Removing training wheels..

[bostondrunk]

Hey all, I made the stupid mistake of letting my 4 year old start on a bike with training wheels. Looking back, I realize I probably should have forced him to start with one of the balance bikes without pedals. Needless to say, after a year on training wheels, he doesn't know how to balance the bike, and is very reluctant to let me remove the wheels.
Any tips on how I should now proceed? Should I tell a white lie, hide his normal bike (say it broke and is getting repaired....) and force him to use a balance bike for a while??
The training wheels on his bike are adjustable, but it doesn't really matter, as, as soon as i even raise them up a bit, he gets really tippy and won't ride....
:confused:

[ahsere]

My three year old has always being a little daredevil, so hen his 5yo friend at the park showed up with his "two wheels" bike, he immediately started bugging me to remove his. I wasn´t convinced that he could learn yet, so it took a little tantrum to persuade me to let him try. I don´t remember much of when I learned myself, I was around four and a half, more than a year older than he is, but I had this hazy memory of it being difficult and involving many falls. Not so. After a couple of hours he was ready to go, and in the last two weeks he has spent more time riding than the fellas at the Giro.

A couple of days ago, we showed up at the park with the bike and my 5 yo niece saw him and immediately asked me to go and get her bike and remove the training wheels. Long story short, within a few hours she was ready to proudly show my brother that she´s able to ride with her cousin.

In summary, peer envy works better than adult persuasion, in my experience. Good luck.

[pdmtong]

simple solution: just lower the seat so he can flat foot his current bike if needed.

now he has two riding options on his existing bike - use ti like a faux balance bike or pedal it until he tips, in which case he can then easily put a foot down.

BTW, startig him on trainign wheels and leaving them on was not stupid. my daughter had her training wheels on until about 5. she learned balance from razor scooters or similar at school in parallel to riding her bike.

I pulled the training wheels off one day and she simply roide away form me down th driveway. made a few wobbly but successful left and right circles, and in I'd say 15 minutes was looking like she had ridden her whole life.

you sron will get there. how he gets there may bre different from others, but believe me, once he is riding you have other things to teach him, like watching for cars, riding in a line, not stoppinfg suddenly, etc. I bet by end of summer he's zooming .... if not much much sooner

[rePhil]

As a grandpa, I say go with the white lie of saying his bike is in the shop. Pop for a Strider.
I taught two grandkids to ride without pedals and the seat lowered, coasting down their driveway on regular bikes.
The latest one learned the quickest at the youngest age. I don't know if it was the Strider or coincidence, but he loved the balance bike. We bought him the Strider last Christmas. A few weeks ago he started riding a BMX bike without training wheels. He is a month past his third birthday.

[corky]

just make sure that you let them roll down a slight incline so they dont have to pedal, theyll balance themselves and gain huge confidence

[JAGI410]

No sense in lying. Raise the training wheels up a 1/4" so the bike leans to one side. Before you know it, he'll be riding on 2 wheels with both of the training wheels in the air. Then raise the training wheels another 1/4". Reinforce the fact that he doesn't need them anymore because he's a "big boy".

[ultraman6970]

Just take the wheels out, tell him that is time for him to ride like a big boy. If he goes with mom well... talk to her before so she is serious about it as well.

The other option is to tell him that he will fall off the bike while turning using the training wheels. Sure he had that accident already so you can use that excuse to lure him to accept the fact that with the wheels he is destined to have accidents. Pretty much like 90% of that is true so I dont see you are lying.

Good luck on this one because sometimes the only way to get them off something is just be hard on the kids.

Good luck.

[false_Aest]

just break the wheels.

tell him he either needs to man up and get a job or man up and learn to ride.







there is a good reason I use birth control religiously.

[martinrjensen]

I like it. "man up or get a job".just break the wheels.

tell him he either needs to man up and get a job or man up and learn to ride.







there is a good reason I use birth control religiously.

[Hank Scorpio]

Remove the training wheels and pedals. Lower seat and you have your strider for free. Let him scoot around for a day or two. Once he is able to glide a good distance between putting his feet down you can put the pedals back on and raise the seat.

[Louis]

Tell him that once he learns how to ride without the training wheels he can have a BIG bike.

http://www.carpelux.net/sites/www.carpelux.net/files/imagecache/Medium/images/Little%20Big%20Bike.jpg