Tips for getting rid of stabilisers?

[I like Skol]

unfortunately the only big flat bit of grass I can think of is quite long and will be boggy for a long time after this weather stops....... I think if he comes off on the tennis courts its going to hurt, they're tarmac ones

Tarmac is best....because it's easiest and the bike will roll better.

X2, forget teaching them on grass. It's bl**dy hard work for little legs to pedal small wheels on grass at the best of times, never mind while trying to learn how to balance. Tarmac is best because it is sooooo much easier to move at a speed where the balance becomes easier.

Both my boys learned to ride without stabilisers at the local Sainsbury's because they have a large, level christmas overflow carpark that is blocked to cars for most of the year. It's great because it is a huge open expanse with just a few lamp posts and trolley bays but there are the road markings that allow some teaching about road sense and junction etiquette once they passed the struggling to balance stage.

To help with the falling off on hard tarmac thing I always dressed my two up like eskimos when they were learning to ride without stabilisers. A jumper and thick winter coat, long trousers and (dare I say it?) a helmet to prevent any grazes to the head. It worked well for me and my boys but I have to admit, son#2 learned a lot sooner than #1 but this has been the same in most of the development milestones as the younger one is always chasing hard on the heels of his 3yr older brother!

 

[NotAnotherHill]

Ideal scenario is to start them off on a balance bike at 2yr old or even a Toddlebike 18months to get used to the balancing side of business. IN your case I would follow the advice to take the pedals off and let those little legs go...the balance is the key once they have that the pedal rotation should come quickly.

 

[Leccy]

Little update: Thanks all for your advice. I've removed the stabilisers and pedals and he's getting the hang of scooting it around, few more sessions of this and hopefully we'll pick up a bit more speed and rolling in between pushes. He's not a fearless type and the weathers not been kind so we've had very little opportunity to give it a go but fingers crossed I'll be able to come back soon and say we've mastered it!

 

[ianrauk]

Little update: Thanks all for your advice. I've removed the stabilisers and pedals and he's getting the hang of scooting it around, few more sessions of this and hopefully we'll pick up a bit more speed and rolling in between pushes. He's not a fearless type and the weathers not been kind so we've had very little opportunity to give it a go but fingers crossed I'll be able to come back soon and say we've mastered it!

Nice one. As said previous, kids pick up the balance thing pretty quick.
There's no stopping him now

 

[Andy_R]

Little update: Thanks all for your advice. I've removed the stabilisers and pedals and he's getting the hang of scooting it around, few more sessions of this and hopefully we'll pick up a bit more speed and rolling in between pushes. He's not a fearless type and the weathers not been kind so we've had very little opportunity to give it a go but fingers crossed I'll be able to come back soon and say we've mastered it!

 

[xpc316e]

I agree with the advice on stabilisers: they actually hold children back and bikes with them behave in a totally different way to without them. I have found that it helps if the parent is not present when the rider learns. The teacher needs to be someone the rider does not know, so that they don't have any idea of which buttons to push as they do with mums and dads. They are just told that today their stabilisers are coming off and they are going to ride a bike. With parents there would lots of 'I can't do it', tears, etc., but with an unknown tutor they just get on with it. They are usually zooming around inside of an hour.

 

[SpareSprocket]

My son was very reluctant to come off stabilisers so I adopted the approach suggested by someone else earlier - namely raising them very slightly so that his bike could tip from side to side so that he got the hang of balancing it on the wheels.

Although he got the hang of it he was still very reluctant to ride his bike as it required putting in some effort so we took them off completely and tried to get him to ride slightly downhill in the park but on small wheels even the smoothest of grass can seem bumpy so we moved to a tarmaced area.

He found this easier to ride on but still wasn't really motivated. Riding along behind him on my bike trying (but not too hard) to catch him up meant that the competitive element kicked in and he showed himself what he could do whilst leaving poor old slow dad behind !

Now there's no holding him back - earlier in the summer he rode 20 miles along the cycle path network in Swansea. In fact, we got back to the car having done 19 miles and he insisted on riding another mile so that he had the satisfaction of doing 20 miles.