Not sure what's best for daughter getting cycling :(

[Black Sheep]

As Black Lamb is one of the older ones in her school year we decided to take her out of nursery and put her in the school's summer club (hoping a couple of other new starters would be there and saving £20 a day)

We quickly found that other children (none starting school with her, all older) were taking bikes and scooters with them to use during the day on the playground and she requested she take her 'balance bike'

She's fast and happy to let it role down a hill and has adequate use of the brake. She has asked if I can put the pedals back on and I've agreed with the warning that they're not coming off again and the plan to find a bit of park with a slight slope, stick her at the top of it and get her to ''balance bike" down it with her feet on the pedals and then encourage her to pedal down it and continue doing so when at the bottom figuring that she'll learn to push off and get going once she's got the keeping going part sorted...

 

[Black Sheep]

Pedals are on (I even test rode the bike through the house )

Black Ewe noticed that the chain cover wasn't holding together and falling apart "I can fix it, I have the technology" was my reply getting the battery drill and zip ties to replace the broken clips (£16 eBay bike)

We've found a small grass bank that varies in steepness that leads onto a football pitch in the local park so all systems go!

 

[Black Sheep]

Well, we've chucked her down the banking a few times and she's done well, getting feet on the pedals and managing a few pedal revolutions but she's not keeping going on the flat, but it's a start, and I keep telling her that's what we're after, making a start and we've done that by getting one foot on, then a bit later, both feet and then starting to pedal.

We did have a try being pushed and peddling, it did go pear shaped into a heap with me being told it was my fault making her wobble and making her foot come off...

So we went back to the hill.

 

[Tommy2]

My daughter never really got on with her balance bike, much preferring the scooter with 2 wheels at the front and I avoided taking her out on her bike with stabilisers as it wasn’t helping her learn to balance and always getting stuck off the ground or tipping it over.
But the past few weeks we’ve gone out on her bike with out stabilisers maybe only once a week and initially no pedals after watching

View: https://youtu.be/p6SNCvIN4EI
this video, she grasped balancing quite quickly and was gradually gliding further and further until we put the pedals back in and again she is getting better and better, I’m taking it really slowly as I don’t want to put her off and she does struggle to get going unless it’s flat or slightly downwards but the powerful first pedal stroke will come in time.
Like has been said, they will pick it up when they are ready.

My issue now is how to get the length of time in the saddle up without her bum hurting, I guess that will take time and saddle position tweaking.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

My daughter never had a proper balance bike, just cheap bikes that I removed the cranks from. She was still hell bent on wanting stabilisers once she got given (not by us) a BSO. Every time we went to Halfords it ended up in heartbreak with me refusing to buy any bike with a Disney sticker on it. In the end I managed to get her a proper bike from Evans. The FIRST time she tried the new bike she discovered that she could ride a bike after all!

I've just written about this here https://veloballs.com/evans-cycles-review/

 

[ianrauk]

My daughter never had a proper balance bike, just cheap bikes that I removed the cranks from. She was still hell bent on wanting stabilisers once she got given (not by us) a BSO. Every time we went to Halfords it ended up in heartbreak with me refusing to buy any bike with a Disney sticker on it. In the end I managed to get her a proper bike from Evans. The FIRST time she tried the new bike she discovered that she could ride a bike after all!

I've just written about this here https://veloballs.com/evans-cycles-review/

*Off topic*
Blimey Andrew, welcome back. I only yesterday was wondering when we had last seen you. Spooky.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I know some don't like them, but I see no issues with stabilisers to get them used to rotating the pedals, it seems frowned upon these days

 

[Andrew_Culture]

*Off topic*
Blimey Andrew, welcome back. I only yesterday was wondering when we had last seen you. Spooky.

Hello there! I've been busy borking myself on skateboards but am itching to get back to some nice safe road cycling

 

[ianrauk]

Hello there! I've been busy borking myself on skateboards but am itching to get back to some nice safe road cycling

Good to have you back.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Good to have you back.

Thank you . That's lovely.

 

[icowden]

We started with stablilisers but they didn't really seem to help. A few one hour sessions in the park on a tarmac surface with a very slight incline did the trick. Firstly going along from point a to point b with me holding the back. Then short runs of her pedalling with out me holding, Then practices "starting off" and getting to me (and me catching the bike until she learned to use the brake!).

The handles you can get now are a fantastic idea, and make it a lot less back breaking.

 

[tamiya]

I know some don't like them, but I see no issues with stabilisers to get them used to rotating the pedals, it seems frowned upon these days

try training wheels + No Helmet... hah!

 

[Black Sheep]

We've been rolling down the ramp of the local church into their car park, and also me giving her a push across the car park as the grass slope in the park wasn't long enough for her to get her feet on and start pedaling and it was hard work to pedal on the grass, we've also not found time until now to do anything much this year so having to cover some of where we were last year.

the 12" Raleigh Molly that I bought cheap to use as a large balance bike (with the cranks removed etc) is simply too small for a 5 year old who wears 7-8yrs clothes (need to stop standing her in compost) so, while at Decathlon for bits and pieces for Black Ewe's latest interest (triathlons) we had a play with the bikes, looking at a 16" wheeled bike and laughing that she fitted on it quite happily, we spotted the "stand your child here, this is the wheel size we recommend" board where she's exactly between a 16in and a 20in wheel.

Tried her on a 20in and it seems a bit 'you'll grow into it' so been on eBay and got a Raleigh purple thingy on it's way for £50 from J E James as shop spoiled stock that'll do for a year or two.

So, hopefully soon we'll be riding.

 

[icowden]

The other thing that really helped my youngest (once she was stable when riding) was teaching her to stand on the left leg, get the right hand pedal at 45 degrees with your right foot on, then stand on it and sit down. Starting off was proving to be the hardest part.

 

[Black Sheep]

Well, just before lockdown we had a lesson with someone who helped get us started,

Since then we've been finding a quiet bit of tarmac off a road to have a try on and while we need a push to get us going, we're getting there!

wobbles scare us and so we stop, the irony being that we actually solve the wobble out by deciding to stop!