teaching kids

[flydhest]

I have a good friend with an 8 year old who needs to learn how to ride a bike (the child, not the friend). This friend has requested my help. Any of you parents or similar out there with tips? My supposition is that training wheels are counter productive. I base this solely on the fact that I never used them as a child and no other useful data. I'm open to any and all enlightenment.

[pale scotsman]

Eight seems like kind of a late start, and you're right training wheels at that age may be counter productive. What I did with my son is we took him to a walking/jogging path and pushed him along, running by his side holding onto the bike and offering words of encouragement.

I'd let go for a few seconds to make sure he had his balance and then after maybe 10 minutes of that I let him go. Make sure the bike is not too big so he feels safer. Also, have him wear a helmet. The jogging path was perfect in that I told my son if he felt he was going down to veer off into the grass and I'd catch him. I'll bet it took maybe 30 minutes and off he was.

Have fun and good luck! There's nothing like a kid conquering the "impossible." :banana: :) :banana:

[gasman]

Fly- Here is a method we got from a video to teach our kids, we long ago gave away the video but I will try to describe the system. Lots of our friends have had success with the system.
First you stand behind the child and hold onto the bike seat. The child then puts their feet on the pedals and you keep them from falling over. The system works by having the child react by turning the front wheel in the direction they start to lean if they are off balance. You start by leaning the bike slightly to the right or left and have the child turn the wheel in that direction. One then progressively leans the bike to the right or left with quicker and more random timing. You never let them fall over. Pretty soon ( within 5-10 minutes) you can make quick moves of the bike to the right or left, not big moves just 3-5 inch moves of the seat. When they turn their wheels in the direction of the lean every time they are ready to set off. Get them in a fairly large flat area like big driveway, empty parking lot, etc. The child can then start pedaling and if they turn the front wheel in the direction of their lean they will not fall over, unless they are stopped.
It works just great. My kids struggled to learn until they tried this system. I wish I could remember the name of the guy who figured it out. It's deceptively simple and clever.
Let me know if you have questions and if I was not clear enough.

[William]

That's actually an interesting method. I'll try that with my daughter. It's 50/50 in our house. I used training wheels, my wife didn't. We started our son with trainers but soon got rid of them and basically did what the Scotsman did. We live on 5 acres and they just don't work to well on grass or gravel so i would take him to a near by culdesac.

I tried to find some sort of trainer for off road and found these. I didn't get them but they looked interesting.

http://www.fatwheels.com/


William

[slowgoing]

train him or her on grass. Road rash is no fun, especially when you're just learning. That's what we did with my son.

[ClayM]

Try this: remove both pedals and then lower the saddle so that the child can touch the ground with both feet, not flat-footed but with both forefeet at the same time. Then, he/she can kick themselves along and will, inevitably, lift both feet at the same time. They learn to balance and to guide the bike while balancing. They're not so fearful because they can reach the ground with their feet at any time. It works!

ClayM

[rwl]

It's all about proper fit. OK, maybe not.

I've been teaching my 5 year olds, and re-learning how to teach. We're using training wheels, and just getting off them now. I let the kids decide whether they wanted them or not. Ditto swimming. The kids tell me what they want to practice. (and, to brag a bit now, one of them had ridden 5 miles with me on training wheels. Persistent doesn't begin to describe her. I wanted to turn back. She wanted to stop to refill water bottles, and that was that. She also hikes with me. Before we start, she justs asks me, "do you have enough power bars?". Yippee, 5 years more and i've got a riding partner!)

The most important thing with kids is to pay attention to their attention. When they tire, get distracted, or get frustrated, take a break. Play something else with them. It might be 10 minutes at a time (avoid debate on the "A Treatise on Money" during the breaks).

A couple of hunches. Grass is too slow, and too hard to steer.
Helmets, long shirts, long pants, gloves if you've got them (and it isn't too hot).
Engage another kid about the same age, who rides a bit more. Nothing like peer encouragment.

Have fun,
Rick

[Birddog]

I've not tried this, but LBS swears by it. Use just ONE training wheel.

Birddog

[gasman]

Tried all the others, traing wheels, no pedals, one training wheel, etc the method I described works great. My kids are very uncoordinated and were able to ride quickly.

[rePhil]

No pedals, feet able to touch. After the childs skill increases find a small, short grassy hill and let them coast down as you stay beside. And like RWL says, be mindful of their attention span.

[bikinchris]

Actually, once the child can balance riding in a straight line without the pedals, have them practice steering a turn and straighten up again a few times. Then when you put the pedals on again they can easily compensate for the wobble caused by pedaling. I teach about twenty students a year using this method with no crashes.

Chris

[chef_jmr]

Try this: remove both pedals and then lower the saddle so that the child can touch the ground with both feet, not flat-footed but with both forefeet at the same time. Then, he/she can kick themselves along and will, inevitably, lift both feet at the same time. They learn to balance and to guide the bike while balancing. They're not so fearful because they can reach the ground with their feet at any time. It works!

ClayM

My father did that to me, but here on the steep hills of San Francisco. Unfortunately, he didn't explain how to stop, and I am still coasting to this day; now in my early thirties… :confused:

Jeff

[poussez]

Here's a useful tip I was given by Herman Seidl (great Tour de France photographer, and good friend of mine).
You should not hold the kid by the shoulders while running along behind. Hold the lower part of the saddle instead. It gives more stability, and the kid feels on his own from the very beginning. In 10-15 minutes teaching is successfully :bike: over.