.
sent from my galaxy hunk o junk. Typo's are frequent with fingers as fat as mine.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby im_no_pro » Fri May 02, 2014 11:48 pm
As much as I dont like linking to a certain place I don't frequent anymore, have a read of this. It's (mostly) all in there somewhere.Mububban wrote:Why? Not saying one way is better than the other, but what's the reason behind never having training wheels?im_no_pro wrote:The only thing I was firm on is that she will never have training wheels (including bikes at grandparents houses).
I'm sure most cyclists started out on training wheels, and I don't feel it impinged on my riding/handling/balancing abilities as a <10 rider, teenager or adult rider.
I have no issue if others choose to use training wheels, but IMHO they are ineffective. I'm going to stop short of calling them a bad idea in my book, but I was close.
master6 wrote: Moderators are like Club Handicappers; I often think they are wrong, but I dont want the job.
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby tron07 » Wed Mar 16, 2016 10:00 am
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Re: Bye bye training wheels?
Postby DrShifty » Sat Apr 23, 2016 10:28 pm
Then we went on holiday with his bike in the boot of the car. We visited friends on a farm for an afternoon and he wanted to ride. I was too lazy to bolt the training wheels on so just turned the bars straight and he got on. He rode down the sloping house paddock without worry. When he got close to the barbed wire fence at the bottom I started to worry. Somehow he managed to turn OK and rode up again.
I don't know if it was the slow raising of the wheels that meant he used them less and less over time, or he just suddenly got the balance thing sorted on that day. That was in August and he would turn 4 in November.
He'd spent the previous three years sitting in the kiddy seat on my bike, does that give balance skill somehow?
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