learning to ride a bike-balance bikes for older children?

[used2bthin]

Wondering if this is worth looking into and whether you have any recommendations? Have heard good things from parents of NT children about them and DD, five and a half is refusing to try bikes without stabilizers. She is usually physically confident but doe s have cordination probs i think.

I'd also love to know if anyone knows of bikes with 20 inch + wheels that can have stabilisers fitted that are a reasonable cost. (wears 10-11 clothes). He has a blooming cycling week at the end of the summer term that at the moment is gonna cost me around £300 to provide him with a bike for.

I know the rear axles have to have 2 inch clearance to attach stabilisers to. He only needs stabilisers not a full on disability model iykwim. Think of the style you'd pop a prechooler on but bigger .

Decathlon sports does the size below for approx £150 (avail online) but DS keeps growing on me!

I'd be so grateful for suggestions, & can't help thinking I'm missing a trick as this must be quite a common query for lots of Mums.

thanks will check that out, dd is 5.5 but wears 8-9 clothes so I think her current bike with stabilizers is 16inches (and too small really). Have googled balance bikes and can only find them for up to 6 year olds so far. Hopefully someone here will know.

Take the pedals off the bike you already have, so she can scoot it and encourage her to lift her feet off the ground when she gets going.

Oh can I do that? I will get DH to have a look, hadnt even thought of it! So pedals and stabilizers off?

We just got a bike for DS1 who is a tall 7yo they were universal stabilisers from amazon that fit on his 20" bike but that was the last setting. I dont know if that helps. Also had the same conversation with another mum who paid a specialist to teach her ASD son which worked If you are around herts/london?

One of the pupils at my DS's school had some guys come in from the local council who brought all sorts of bikes into school to find the most suitable to help him to learn to ride.

I had no idea this could be done and we have spent hours trying to teach our DS (12) to ride his bike, he can do it now but is very wobbly still and just does not enjoy the experience.

Might be worth asking your school SENCO if they can get this help for your child?

I am not near Herts or London sadly although may be useful for Bochead.

I feel I have given the SENCO lots of extra work recently (well not me but applying for extra hours, arguing the amount of SALT in put etc ) but am technically still a county council employee(on mat leave)so will see what I can find out through work, that sounds great.

Will def try taking the pedals off her bike though, why did I never think of that! Although now worrying that she will get really distraught like she did when she caught DH trying to take off her stabilizers, she just couldnt understand that he wasn't breaking it!

used2bthin, could you acquire a 'new' bike and take the pedals off before giving it to DD? That's what we did for DS, his new bike was a tenner second hand at the local bike shop, we asked the shopkeeper to take the pedals off before we arrived, he then helped DS have a go up and down (the very quiet) back street. DS was riding a bike within hours.

If anyone is interested there is now a likeabike that takes up to 11 stone.

Also, for anyone near enough to the South Coast there is we cycle too at Brooklands in Lancing but there seem to be similar schemes around the country so might be worth a quick google.

Some options here

Just realised I never responded about the tag along type bikes, I wondered about that but DH thinks his bike is too big for them, I want him to go and get it checked out. I am too pregnant now to ride one and would make sense to have dd on back of his now anyway so will keep hassling him to take his bike in. likeabike looks good, so expensive though! Just applied to family fund for garden equipment/ holiday otherwise would ask them. I had a holiday to Worthing once with DD, would def try out the new play area if we are in the area again.