Back before we had kids, my wife and I used to do a lot of biking. Hopefully we'll be back in bike mode soon, but in the meantime, we wanted to pass our love of human powered two-wheelers to our boys.
Your experience will vary, but here's our story.
Our boys had different experiences learning to ride because their temperments are very different, and because they had access to different bikes.
Our older son started out at age 3 on a 12" Trek bike with the pedals, crank, and training wheels removed. He pushed with his feet, and became an excellent coaster within the space of two or three months. It was fun to watch him slalom down a hill in complete control with only his feet for brakes.
Just before he turned four, he moved up a 16" bmx style bike with pedals. His balance was great and he sure didn't need training wheels. The biggest challenges were helping him get started and helping him learn to use the coaster brakes.
Four months later, he moved up to a 5-speed 20" mountain bike with grip shift and hand brakes. That was a nearly seamless transition.
The younger one started out at 18 months on hand-me-down four wheeled scooter (available at Fred Meyer for $50). He developed a great sense of balance quickly and loved to zoom down hills saying, "whee! whee!". He was riding to the park by the time he was 20 months.
By the time he turned two, he was good for a two mile ride and he was ready to move up to the balance bike that our friend's little girl had outgrown. He immediately started riding it downhill
at breakneck speeds laughing all the way while his parents ran to try to catch up. He only crashed once that I remember.
By the time he was 2-1/2 he could ride down three steps (they weren't steep) and he was having a blast riding the whoop de doos at the BMX track.
He is still 3 months shy of his third birthday and just starting to pedal the little 12" Trek.
We've seen kids who are ahead of ours out at Phil's Trail, so we know our kids aren't prodigies, but here's my advice for how to get little ones on bikes early:
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| Younger brother tries to crash into older brother. |
Your experience will vary, but here's our story.
Our boys had different experiences learning to ride because their temperments are very different, and because they had access to different bikes.
 |
| at 20 months, our youngest was a capable rider of this Radio Flyer scooter. |
Our older son started out at age 3 on a 12" Trek bike with the pedals, crank, and training wheels removed. He pushed with his feet, and became an excellent coaster within the space of two or three months. It was fun to watch him slalom down a hill in complete control with only his feet for brakes.
Just before he turned four, he moved up a 16" bmx style bike with pedals. His balance was great and he sure didn't need training wheels. The biggest challenges were helping him get started and helping him learn to use the coaster brakes.
Four months later, he moved up to a 5-speed 20" mountain bike with grip shift and hand brakes. That was a nearly seamless transition.
 |
| Pedaling and balancing |
By the time he turned two, he was good for a two mile ride and he was ready to move up to the balance bike that our friend's little girl had outgrown. He immediately started riding it downhill
at breakneck speeds laughing all the way while his parents ran to try to catch up. He only crashed once that I remember.
 |
| This guy started out being daring. |
He is still 3 months shy of his third birthday and just starting to pedal the little 12" Trek.
We've seen kids who are ahead of ours out at Phil's Trail, so we know our kids aren't prodigies, but here's my advice for how to get little ones on bikes early:
- Buy a balance bike. There are lots of different sizes and styles, but I'd recommend pneumatic tires and a size such that your budding bikeaholic can reach the ground on both sides.
- Never use training wheels.
- Offer the opportunity to ride as often as possible (we go through stretches where we ride nearly every day)
- Back off if he or she isn't ready yet. It's kind of like potty training. It's a lot of work, the kid is going to learn at their own pace, and it's very rewarding.
Please feel free to leave questions or comments below.
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