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When I was a kid I had training wheels. It was terrible, it took me forever to learn how to ride because I was focused on turning and pedaling. My kids on the

When I was a kid I had training wheels. It was terrible, it took me forever to learn how to ride because I was focused on turning and pedaling. My kids on their balance bikes just learned how to propel themselves forward by pushing off then balancing as long as they could. Learning the easy part of propel yourself forward with pedals was easy then.

eru 5y ago
Learning how to ride a unicycle is somewhat similar, though the opposite: Here hard part is the back-front balancing, because it is intimately mixed up with pedaling for propulsion. If you already know how to ride a bi-cycle, then the left-right balancing is so easy, it's essentially free.
jacobolus 5y ago
Let me add one more bit of advice here: Make sure your kid’s first pedal bike is relatively small and light weight. My 4.5-year-old was a balance-bike pro after 2 years’ practice, so we thought he’d be fine on a pedal bike. We got him one that was on the large side (but nominally fit him) hoping he would grow into it and keep riding it for a few years. But it was awkward and heavy and he didn’t want to try enough to really get going. After 6 months of no progress, the first pedal bike was stolen, and we bought him a much smaller lighter one. He was riding happily within the afternoon.
deleted 5y ago
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frosted-flakes 5y ago
The balance bikes with no pedals are really good for kids. They get it without any instruction. It's amazing seeing 2-year-olds zoom around effortlessly, and stop by just banging into the wall. But the act of pedalling seems to be more difficult for some. I tried teaching my 2-year-old niece how to pedal on her older sister's bike. She simply could not comprehend it, even though she's excellent on the balance bike. Even after watching others do it and slowly explaining it to her, it was like she was incapable of moving her legs that way. She'll pick it up in time, but she always wants to ride the "big kid" bikes and the pedals get in the way.
- mostertoaster 5y ago
  Maybe you have like a combination of both. Start with balance bike, once they got that put them on a small bike with training wheels (force them to not focus on balance but pedaling), once they’re pedaling well, put them back on the balance bike for like a week and then take the training wheels off and try that. 3 of my kids got pedaling no problem, one got balancing super quick, but has a hard time pedaling still.

eru 5y ago

Learning how to ride a unicycle is somewhat similar, though the opposite: Here hard part is the back-front balancing, because it is intimately mixed up with pedaling for propulsion. If you already know how to ride a bi-cycle, then the left-right balancing is so easy, it's essentially free.

jacobolus 5y ago

Let me add one more bit of advice here: Make sure your kid’s first pedal bike is relatively small and light weight. My 4.5-year-old was a balance-bike pro after 2 years’ practice, so we thought he’d be fine on a pedal bike. We got him one that was on the large side (but nominally fit him) hoping he would grow into it and keep riding it for a few years. But it was awkward and heavy and he didn’t want to try enough to really get going. After 6 months of no progress, the first pedal bike was stolen, and we bought him a much smaller lighter one. He was riding happily within the afternoon.

deleted 5y ago

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frosted-flakes 5y ago

The balance bikes with no pedals are really good for kids. They get it without any instruction. It's amazing seeing 2-year-olds zoom around effortlessly, and stop by just banging into the wall. But the act of pedalling seems to be more difficult for some. I tried teaching my 2-year-old niece how to pedal on her older sister's bike. She simply could not comprehend it, even though she's excellent on the balance bike. Even after watching others do it and slowly explaining it to her, it was like she was incapable of moving her legs that way. She'll pick it up in time, but she always wants to ride the "big kid" bikes and the pedals get in the way.

mostertoaster 5y ago
Maybe you have like a combination of both. Start with balance bike, once they got that put them on a small bike with training wheels (force them to not focus on balance but pedaling), once they’re pedaling well, put them back on the balance bike for like a week and then take the training wheels off and try that. 3 of my kids got pedaling no problem, one got balancing super quick, but has a hard time pedaling still.