Help needed: looking to start cycling with my 4 year old

[Summerchild12]

Hi I’m in desperate need of being more active. As I have a little one I struggle to find time to go to the gym or a class. So I’m considering cycling. My child is 4 can anyone suggest what I will need to get to cycle around with my 4 year old instead of driving everywhere.

Can your 4 year old ride a bike? Do you want to cycle together on separate bikes or do you want to have a bike/set up where you move your 4yo around on yours?

How hilly is it where you live?

Can your child ride already? Near me there are a few converted disused railway tracks - check out Sustrans for more information. My kids loved a ride along one of those routes (generally flat too)

thanks for responded. She can ride with stabilisers but not on her own. I’m looking to use cycling to do school pick ups and drop offs. cycling together would be the best choice for us at the moment

How confident are you on a bike? There is a seat which attaches to his crossbar, or you can get ones which go on the back. I found them to heavy in terms of keeping the bike upright when I stopped so we opted for a trailer and later a tag along on the back. I think it depends where you will be cycling though, we only did offroad so the attachments off the back were fine. Not sure I would cycle on the roads like that.

I don’t ride a bike on a regular so this will be a new journey for us. There are not a lot of cycling lanes where we live so we would be on the road

Your child can't use stabilisers on the road. First work on getting the stabilisers gone by going to a park or similar where they can practice.

I’m looking for me and my child to ride on the same bike not separate. If anyone has suggestions on what to buy that would be great

By 4 my DD was too heavy for the seat on the back of my bike and I had a women's bike, so no crossbar for the seat that goes in front of you (plus she would probably have been too heavy for that be be stable too). At that point you are looking at a trailer or a tag along. I decided not to bother for a year or two and just concentrated on teaching her to ride her bike. By age 6 she could do 5 miles on it.

Firs step would be to remove the stabilisers and chuck her down a grassy hill. Do that five times and she will be cycling.

Yeah at age 4 any ride where your child is separate will not be fast or long enough to be considered exercise for you!

Depending on how big they are, they could possibly still fit on a seat on the back of your bike, but my small child outgrew this by about 4.5. My rack was able to take up to 25kg (including the seat) but my daughter’s legs were too long by then? (At 7 she’d still be ok on weight.)

What you probably need is a tagalong. You can either by a thing which has one wheel and a seat and handlebars, or a sort of bar which joins her actual bike to yours. Either way it sort of turns your bike in to a tandem. We had the latter, I think it was called a trail angel. The benefit of this is you can take the child’s bike off when you get somewhere suitable and let them ride around, or let them cycle til they get tired and then attach them for the rest, whereas the first option can’t be ridden alone so it’s either on or off.

Oh also you can get crossbar seats where they sit in front of you and I think they can be fitted to women’s bikes. They are extremely expensive though. I think they’re mostly targeted at the mountain biking market where dads want to get their kids in to biking by taking them down fun trails and stuff really young!

Okay great!

Next it depends on how much you want to spend.

I like bike trainers as with a heavier child (not baby) they don’t make the bike feel less stable. The cheapest option would be a bike seat but it would take some getting used to with 20kg on child on the back.

I like that the trailers have a boot that you can put all their stuff in.

With a 4 year old you can’t just get any trailer because the weight limits really vary.

I like the burley ones -

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-accessories/child-bike-trailers/burley-bee-single-child-trailer-176435.html?cm_mmc=Google+PLA--Cycling%3EBike+Accessories%3EChild+Bike+Trailers--Cycling%3EBike+Accessories%3EChild+Bike+Trailers-_-176435&srsltid=AfmBOoo4qP833iAwuygUwV8GaXkWJW5X6GNjajkDjKrspGgkCweZFlzVP4Q

is a cheaper one, weight limit 34kg

I have an old second hand cub. It had a solid base which I like, it’s sturdier! The rental model is £500 ish or the non rental one is all singing all dancing and closer to £800. weight limit is closer to 55kg (I think) so you can cart more stuff but it is heavier as a trainer, it’s bigger and has a solid base.

www.balfesbikes.co.uk/accessories/tag-alongs-trailers/burley-rental-cub-trailer-in-yellow__60119?currency=GBP&chosenAttribute=BUR943310

There are also electric bike and cargo bikes, long tail options and options where there’s a box in front but they are £5,000 ish. So it depends how much you want to spend.

Join cargo bike groups on face book.
I ride a babboe mountain curve for the school run which fits all 3 of my children in. Some people prefer long tails over cargo boxes. I see lots of good things about tern bikes. You'd need to go to a shop and see you preference.
If budget isn't big then I'd suggest bike and trailer /wee ride or normal bike seat they do some lovely comfortable ones these days.

It definitely keeps me fit and my children love it. Even my 11 year old is still happy to go in my bike.

Not cycling advice as such, but when my dd was at this stage (enjoyed riding her bike, but too young to ride on the road) I bought an adult kick scooter so I could follow her more closely on the pavements.

Ahh there is so much choice! Are there attachments that go on the front of the bike rather than the back ? Does anyone have brands I can research for this

Lots of stuff comes up second hand including cargo bikes, you can also do payments schemes for the more expensive bikes / bike to work scheme. I paid for mine over 2 years at the start of covid it's been really worthwhile for me.

How tall is your 4yo? And how tall are you? There needs to be space for them to be under your chin in a bike helmet and your arms need to be long enough to comfortably reach around them.

In the Neatherlands for a child that age people use a small bike seat that clips onto the frame. This is similar if you want a branded one.

https://www.balfesbikes.co.uk/accessories/child-seats/kids-ride-shotgun-child-seat-handlebars-combo__44721?currency=GBP&chosenAttribute=KRS-COMBO&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=14598581429&gbraid=0AAAAADKiiCJu59OxBGpv7cSIfPHxnbAAD&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6_HSBhCpARIsANvVltZz_LpK87PLm9GkGaKWDOhdEqXIP19J3a6avZdQAzAevbuTkUtIM9YaAsFOEALw_wcB

It’s one of those things than can be easier for a man if you aren’t tall.

The weight limit of this is only 22kg so probably alright for a year or so but depends on your child.

I think at 4 I would be looking to get your child cycling independently rather than putting them in a trailer. My 5 yo recently cycled the camel estuary with me (12 miles) I couldn’t imagine putting him on my bike and lugging him with me!!

Depending on her height and weight bike you could get a rear seat. The biggest ones mainly seem to have weight and height limits of 22kg/110cm so as long as your DD isn't very big for her age you might get a year or two out of a seat. I'd probably go for a tag along myself, but you need get used to riding the bike on your own confidently first. Adding a tag along effectively turns your bike into a tandem and makes manoevering trickier. For an inexperienced cyclist riding on roads then either using a tag along or towing a trailer could be quite challenging. With a seat, having an extra 20kg or so over your back wheel will take a bit of getting used to as well but at least doesn't change the bike length. But whatever you choose, get some practice on your own before you go out with your DD.
As an aside, I'd be looking to get your 4 year old riding independently asap. Ditch the stabilisers, take the pedals off and treat the bike as a balance bike then put the pedals back on once she's got balance. If you're not confident to teach her yourself, look for a club or lessons. Quite a lot of councils and voluntary groups run classes over the Summer holidays so have a look what's available in your area. Stabilisers basically teach a child to ride a tricycle and if anything, slow down learning to ride a two wheeled bike.