Took a whole 10 minutes to teach my 4 yo to ride without stabilisers...
Lowered saddle so both his feet could touch the ground and took off the pedals so they
wouldn't obstruct.
Took him to the local park where there is a reasonably gentle slope and told him to go down the hill
with his feet slightly raised and if he lost his balance to put his feet down. After about 6
attempts he was able to correct his balance without putting down his feet. Put the pedals back on
and got him to do the same, except with one foot on a pedal and the other to push off. Little tike
starts pedalling down the hill like a demon with daddy chasing after him!
After a few more of those daddy needed a rest, running down hill after speedy and carrying his
bike back up!
The harder part was getting him to replicate it on a flat footpath, he couldn't quite judge when
his push off speed was sufficent, but we got there. He can now ride his bike to the park and around
most of it, except for the hilly bits, thank god, as it's alot easier to keep up with him if I'm on
a bike too!
I read a similar article recently (think it may have been the US Bicycling magazine) where they
stated that if the child can hop on one leg or balance and walk along a kerb then they should be
able to ride a bike without stabilisers.
Good luck!
"Dransfield" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My son's nearly 3.5 and wants a bike (with a bell, apparently) . We're thinking of getting a bike
> with stabilisers as he hasn't really had much peddling experience, but i was wondering - what's
> the earliest that they can cycle without stabilisers?
>
> Dransfield