Learning to ride a bike w/out training wheels

[Conifer]

Not sure if this is the best place to post this, but here goes:

I have an almost 5 year old DD and a 7 year old DSS that are riding bikes with training wheels. My husband and I want to remove the training wheels this week as we feel they are both ready. My DD is excited and can't wait, but the 7 year old just wants to leave them on. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) his training wheels are horribly bent. He has been using them for 3 years!!! They really are more dangerous than helpful. So we would either have to remove them or get new ones (which we really don't want to do!).
I have heard a lot recently about removing pedals from bikes so that they learn how to balance separate from the pedaling. Anyone have experience using this method? How long do you leave off the pedals? Any other suggestions?

[greenemami]

My dp taught my 7 year old (at the time) dsd to ride without training wheels last summer. She was initially totally freaked out and convinced she was going to "break her neck"--her words. My dp would have her sit on the bike, wrap a towel around her waist, and walk next to her as she pedaled, while holding tightly onto both ends of the towel to keep her steady-make sense? I was amazed at how quickly she learned (probably in just a few hours spread over a couple of days). She abosolutely loved riding without the training wheels too. This method avoided having to remove pedals etc., but still made her feel really secure and allowed him to kind of loosen the tension as she got more comfortable until she was ready to ride alone. HTH, Good luck!

[monkeybars]

We are starting to help DD ride without wheels, though I'm not going to try the remove the pedal route. The first day I nearly broke my back crouching over to help steady her! Thankfully they make a very simple accessory ($20 at Toys r'Us) that is making things much easier. It is a metal bar that you attach at the back, and parents can comfortably steady their child by grabbing onto it. Good luck

[pigpokey]

You should not have to do that as it is quite a lot of work. Here is the fast track I recommend:

Borrow a scooter, like a Kent or a Razor, and go to a nice smooth surface (park basketball court). If a child can balance the scooter they can balance the bike. But it is less intimidating. Scooter to mastery.

The first bike they try to ride should be obviously too small. They need to be able to put their feet flat on the ground with knees slightly bent. So, if the seat won't go down far enough, put 7 year old on 5 year old's bike and borrow a bike for the 5 year old to learn on, unless she's game after mastering #1. Even so put her seat as low as possible to start. The "short bike" approach removes the fear factor and makes everything safer. It is hard to be afraid when you can easily stick your foot on the ground (same reason the scooter is not intimidating).

[OTMomma]

We taught my 6 (almost 7) year old to ride with a trick my neighbor suggested- we took off just one training wheel- it let her learn to balance but gave her the security of having one wheel she could lean on if she needed- which also taught her to shift her weight. After about a week of one wheel, she was able to ride without training wheels.

[LynnS6]

We did the 'balance without pedaling' route first. We didn't remove the pedals, but did have the kids go down a gentle hill and put their feet down if they felt uncomfortable. I agree with a pp that having a bike where they can get their feet comfortably on the ground is crucial for his.

After they mastered going down, we added pedaling. It was a very short step from there to pedaling on their own.

I second the scooter recommendation too. We got ds a scooter when he was 6, and he learned to ride a bike the next summer. We went straight to a regular bike, no training wheels. I'm actually somewhat opposed to training wheels as I don't think the ride is close enough to real biking to be of any advantage.

[katiecat]

DS just started riding without training wheels a few weeks ago when we bought him a new bike for his 7th birthday. He really didn't need them but like your DSS he was reluctant to let them go. What did it for us was the new bike which we were pretty sure was now too big to have training wheels on (or maybe we made that up?). Anyway, I agree with the scooter...I was surprised to see him take off on a 2 wheel scooter with no trouble at all in the store when we were buying the bike. We bought the scooter as well. Is your DSS really using the training wheels? Our ds wasn't at all but I think what he was concerned about was turning and also he was used to stopping without putting his feet down. But he was very excited about the new bike and took off on it the night we got it with only a few seconds of help from dh. We knew he was physically ready and able...it was just a matter of confidence. I was really surprised he did it that quickly and once he did he was so proud.

So I dunno...maybe buy him a new bike? LOL Otherwise I know a girl in the neighbourhood who was riding without training wheels one summer but then the next she had sort of forgotten so her parents took the pedals off and within a day or two she was back to riding the two wheeler with no problem. Does your DSS get really upset if you talk about it? Our DS is like that and basically we have to wait until he feels he is ready to do something and then he usually just does it in one second flat and never looks back. In your case I wouldn't push it (if you son is like ours it's not worth it but maybe he isn't quite that stubborn) and I would just tell him what you have said about the wheels he has not being safe and you need to buy new ones. Maybe just take them off and make a date to buy new ones on the weekend and see if he starts riding without in the meantime.

Your dh is like mine. He really wanted the training wheels off. I told him it will not matter in 10 or even 1 or 2 years from now.

[Conifer]

Thank you for the suggestions

DSS does have a scooter and does really well on it. The training wheels he has are bent up so most of the time he isn't really using them. I think that I will leave the pedals on his bike, but have him practice not pedaling at first. His bike is a little small for him right now so the "too small bike" approach should work well for him. We are going to reward him with a new bike after he learns to ride without training wheels. We thought this would give him motivation

My DD (almost 5) is absolutely convinced that she does not want training wheels on her bike anymore. However she only rides on a 3 wheel scooter and her balance is a little off! So I have a 7 year old that is definitely ready to loss the training wheels, but doesn't want to....and a 5 year old that wants to loss the training wheels, but might not be ready (lol). She may benefit from the no pedals approach because she needs more help with balance. I also like the suggestion of wrapping a towel around the kids' waists. I might try that too.

I'll let you know how it goes

[ramama]

Last summer, but DD (then 4) decided that she wanted her training wheels off. I did not think she was ready, but was tired of arguing, so I took them off. I then went inside to nurse DD2 and when I came back out 10 minutes later, I asked DH where DD1 was. She said that she was riding her bike. I asked if he put her training wheels back on and he said no, he said she just took off without them. I'd give your DD a go, she may totally surprise you!

We have tons of kids in our neighborhood and a lot of 6+ boys and girls riding with training wheels. No biggie. Several of the ones who have recently gone training wheel-less have done so by having their training wheels fly off while riding. It seems fairly common to use training wheels until they actually fall off!

I do not recommend buying new training wheels. We've bought a couple pairs to go on second hand bikes that we've been given and they never hold up. For some reason, only the ones that come with the bike are worth their salt.

Also, taking pedals off a bike is darn near impossible with "regular" household tools! Believe me, I've tried and only got bloody knuckles to show for it!

[MMMOM]

Last month my dd who is almost 5 learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. I'll attempt the link, if I don't succeed, go to ibike.org and search" how to teach a child to ride a bike". First, be sure the child can touch the ground with her/his feet. I did not manage to take of the training wheels, so I just had DD learn to balance on a gentle grass slope at our local park. We worked up the slope and basically see how long dd could keep her feet off the ground. The first day, we practiced about one hour, next day we practiced for about 30 minutes and on the third day off she went. I was nice to have a large park with open space on that last day, because when she went down the slope she put her feet on the pedals and kept going.
We hard to relearn the braking, dd "forgot" how to brake, when she learned to ride without the wheels.
http://www.ibike.org/education/teaching-kids.htm

[Conifer]

Training wheel free :)

Just wanted to give an update.
DSS took off right away... no instruction necessary LOL

We couldn't get the pedals off of DD's bike, but she was having issues balancing. We let her ride her brothers scooter for about a half hour and then tried the bike again. She was determined to make it work. I put her knee pads on and that helped. Now it is day 2 and she is riding up and down the street She is still working on stopping. Which right now involves bailing out into the grass

Now I wonder why I thought this would be so hard LOL!