We had one child start with a balance bike and one child that started with training wheels (her preference).

Both worked fine; both became good riders at young-ish ages.

Started balance bike at 2.5 and regular bike with pedals before 4th birthday. It was a little hard to find a small enough bike!

Glad we never did training wheels. They teach bad habits and lead a child to feel insecure on their bike. The balance bike is amazing for teaching them the hard part of biking which is balance.

DS1: 6
DS2: 4

DS2 rode a balance bike all over our neighborhood for a good year before he ditched it for the real bike one day. It was an easy transition.

DS1 never cared for the balance bike. He tried pedaling a bike down a very gentle hill in our backyard and learned it in one afternoon.

We never did training wheels. DH wanted to start DS on a balance bike and he was right. Balance bike at 3, regular bike at 5.

Once we saw DS go downhill on balance bike no problem with both feet up in the air, we knew he was ready.

We are still working on it at 5. We did the balance bike and that went great, but then she outgrew it and we got a new bike which is relatively lightweight but still heavier than the balance bike, and the weight stressed her out. We wound up putting the training wheels on because it was the only way to convince her to use the new bike. So we're going that route which I know will take longer, but I think it's important kids feel comfortable an not rushed with this one, because I want her to enjoy riding the bike and not view it as a chore.

My kid still isn’t good at it (can’t start on her own/needs help to get started) at age 6. I just signed her up for REI’s learn to ride a bike class in August. We will work on it til then and if she still isn’t proficient she’ll take that class. She’s very into gymnastics and she’s pretty coordinated and good at balancing in general. But she has a lot of fear of falling, isn’t confident, gets embarrassed easily.

4.5 during COVID, so lots of time to practice with older neighbors. She’s 7.5 now and most of her friends can, but there are a few still learning. I agree that training wheels slow things down. Once DD could balance for 10 seconds on the balance bike, we started practicing with pedals. Did end up putting training wheels on for a week or so because she just couldn’t figure out pedaling. But that probably wouldn’t be necessary for an older, more coordinated kid.

Age 5, kindergarten. My kids are not particularly athletic or coordinated. Take off the pedals so they can practice getting the balance aspect but can still drop their feet down to avoid falling. Different method from how I learned but this worked well for us.

My kid was able to ride a bike at 3 without training wheels. However, he still can't swim proficiently in spite of years of private lessons. Kids are all different.

Both of my kids learned at 4. One took a few months before he could start the bike himself (versus us pushing him off), so 4.25 for him.

Dh had them learn on a field that was very flat with thin cut grass and it just took a few tries.

I actually don't think my kids are very athletic either or super coordinated. Probably half of the other kids in pre-K can ride bikes too.

Without training wheels 4 and 5 years old for older girls.

Youngest is 3 and rising with training wheels right now. Will probably try without at 4.

We did learn to ride class with NPS at Jones Point park in Alexandria and it was amazing.

DS1 - 5
DS2 - 3

We didn't use training wheels for either one.

My sister has 4 kids who are older than mine, and she advised me that training wheels slow the process down.

Both kids learned the pedaling skill on their tricycles. And the balance bike taught them the balance skill.

My sister taught my older one to ride by pushing him down a gently sloped grassy hill over and over.

We never would have taught the younger one so early, but it was the beginning of covid and all the bigger kids in the neighborhoods were off on their bikes, and he wanted to be able to keep up.

Around 7 is a good age. My kids hated training wheels though.

a few months at 7. I am glad they are still doing this and not playing Mindcraft and Roblox all day

Title says it all, basically when did your child (successfully) learn to ride a bike? How long did it take to let go of the training wheels?