What age did your child ride a bike without stabilisers etc

[TropicofCapricorn]

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.

3.5 She never showed any interest in any kind of ride on toys - had various scuttle bugs etc, and wouldn't even sit on the balance bike. So I wasn't expecting it to happen till quite a bit older, but she started asking for a bike and I wasn't really sure whether to go for a bigger balance bike (she's pretty tall) or what, and someone recommended these 'cycle buddies' lessons locally so we tried them out. She was using the balance bike (well normal bike with pedals taken off) confidently after one session, pedalling with a bit of a wobble after two, and riding independently after 3 - couldn't recommend them enough as would have had no idea really where to start otherwise (I learned very late, and remained pretty bad at it even once I'd 'learned' but then I am one of the least physically able people I know!)

They do catch up. And sometimes the early starters get overtaken!

My DS similar to your DD. He's not really interested in biking. I do think it's useful but not quite as important as swimming for example.

I think with things like the writing, they just want some reassurance.

Comparison is the thief of joy though I suppose.

I 'm just nosey LOL, both kids did it different ages because they're different kids.

Somewhere between 3 an 4 years. He spent alot of time on a bike the previous year thanks to lockdown!

My DD is 3 and car barely ride a bike with stabilisers - prefers a scooteer

Each child is so different

I coach at a kids' cycling club. Obviously it's not a group that is representative of the population as a whole as, by definition our members are children who are interested in riding bikes, or at least who come from families who are. I'd say that most of ours learn to pedal independently between 3 and 4.
The increasing popularity of balance bikes and better availability of decent, lighter weight kids' bikes have made a huge difference. When my now adult children joined the club, 5 was the minimum age to join and most were still pretty wobbly at that age. Now we take from 2 and lots of the 5 year olds are in our third ability group and are really competent riders. We do get some later starters - I recently taught an 8 year old to ride - but I'd say our typical member joins at between 2 and 3 on a balance bike, is pedalling independently before they're 4 and is properly confident by 5.

I would recommend the balance bike approach even with older children - just take the pedals off their pedal bike if they're too big for a balance bike. Assuming no additional needs of course, stabilisers are best avoided as they basically teach you to ride a tricycle not a bike, which is very different.

Possibly a silly question… But how do I take pedals off a pedal bike?

I’ve been very stuck teaching my 6yo to ride. She really wants to learn however is quite fearful, will pedal along while I hold the seat but the second I let go, puts her feet down. This sounds like it might be worth me giving it a go

My husband just used a spanner I believe.

I have high hopes for DS's 4th birthday, as he claims he is ready... Although I agree with PPs who say comparison isn't helpful from a parent's perspective, from a DC's perspective he really wants to copy his older friends and he wants the same colour bike, with pedals, a bell and no stabilisers. I am all for it as I don't want to waste money on a bigger balance bike, but if he struggles (and lets me) I will take the pedals off.

I watched a video by the Islabikes lady who explained that stabilisers are a bit like a tricycle as a PP says above, the difference being that on a bike you lean into a bend, but on a trike or with stabilisers, you lean the other way (or try to stay upright) otherwise the outside wheel comes off the ground and you tip. So stabilisers are less cheating, more adding in an extra counterproductive step that you then have to un-learn. If your DC will be too nervous to get on the bike at all without them, then that's a necessary step. But otherwise balance bike to pedals is a more logical transition.

With my DD's stabilisers we actually installed them a bit too high/too short so when she was balanced they didn't touch the floor at all but they would touch the floor and stop the bike falling if she leant over too far. But yeah, she had to relearn how to steer once we took them off but it didn't take long for her (literally one push down a slight grassy hill and she was off) but with DS it took ages before he figured it out and toppled over so many times. Despite having a balance bike before he just couldn't translate that to a pedal bike so had to add stabilisers so we could get around.

Interesting what a pp said about core strength though, DS was put in an OT group in nursery to work on his core strength, balance, and cross body movement because he struggled with them all so perhaps that's why he found it so much harder than DD.

Mine were both 4 (going on 5), whereas I was 7.

My eldest was 6 but I didn’t know about balance bikes which are fab. My youngest was not even three and did it himself, no running up and down with him. all kids are different

Same here. It's the one thing I miss about lockdown. The roads were lovely and quiet and we had some lovely family cycles. They've now outgrown the bikes and it's too unsafe for them to ride a bike locally unless we drive somewhere to use them.

Ditto. That’s the other problem with cycling and children - hurray it’s summer again let’s go on a bike ride…. Oops you’ve outgrown your bike AGAIN

There's this company in my country that does bike leasing, pay monthly and when your child outgrows the bike send it back and they send the next size. But when I thought about it for longer than 2 minutes I realised it still costs more than just buying bikes so long as you're not buying really expensive ones.

3 & 4 here. First one loved his balance bike and so found it really easy. Second preferred his scooter so needed a little bit more help, but I wanted them to learn before starting school as it means they can cycle there every day.

There's one her win the UK too.
https://bikeclub.com

Even John Lewis do it

https://www.johnlewis.com/content/subscription-kids-bikes

That's not too bad a price, here it's over 20 euros a month

DD was 5 as that's when she outgrew her little bike and we bought her a new one without stabilisers. She got it really quickly.

Our neighbours little ones then asked for their stabilisers to be taken off. Their 5 year old took too it really quickly and their 4 year old wanted to copy the big girls. He took a little longer but got there.

13! In the end I took her to a field gave her knee pads, elbow pads and a helmet and told her we were not leaving until she could ride the bike

On the flip said.. oldest DD was 3