When did your kid learn to ride a bike?

[Anonymous]

My youngest just turned 5 and is making the switch from the balance bike to pedal bike right now. My oldest wasn't interested in learning until he was 6, but tried it off and on and is now a strong rider at 8. We also didn't use training wheels at all.

[Anonymous]

DS went from balance bike to pedal at 3.5.
DD is still working on perfecting balance bike at 4 but I can see her transitioning to a bike within the next year.

[Anonymous]

My son with a global developmental delay and poor coordination/spatial awareness learned to balance at 5 on a little bike without pedals (Strider), and from that the transition to a normal bike was seamless. No training wheels.

But you know what? At 18, he still needs a ton of driving practice, due to said spatial awareness!

[Anonymous]

Balance bike to regular bike at 5. Took one ride up the street with an adult gently helping and she was off. I think it is best to go from balance straight to a lightweight no training wheel bike. We did Woom.

We tried to put her on a conventional brand and it was just so heavy she could not and did not want to try. It’s a lot scarier and harder when the bike outweighs you.

40+ years ago when my dad threw me on a bike he says he did not start us out on training wheels, explaining that they don’t help with understanding balance and are actually more of a hindrance. He may or may not he correct, but it kind of makes sense.

These days there are so many light weight brands out there -and they really seem to be key to ease biking for the Littles.

Also, kids and body awareness and ability is personal. Mine happen to be great with understanding the mechanics of her body plus biking motion whereas climbing and swimming not so much - we struggle with these. So just cause one kid starts at 5 doesn’t mean that’s the magic age for yours.

[Anonymous]

Both my son and daughter learned at 3. We started them at 2 on big wheels to learn to pedal and then also introduced them to balance bikes. It was an easy process. As an aside, scooters might confuse the process because steering a scooter (the kind where they lean to steer) is so different than a bike.

[Anonymous]

DCPS has a "learn to ride a bike" unit in 2nd grade, and I've had 2 kids go through it. About half of the students already know how to ride a bike by the time the unit starts.

[Anonymous]

Age at 4- started with balance bike at age 3 - this was during the pandemic so was his main activity. no training wheels, but he did use a tricycle at 4 so he could learn how to pedal.

[Anonymous]

6. He had a balance bike, then a bike with training wheels for a few weeks. Took the training wheels off and it took him like 10 minutes. I think the balance bike helped a lot.

[Anonymous]

I work at an elementary school and 2nd grade PE has a bike unit. The vast majority of NT 2nd graders (over 90%) knew how to ride. Some rode really well, some still a little shaky.

[Anonymous]

I think it was like 7 which felt late. We struggled to teach her for years but she didn’t learn until we took her to a WABA class and she learned in an hour there! Now we frequently do longer trips - we did 14 miles last week. She’s 9 now.

[Anonymous]

3-4 for all 3 kids. They learned on a balance bike so the transition to a regular bike was fairly easy

[Anonymous]

6

[Anonymous]

We got DS bike at 5 no training wheels. He probably could have started much sooner he could balance/ride 2 wheel scooter at 2yr (almost 3).

[Anonymous]

Not sure how old your kid is op, but if he/she is a toddler, I highly recommend getting a balance bike now. My daughter and her neighbor friend were able to skip training wheels and ride a bike at age 3.

[Anonymous]

13. Proudest day ever!