SO: Age for a real two wheeler. - Page 2

[ollyoxenfree]

I voted between 4 and 5, but I can't really remember. It was either between 3 and 4, or 4 and 5, since I know where we were living at the time. They both eventually learned to rid though - that's the important thing.

Factors - they probably expressed an interest, and wanted to try it and seemed ready. They would have learned on the street in front of our house and at the nearby park - it was a suburban residential area.

[snoopy5386]

well, I am hoping my almost 4 yo will master her trike this summer, so we are still quite a ways away from a two wheeler with or without training wheels. She doesn't seem to get the concept of steering at all. She really has no interest in bike riding and we live on a really steep hill so practicing outside the driveway is out. Our neighbors got their first two wheelers at 7 and 9. I remember learning to ride with no training wheels around 6 or 7. I think the trend of 3 and 4 yos on bikes is pretty new here. I think 20 yrs ago they didn't make these teeny tiny 10" or 12" bikes.

[ShyDaisi]

Originally Posted by ShyDaisi

I don't know yet, but feel he is getting close. He's had his balance bike for almost a year. I have been considering getting one for his birthday next month. Not sure if he will be able to just yet, but feel he should within a month or two after...I chose other.

I want to amend my previous post...We went to look at bikes today, and Micah would need to grow at least 2 inches all in the legs to be able to ride a 12" two-wheel bike with pedals. I think he could physically handle balancing and pedaling, but I have yet to find a bike small enough for him...

[Alyantavid]

With our oldest, he got a 2 wheeler for his 4th bday and had riding it down a few months later.

Our youngest turns 4 this summer so we may get him a bike then, but he's still struggling a little with pedaling so we'll see.

[CyclingMom]

My daughter got her bike with training wheels for her third birthday. She mastered riding without them at 4.5.

My son got a bike with training wheels some time prior to turning 3. I think we will try to take his training wheels off this summer at 3.75. If he doesn't go for it, we'll just put them back on and try again later. With my daughter, I found that when she was ready, she just took off so there is no reason to push it until that point.

[SunshineJ]

I voted other. I don't recall exactly what ages the kids were when they got their first real bikes. Maybe 2 and 4? Doesn't matter, to this day they want NOTHING to do with them (and they're now 5 and 7!). They like the big wheels and scooters much better. I think we'll take the training wheels off and see if they'll like them that way. We never bothered before now because in the last 3 years they may have spent an hour total on the things.

[Abraisme]

My DS started with training wheels at age 2 and was riding without them by 4. He had a lot of practice with the trainers so it was super easy when we took them off. It probably took him 5 minutes to learn how to balance on two wheels.

[LynnS6]

Ds got his at 7.

Dd got hers at 4.

It was the appropriate time for each. Neither used training wheels. I don't think training wheels help, and think they might actually hurt a child riding a 2 wheeler. I'd rather see a child riding a trike.

Ds was 7 and tall for his age (he's always been in the 90th-95th percentile - I can't remember his actual height). So at 6, he was riding a trike. It was a bit small, but it worked.

Dd was 4 and tall for her age. She's just much more coordinated than her brother. (And determined.)

ETA: Ds rode a 2 wheeled scooter for a year before he got his bike. That was crucial in his learning to balance, I think.

[graceomalley]

My older son was riding a 2 wheeler around his 4th birthday, I think. My older son had absolutely no interest in a 2 wheeler until he was 8 (he'd been riding a motorbike for years before he got on a bicycle).

[mrskingred]

We bought DS a 12" balance bike for his 2nd birthday. We bought him a pedal bike without training wheels for christmas (3.5years). We've had lots of snow and moved so opportunities to ride it have been limited but yesterday he had got the hand of pedalling and was solo! It's snowed/hailed again this am so we'll try again later in the week - this time I'll be ready with the camera!

[Roxswood]

4.5 she got a bike with pedals (and no training wheels) and learned to ride it soon afterwards.

[~Boudicca~]

For my kid personally, it was above 6. She had a 2 wheeler but couldn't ride it at all and was kind of scared of it. We also had a very steep rocky driveway so there wasn't anywhere she could ride it anyway, but now we have moved to a new place where we have a flat, paved driveway on a street that doesn't have logging and quarry trucks speeding by all day. So as of late she has been practicing every day. She'll get it eventually (she will be 7 at the end of this month).

I was the same way, I just couldn't ride my bike until the summer after my 7th birthday. I had a lot of balance issues.

[leighi123]

Ds has a balance bike now, he got it for christmas (he is almost 32months now)

He will use that for a while, probably a couple years (b/c I dont want to buy another bike!). He is also REALLY small, doesnt even fit toddler size trikes yet, so I doubt I could find a real bike to fit him if I tried (the Skutt we have assembed upsideown for him to fit)


I didnt get my first bike until I was 10, and didnt ride it w/o training wheels until I was 12! But I lived in Hong Kong, its all hills there and no room to ride, so it was REALLY hard to learn and we hardly ever rode bikes anyway. Im still not coordinated at all on a bike. Im hoping ds will figure it out sooner than I did, he does great w/ the balance bike!


Neighbor kid has a 'real bike' that he has had sense he was about 2, he turns 3 next week and I just saw him trying to ride it w/o training wheels. I dont know if he got the hang of it or not. But that kid is the size of a 5yr old and very athletic.

[childsplay]

My oldest DS and my youngest DS (10 yrs. apart) both started with two wheelers with training wheels at just two years old. They were both riding without training wheels before 3.

DD started with training wheels at two, they came off at four.

And DS (middle) started at two and the traing wheels came off at 5.

I think it really depends on the child's personallity. My oldest and youngest are just plain ants-in-your-pants-crazy, while DD is pretty balanced and my middle DS is an overthinker, and a worrier, who perhaps has seen one too many wipeouts and crashes from his brothers.

[claddaghmom]

Originally Posted by eepster

With bike season coming up, I'm seeing a lot of posts about getting kids their first 2 wheelers. I was a bit surprised at the young ages some kids were getting them at, and wondered what was average.

When did you transition from a trike or balance bike? How tall was you kid? Did height influence the decision more than age? What other factors were involved in the decision? Where did your DC first ride their 2 wheeler?

DD is 16 months and doesn't quite fit on a 2 wheeler yet. I actually was just looking into this last week b/c of the warm weather here.

Growing up, I don't remember any transition from a trike to a bike. We had toddler push around toys and then we had bikes. Training wheels were minimized as best as possible b/c the kids learn to use them instead of gaining balance. But some of my siblings were less coordinate than others and used them. *shrug*

I did notice, however, that the tiny 2 wheelers don't seem to exist anymore? At least, I can't find any in my area. I remember having a tiny, tiny bike. Now the smallest is really the size for a 5-6 yo in my estimation. I think DD might fit into it around 3ish if she keeps up her height growth but still.

[childsplay]

claddaghmom- I bought a couple of the tiny bikes from yard sales and kijiji for my daycare kids. One id F.P. the other is Norco. They're 10" bikes (as opposed two the 12" that are so common) Check craigslist and kijiji, you might luck out. Also if you google 10"bikes you might get some leads.
I love the little bikes, my 18mo daycare boys ride them all over.

[LianneM]

We skipped the training wheels. We bought a regular 12" bike, and didn't put the pedals on so it was like a balance bike. It took DS a month to get the hang of it (he was 3, and he rode it inside the house first, then outside) and we put the pedals on. He took off right away.

[ann_of_loxley]

My son is 4 and still isn't. He still hasn't worked out how to pedal on anything else either! He said he doesn't want a 'big bike'. So at this rate...never! lmao