Laugh if you want: I never learned how to ride a bike...

Renting a bike might be a good idea. Start with platform pedals(the pedals most people in the world ride on). I think you are a bit too old for training wheels. Ride near soft grass so if you fall, and you probably will, you don't get badly hurt. (Even those who have been riding for years fall at times.) A helmet is a must for safety reasons.

When you go to the Local Bike Store be specific about what you are about. If you get blown off go to another LBS. A good bike shop is invaluable to a cyclist.

It is simply a matter of centering your weight and pedaling. Pedal too slowly and you are likely to fall especialy as you are a beginner. Go with someone who is patient and knows how to ride well. The only way to learn is by doing.

When you are starting out you might want a nice starter kind of bike that is easy to ride and gives you good value. Take a look at Trek's FX series the 7.2, 7.3, and the 7.5. Their 1 series 1.2 might be an option as well depending how you feel about the handlebars. trekbikes.comenOpen ↗

Specialized also makes some nice bikes for you start out with. The Crosstrail Sport might be a good choice for you. Also check out their Sirrus. Check out their Globe and Globe City as well. The Sequoia is alao a nice option!
specialized.comhome.jspOpen ↗

You can also look at Giant, Fuji, Cannondale, and a host of other manufacturers. Don't let anyone shame you into buying something you don't want. Remember Cycling is a great sport. Don't let any snobs turn you off to it. Remember that most of the people in the world who ride ride platforms and street clothes. Welcome to what I consider the most wonderful sport in the world! Best of luck to you and welcome!😉 🙂

If you are learning to ride a bike, I would suggest renting a hybrid bike. After you have learnt to ride, you can buy a road bike or whatever bike you are interested in...

That is interesting. I wonder what your learning curve will be in comparison to the typical kid who learns at age eight or whatever.

Pendejo said:

That is interesting. I wonder what your learning curve will be in comparison to the typical kid who learns at age eight or whatever.

AGE 8! I started at age 4, my son was 3 months shy of his third birthday when we took the training wheels off, now at age 11 he has taken over my Giant Warp DS1. My daughter was 4 when she shed the training wheels and now at 9 has taken my wifes GT Timberline. Both are doing rides up to 30 miles at a time.

Hey, better late than never learn. I know the LBSs around here wouldn't have a problem teaching you. I didn't start skiing till I was 24 and the next year I was hitting black diamonds....its never too late if you concentrate. My wife had ridden very little when she was a kid living on a farm. I got her into it about a year after we started dating, now she is a biking enthusiest and loves it. We take our bikes everywhere, from the beaches of Florida to the bike trails of Vancouver to the mountains outside of Steamboat Co. One of our favorites though is Cape Cod. Even the kids did 101 miles that week.

If you like riding, don't skimp on the bike. Wally world and Target bikes will not make you want to ride. My wifes first bike was a cheapy because she wasn't sure if she would like it, she started then riding my Giant and couldn't believe the difference, now she insists on good bikes for all of us. Even the kids first bikes were Specialized, then on to Treks.

blueoakleyz said:

So I'm 25 and never learned... now I really want to get a bike and just well, go bicycling... seems like it'd give a great sense of freedom that even a car can't give me.

Any advice on what I should do at this point? BUY a bike? Rent and learn? What kind of bike should I buy for my first bike?

Do you have any friends that ride?… If so, I would bet that many of them have an extra bike that they would be more than happy to try to teach you to ride on.

You may want to try riding a step through, or woman’s bike at first, it may save you several painful private parts top bar events:eek: , and keep you from getting tangled up in the top bar if you crash.

Keep the seat set just a little too low starting out, that way you can get your feet down if you feel unstable. And, don’t worry about going fast, or points for style… that will all come to you as your skill level improves.

Best of luck to you and above all else…just have fun.

Bionicycle said:

Do you have any friends that ride?… If so, I would bet that many of them have an extra bike that they would be more than happy to try to teach you to ride on.

You may want to try riding a step through, or woman’s bike at first, it may save you several painful private parts top bar events:eek: , and keep you from getting tangled up in the top bar if you crash.

Keep the seat set just a little too low starting out, that way you can get your feet down if you feel unstable. And, don’t worry about going fast, or points for style… that will all come to you as your skill level improves.

Best of luck to you and above all else…just have fun.

IMHO, you need someone to teach you, and it is difficult to learn on your own. The first few rides will probably require another person to hold on to the bike until some basic sense of balance is reached. I still remember my Dad teaching me how to ride a bike when I was a kid - and the first time, the handlebars were shaking one way and the other, and the body motions to the wavering path of the bike were not something to enforce a sense of balance. Having someone to hold on to the pannier or seat so that you don't have to worry so much about crashing helps until you can sort of ride without crashing.

The exception is probably if you learn riding when you are very young. For instance, I see very young kids (toddlers basically) have their own "bike" without any pedals. They push with their feet to ride. This will help the kids get a sense of balance by the time they are old enough to get a bike with pedals.

set the seat so your feet can easily reach the ground.

when you start to lean over, steer into it gently. Or to put it another way, turn in the direction you are leaning over.

Whatever you do, don't buy a cruiser bike with coaster brakes because then you can't learn with your feet outstretched. you will have to put your foot on the pedals to stop.

garage sales are a good place to pick up a cheap bike; just get one with hand brakes.

Bionicycle said:

, it may save you several painful private parts top bar events:eek: , and keep you from getting tangled up in the top bar if you crash.

.

When I was young, my parents wouldnt buy me a BMX so I was trail riding and jumping a 10 speed that was too big for me to begin with, I actually broke one of the shift levers off with my nuts during one crash, didn't get up for a while after that one. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle? its like that but no throttle, clutch, or foot brake, just pedal instead of twisting the throttle.

Brings back memories of my learning to ride a "two-wheeler." I was somewhere around seven or eight, and a neighbor boy had one. One day my dad and I were watching him and he let me try his bike. My dad got in back of the bike and while walking, trotting, held it up. After a few passes like that I guess my dad could feel that he really wasn't holding me up any more and he let go, unbeknownst to me. A few seconds later, while tooling merrily along, I glanced behind me and saw that dad was nowhere to be seen. So I got scared and promptly crashed! As they say, what you don't know can't hurt you.

Whatever you do, just make sure the bike fits you reasonably well. If it doesn't, you'll either hurt yourself or decide biking is so uncomfortable it's not for you.

And if I can ride a bike, anyone can. I bet it will take you less than 10 minutes to get going.

blueoakleyz said:

So I'm 25 and never learned... now I really want to get a bike and just well, go bicycling... seems like it'd give a great sense of freedom that even a car can't give me.

Any advice on what I should do at this point? BUY a bike? Rent and learn? What kind of bike should I buy for my first bike?

[font=Arial]My wife has never learned how to ride either. She wants to ride badly. I borrowed a tadem and put her on the back just to give her a feel of what it felt like to ride on two wheels. Big mistake. We fell right in front of an on coming car.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman][font=Arial]To this day I still don't know what happened. All I know is I was falling for no apparent reason. I'm curious to know how you are going to approach this. Please provide your learning experience to this forum so hopefully I will be able to adapt your learning approach to teach my wife. Thanks[/font][/font]

Pendejo said:

Brings back memories of my learning to ride a "two-wheeler." I was somewhere around seven or eight, and a neighbor boy had one. One day my dad and I were watching him and he let me try his bike. My dad got in back of the bike and while walking, trotting, held it up. After a few passes like that I guess my dad could feel that he really wasn't holding me up any more and he let go, unbeknownst to me. A few seconds later, while tooling merrily along, I glanced behind me and saw that dad was nowhere to be seen. So I got scared and promptly crashed! As they say, what you don't know can't hurt you.

When I was about seven or eight I started learning with training wheels… after having them on about six weeks, I had a dream one night that I could ride without the training wheels… so I pleaded with my father to take them off. Much to his surprise, and to mine as well; I took off like I had been riding for years… went straight down the sidewalk and crashed into a large Maple tree…:eek: But, there was no turning back from then on… no training wheels.

Borrow a bike or buy a cheap one from a department store, size is not that important at this stage. Remove both pedals, right pedal comes undone the right way and left pedal unscrews the wrong way. Now lower the seat until you can sit on the seat and keep both feet flat on the ground. Find some flat ground or very gentle sloping ground with lots of open space. Get on the bike and start "walking" the bike along getting used to the brakes as you "walk" along. Don't try too many turns at this stage. Gradually increase the time your feet are off the ground, you should be travelling along at a fast jog but speed is not important. Practise slowing with your brakes, front then back and both. I'll bet you'll be putting the pedals back on by the end of the day. If not, keep at it, it'll come. Welcome outside and enjoy the freedom.

Les🙂

garage sale GT said:

set the seat so your feet can easily reach the ground.

when you start to lean over, steer into it gently. Or to put it another way, turn in the direction you are leaning over.

Whatever you do, don't buy a cruiser bike with coaster brakes because then you can't learn with your feet outstretched. you will have to put your foot on the pedals to stop.

garage sales are a good place to pick up a cheap bike; just get one with hand brakes.

Gee, I was going to say just the opposite -- I recommend that you start with a sub-$100 "beach cruiser" with a coaster brake ... a hand brake (as a supplement) would't hurt, but ...

With a coaster brake:

[center]pedal forward to go forward, reverse direction of the pedals to stop[/center]

EVEN IF you are going to use the hobby-horse method to learn how to sit on the bike & to acclimate yourself with the bike not falling over as you go forward.

STOPPING is as important as moving forward -- with a coaster brake, put your OTHER foot down as you push the coaster brake down & toward the rear of the bike with whichever foot you choose to stop with.

There IS more, but (as suggested) finding a friend who is willing to teach you (who knows HOW to teach you -- not everyone who knows how to ride will be able to teach you) will greatly expedite your learning process ...

BTW. Get a helmet. Wear gloves (any kind, initially), long pants (roll the right pant leg UP if there isn't a chain guard!), etc. No sandals.

Wow It will be really interesting for you I guess.

Experiencing all those things, like fear and excitement and the first ride as an adult. I wish I could go back and live through it again. I mean the time I learned for real and without fear, not the stressed out suburban cul-de-sac next door neighbour shouting at you thing.

Also you can ask a friend to ride alongside you to help you maintain the equilibrium at a slow pace. Then gradually increasing the speed as you get better used to keeping straight on the bike. You can bike around a park green areas, nice and easy as long is permitted, avoid rough rocky roads,uphill and downhill track segments. Don't forget to protect your integrity with quality safety gear.

You'll be shocked how easy it is to learn how to ride a bike. I must have been around 7 when I learned how to ride a bike. I just got on and figured out the whole balance thing pretty quickly. As a fully grown adult, you'll probably learn it in even less time. I'm sure you have a friend or neighbor who has a spare bike they can lend you. Just stay off the street while you are learning.

TheDarkLord said:

IMHO, you need someone to teach you, and it is difficult to learn on your own. The first few rides will probably require another person to hold on to the bike until some basic sense of balance is reached. I still remember my Dad teaching me how to ride a bike when I was a kid - and the first time, the handlebars were shaking one way and the other, and the body motions to the wavering path of the bike were not something to enforce a sense of balance. Having someone to hold on to the pannier or seat so that you don't have to worry so much about crashing helps until you can sort of ride without crashing.

The exception is probably if you learn riding when you are very young. For instance, I see very young kids (toddlers basically) have their own "bike" without any pedals. They push with their feet to ride. This will help the kids get a sense of balance by the time they are old enough to get a bike with pedals.

Unless you are one of those people who have zero coordination or have no idea how a bike works, you could easily learn to ride a bike on your own. I can't remember what age I learned how to ride a bike. I do know it was before elementary school. I was able to learn by myself. The crashing part is where it would be ideal to have someone spotting you, but in terms of learning, it can be done on your own.

Lots of good advice here so I'll just share our experience. My SO learned how to ride a bike when he was older than you, OP, and now you can get him off that thing (I caught up with the cycling bug years later, but I learned to ride when I was a kid). He first started with those bikes that resemble chopper motorbikes, which were very popular here around that time and he liked the style. Turned out for the best since he was so close the ground it was easy for him to learn even though he has balance issues. He then moved on to MTBs for all around use.

So, it IS possible and you can do with a cheap department store bicycle at first and, once you know how to ride and what you expect from a bike, get a better one more to your preference. Good luck!