3 year old cycling - how does it work?

[SillySausage81]

My daughter turns 3 soon and we were thinking of getting her a bike with stabilisers as she rides one at her grandma’s house and loves it.

But we don’t have a garden so she would be riding it either at the park, on the pavement alongside the road, or along the cycle path (that’s along an old railway line so completely separate from any roads but nonetheless busy with cyclists and pedestrians).

Now, I’m feeling quite anxious as I just envisage her cycling into people, not stopping when she gets to a road, speeding off and refusing to stop etc... but how likely is that? How much “road sense” as it were can you expect a 3 year old to have..? Is it possible to teach a 3 year old to cycle safely or should we leave it for a while longer..?

DD was 3.5 when she got her first pedal bike. We went down the route of a lightweight bike without stabilisers as I'd read that this was the best way to get them riding happily (a lot of the kids bikes that come with stabilisers are very heavy which is off-putting to the child).

For learning to ride we went to a big car park in the summer's evenings after the business there was closed so that the car park was empty and safe. She learned to ride there.

They start off quite slow at first with a lot of start-stop so even unfit me managed to keep up with her by walking fast/running.

At 5 yo her road sense is decent but I still find myself barking at her to look out for people from time to time.

Get a balance bike, practice on a gentle grass slope until she she can find her balance, then get a lightweight pedal bike. When she has cracked the balance bike she will just need to work the pedals and shouldn’t need stabilisers. Other thing is to not get a bike that’s too heavy.

DD had a balance bike for a year and was riding a pedal bike independently at age 3 after 30 mins of us buying it.

Get a balance bike. Mine were on striders from 18 months. Dd was riding a two wheeler frog bike from 3 years (and she was tiny). We didn’t bother with stabilisers and all mine were riding by 3.6 latest. It’s really important you get a light bike, they hold their resale well. I paid £200 for a 20 inch Isla cnoc bike second hand and I think I’d get similar if I sold it on.

Stabilisers don’t teach you to balance whereas a balance bike prepares you for a 2 wheeler.

Balance bike all the way! The trickiest part of cycling is the balancing and stabilisers don't allow development of this skill at all.

As for where to practice, all good suggestions above

DS had a balance bike from 2 and got a pedal bike for his third birthday the he was riding a few days later. Practiced initially in the park and then when he could go in a straight line we had him on the pavement. Highly recommend the balance bike approach!

In terms of road sense we were very very strict. He had to stop every time we said stop, even if there wasn't an obvious reason for it (i.e. not only when we approached a road). No second chances, if he didn't it was off the bike. I recommend a light bike! He was pretty good at listening quickly to be fair. On the balance bike we could run along side him, on his pedal bike he's quick so he knows he has to stop frequently and wait for us to catch up.

It's a good point re the lightweight bikes holding their value.

DD's Woom 2 lightweight bike was c. £300 new. I then sold it for £220 and bought a second hand Woom 3 for £220. I expect when we upgrade to a Woom 4 that we might have to buy it new as there are so few available second hand but knowing how they hold their value I'm not concerned really and the £200 we get for the Woom 3 will pay for half of it.

Much better than spending £100 on a heavy bike that isn't as appealing to ride and that you're unlikely to recoup more than £20 on when you sell it.

Get a balance bike and practice at the park. She'll start slow and you can tell her to be careful of people and dogs (especially little dogs). I wouldn't allow pavement riding as I'd be worried about them losing control and ending up in traffic. Kids who start on balance bikes typically can ride a lightweight pedal bike (without ever having used stabilisers) between 3.5 and 4.5 (some earlier).

I'm a cycling coach and I run a group for preschoolers. I would definitely recommend a balance bike * *-they are much better than using stabilisers as they treach the fundamental skills needed to ride a 2 wheel bike from the outset whereas a bike with stabilisers basically teaches you to ride a trike, which is totally different, and then they almost have to start learning again when the stabilisers come off. Balance bike direct to pedal bike never using stabilisers is the best way to learn in my experience.
Open spaces like parks when they are relatively quiet are the best places to start really. A club would be good if you can find one but unfortunately we are quite unusual in catering for this age group so that might not be possible.
Our club activities are based on the Ready Set Ride programme but you don't have yo be in a club or even a British Cycling member to access the resources - anyone can sign up and access everything and it's got a lot of helpful fun games you can play with your child to help them learn.
https://readysetride.co.uk/ (You can see some of it without creating account but need to sign up to get it all - its free though.)