how to teach 4 yr old to ride without stabilizers?

[lyssie29]

Any tips? She keeps asking but i dont really know the best and fastest approach. she goes everywhere on her bike at the minute with stabilizers on.

Have you tried a balance bike? My DD never had stabilisers but managed the transition from balance bike really well.

I took ds to a local field that had a slope. . And pushed him, told him to keep pedalling and he did!! Took daily trips for a week but he did it at 3.6. .
Older ds was 2.2!! I was trying to show ds 3.4 who wasn't interested and he took off on the bike!!

Balance bike, or take the pedals off a normal bike and get them to use it like a balance bike. Once they can balance for a good long stretch, adding the pedals in is easy.

Balance bike x 100.
Had one for dd since she was around 3 1/2.
Got on a bike at 5 and pedalled off into the sunset. No fuss, no falls, totally amazing.

Take the pedals off and practise on a small incline

Hold the saddle and run.

Balance bike first . Then normal bike

Ds2 has great balance on his balance bike but he's crap at pedals and terrified without stabilisers.

Not all children are good at bikes and there's no quick way of getting them happily pedalling.

Take pedals off and lower the seat so like others have said, the normal bike becomes a balance bike.

Get them used to controlling brakes - so they can stop, but not 'slam on'

Then once they can balance and stop, pedals back on..

Just dress them on protective clothing and stock up on band aids then head to the park for an hour. They’ll get it!

Long cotton scarf round the chest and under the arms. You can kind of suspend them as they start off and then gradually loosen as they gain confidence. Amazing trick I learned from a friend

DD (just 5) did it in about 15 minutes this weekend just gone. Honestly, it was so quick!

DD was terrified about getting on a proper bike without stabilisers. She could ride a balance bike. We only let her used the stabiliser until she could pedal. Then it was just a lot of back breaking effort! We used a flat stretch of cycle path because DD was very cautious. we also hold only her body under her arm, not the bike. The bike is low enough so she could touch the ground with both feet. Then she was told to glide and then try to pedal.

Mine went from balance to two wheels, so not quite the same experience, but the best tip I had was to hold him at first to help balance, rather than the saddle, because that way they don't get accustomed to the bike itself holding upright. I also found starting on grass, and ideally very very gently downhill, was quite ideal - the grass is slower and obviously softer, the downhill gets them going a bit which seems to help. Saddle may need to be lower without stabilisers? Although perhaps adjusting that will be so disorienting that it's counter-productive. They need to be able to put their feet down more sturdily than an adult cyclist though.

Balance Bike. After having had it from an early age, DS went straight from BB to bike without stabilisers in minutes. Get one with a brake though. He didn't realise how much faster a pedal bike could go, and putting your feet down to brake a fast pedal bike is not a good idea.

Whether by accident or design, the stabilizers on my bike were set so that only one at once could touch the ground, and if I was careful I could ride without either touching.... obviously an enjoyable challenge rather than an ordeal as I can remember it happily ~50 years later.

Yes, one way is to gradually raise the stabilizers. I've always done the back breaking hold the saddle method. We practice for 10 min every day after school.