Removing stabilisers from a child's bike.

[Tinkerbee]

My oldest son is 5 and pretty keen on his Ben 10 mountain bike. We think he could have a go without his stabilisers but what should we do? Do you take one off first so he has smth to lean on or do you go cold turkey and whip 'em both off?

He's a pretty capable little guy but I am doing that Mummy thing that Mummies do: worrying about him coming off and losing his confidence... What did you do with your little ones? Any advice welcome!

 

[jim55]

take both off AND the pedals and let him scoot around or be pushed by you he will learn to balance without the pedals on ,balancing seems harder for kids and turning the pedals is just another thing to think about for kids /learning ,once they are confident and can stop and balance quite well put the pedals back on but DO NOT just take one stabiliser off (devils work they things )as the learner learns to ride with them fitted (unsafely imo)and then u take them off and they have to relearn the whole thing again and the riding with stabilisers has just been a waste of time ,go with balance first and then pedals
in no time itl b

 

[Red Light]

take both off AND the pedals and let him scoot around

+1 Stabilisers are best discarded completely and let them learn by scooting without pedals.

 

[Boris Bajic]

I'm with the two posts above. Don't forget to lower the saddle enough to make scooting easy.

Our first used stabilisers, because I was doing what had been done to teach me. It worked, but it was not very smooth or happy.

Our younger two did the scooty thing. A cycling friend had put me on that path. It seemed barmy, but I did it.

It was a revelation. Stabilisers off, pedals off, saddle dropped. Bingo!

 

[atbman]

We teach 30-40 kids a year to ride using the pedals&stabilisers off method. Never failed yet. Ages 3 upwards. One of most recent (4) turns up the next week and rides over seesaw first time. Also

Also use 3 club balance bikes.

 

[Tinkerbee]

Stabilsers and pedals off - drop the saddle. I would NEVER have thought of doing that. Fantastic idea! Thank you so much you lot. I feel a lot better about him doing that too - it sounds very sensible!

I will ask hubby to doctor his bike for him tonight and let him try it after school tomorrow. I'll let you know how he gets on. x

 

[xpc316e]

I have taught a number of children to ride at courses run at leisure centres. I simply unbolt their stabilisers and tell them that today they will learn to ride a bike. Parents later tell me that the children often prevent them from removing them, but when someone else says that they are coming off the children just go along with it. I am of the opinion that stabilisers actually hinder children in learning to ride, as a bike with them responds in a totally different way to normal.

 

[compo]

I recounted about when I took the stabilisers off my daughter's bike here: http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/i-felt-guilty-at-first.96964/#post-1752009

 

[defy-one]

I took them off my sons bike, held the back of the saddle and within a minute he was off. Kids are fearless, it's us parents that hold them back.

 

[Paul_L]

not much more to add to all the above. balancing certainly worked for my 2. My 6yo has been confident on a bike with pedals since he was 4 as he learnt to ride a balance bike at 3. He's never been anywhere near a stabiliser bike. My 2.5 yo is having her first balance bike session today!

Only thing to add is do it in a grassed park to begin with on a gentle slope. Once they get the hang of it with a bit of help from gravity, it seems to make it easier on the flat.

All a change since i were a lad. Learned to ride on a stabiliser bike and didn't ride "normally" till i was 7.