What bike did your nervous child learn to ride on?

[N3WN8ME]

Sorry if this is not in the right area.

Dd6 is super nervous of learning to ride a bike and is afraid of falling off. She's tallish (123cms) with long legs and very skinny and a teensy bit uncoordinated. So we are looking at 18 or 20 inches but the smaller and lighter the better imo.

She never took to the scooter or balance bike. But has lately started to ride with the stabilisers on the too small, clunky little bike that our friends gave us (their son didnt take to it either.)

Ironically, her dad DP is a bike guy (and I was fairly handy too pre kids) which isnt helping (because he can't imagine someone actually being afraid of a bicycle.)

I think I've got this and I want to get started. She wants to learn with me. I just need to find the right bike for her.

The deal with her is that she gets to ride with stabilisers initially. And we'll put a seat for her doll on the back plus basket on the front and streamers on the handle bars.... she's more into style than sport.

Pls pls tell me which bikes worked for you. Feel free to send a link or picture if you can be bothered? I do need some help with picking a bike she can manage with and get excited about.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!

Your DD sounds a lot like my son! He always felt v unstable because he was scared of falling off, therefore cycled really slowly, and inevitably wobbled and fell off! He's fallen in love with cycling after we got him a second hand Frog bike. Light frame but thick sturdy wheels and really nice colours. There's lots of FB buy and sell groups for Frog bikes or you can also get deals off Gumtree.

Thanks! I wondered if someone might suggest a frog as they seem to be v well thought of.
Can I ask - did your son use stabilisers initially with his frog?

Hey, I can’t help with the bike but my nervous kids learnt best on a slight downward slope. Obviously not a massive one! The pull of gravity just helped them get started and to glide away.

The best thing to do is get a lightweight kids bike (e.g. islabike/frog bike), take off the pedals and use it as balance bike for a couple of weeks. Once shes confident building up a bit of speed, or going round corners and using the breaks then add the pedals back on and she'll whoosh away happily

If you use bike club you can pay monthly and hire frog bikes. They come well recommended but are super expensive