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Original poster

What age did your child ride a bike without stabilisers etc

96 replies

TropicofCapricorn · 25/04/2025 07:06

Just curious really.

DS was just turned 7, really struggled.
DD was 3 and a half. But she'd had a balance bike since 2, so "cheated". I never knew about balance bikes for DS and wonder if he would have cracked it earlier.

OP posts:
Original poster
TropicofCapricorn · 25/04/2025 07:36

TheCurious0range · 25/04/2025 07:27

DS is 6, has had a balance bike from 3 , still can't ride with pedals, we take him regularly to a local athletics track where they have riding sessions for DC to practice somewhere flat , I think we're going to book him some lessons this summer.

I have a small suspicion he might be dyspraxic. I'm almost certain I am, I can't ride a bike I can't tie laces in the normal way, I trip over a lot, my hand eye coordination isn't great. DS has to work hard at handwriting, and despite going to gymnastics since before he was 4 he can't even do a cartwheel. DH rides everywhere including to work and DS has been on the back of his bike in a child seat for a long time

Same DD writing is awful, she's suspected hyper-mobile and dyspraxic.shes very clumsy
But can balance really well 😂

OP posts:
Original poster
TropicofCapricorn · 25/04/2025 07:37

123456abcdef · 25/04/2025 07:25

3 and 4, balance bike and then really good light first bike. Never had stabilisers

Ah yeah, we use the Isla bike brand they're amazing 🤩

OP posts:
Natsku · 25/04/2025 07:38

DD was 4 and DS was 6 or almost 6. Funnily enough DS was the one to have a balance bike and DD didn't but she did have a two wheeled scooter so I think that helped her with her balance. But she has always been quicker to learn physical things, DS is much slower and far more careful in that area (at 4 DD was scaling walls and jumping off everything like a miniature stuntman - DS was carefully considering how he might climb up a ladder 😂)

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Cycling
Darkambergingerlily · 25/04/2025 07:40

3 years 3 months. Straight from a balance bike.

justmeandmyselfandi · 25/04/2025 07:40

3.5 riding a two wheeler pedal bike, they practice with training wheels for a few months and got it instantly when we took the stablisers off. Before that they had a balance bike since about age 2 which they were very competent on and I'm assuming why they got it so quick. The two wheeler was much heavier and the pedals and brakes were a new skill to learn.

TheNightingalesStarling · 25/04/2025 07:41

DD1, 4. Loved the balance bike, but outgrew her second one by 3yo!

DD2... did not take to the balance bike. Learnt to ride at 5/6.

My experience is therefore is that natural riders take to balance bikes and pedal bikes, and kids that struggle will still struggle despite the balance bike.

Icanttakethisanymore · 25/04/2025 07:41

3yrs 4 months, straight from a balance bike which he had since 2.

GivingUpFinally · 25/04/2025 07:44

We didn't use stabilisers with dc. Due to covidbwas kaye starting so skipped that stage and went straight to a normal bike. To ages to be delivered as we got one to size etc. Dc was nearly 6. Confident after a couple weeks of daily biking.

Dc did have a balance bike but could only ever go backwards, so not sure that counts.

Whataninterestinglookingpotato · 25/04/2025 07:50

Dd1 was 3, I think dd2 was still 2, though must have been nearly 3.

Neither had balance bikes. They were only just becoming a thing and I couldn’t justify the expense at the time (they were very pricy for what they were back then).

ColourlessGreenIdeasSleepFuriously · 25/04/2025 07:56

2 and 7 months 💅

sofasoda · 25/04/2025 07:58

@TropicofCapricorn we concentrated on reading!

2chocolateoranges · 25/04/2025 08:00

Ds was 4, dd was 3, only because we were out on our bikes about 6miles from home and her stabiliser broke so she had no choice but to learn how to go it.

no balance bikes here, weren’t a thing when our children were young.

Jollyjoy · 25/04/2025 08:00

First was not interested in a balance bike and was about 5.5 I think. Second loved her balance bike and was much earlier, 3/4 I think.

jasflowers · 25/04/2025 08:01

SushiDisco · 25/04/2025 07:15

10 months riding a bike and 6 months swimming, he did his first triathlon at 2 years old.

Ironman or did you start him off on a 70.3 ?

NorthFaceofthelaundrypile · 25/04/2025 08:02

Had a balance bike for a couple of years, and then got an islabike for his 4th birthday and was cycling more or less straight away.
They’ve stopped making them now, but still hold their value really well.

homeedmam · 25/04/2025 08:02

I don't really remember but probably between 4 and 6.

doodleschnoodle · 25/04/2025 08:04

DD1 has just learned at 6, she wasn’t really interested before then (still not massively interested but we set it as a goal and reward thing for her as we want to get out and about on our bikes as a family).

DH took the pedals off her bike and got her to use it like a balance bike for one evening (she never got the hang of her balance bike as a toddler, just walked with it under her!), then when she was gliding for decent lengths of time he put the pedals back on and off she went! No stabilisers.

She struggles with coordination so I was amazed how quickly she learned once we found the right technique!

TillyTrifle · 25/04/2025 08:05

Snoodley · 25/04/2025 07:31

4.5

She never quite "got" the balance bike (never went really fast etc). When we bought the pedal bike it took a few stops and starts over a number of months, plus a proper lesson, to build her confidence, but now she's doing really well on it. We did consider using stabilisers but I think the evidence shows that they're not super helpful.

It really depends on the child. Stabilisers are very much out of fashion and some
people can be really sneery about them. But one of my DC couldn’t get on with the approach we used for the other child (balance bike then bigger bike with pedals off at first, much more the done thing now) and in contrast, stabilisers worked great for their learning. They were off pedalling confidently without stabilisers by the time they turned five so I fail to see what was so bad about using them!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa · 25/04/2025 08:06

No stabilizers here. Moved to bikes with peddles around 4 yrs old. My oldest has very poor proproceptive and hypermobility, I’m sure it was using a balance bike first which helped.

Ohdearwhatnow4 · 25/04/2025 08:07

DD 4
DD 3.5
DS 3
DS nearly 8 but has sen
No balance bikes as weren't a thing

aintnospringchicken · 25/04/2025 08:11

Balance bikes weren’t around when my DC were young.
Both learned to ride a bike without stabilisers when they were around 4.5 yrs old

MintTwirl · 25/04/2025 08:14

6 or 7 for my younger two.
My eldest is 14 and although we tried when he was younger he never got it and wasn’t interested in learning tbh so we left it alone.

ChateauMargaux · 25/04/2025 08:15

6... third child! He had scooters and other wheeled things but spent a lot of time on the back of my bike and on a tag a long... he had chicken pox aged 7 and in that week, he took advantage of one to one attention, politely requested that I help him learn and we also painted his bedroom together... we have lovely memories of chickenpox!

ohtowinthelottery · 25/04/2025 08:21

He was 5. Balance bikes weren't really a thing when DS was that age. He learnt with stabilisers.

Pickingmyselfup · 25/04/2025 08:26

Maybe 4 for both of them? #1 was a bit quicker than #2 although they both were fine on a balance bike.

They both took to bike riding pretty easily, swimming on the other hand...