Not to brag, but I really love teaching kids to ride their bikes, and most of the kids love learning too!
One of the quickest ways to teach them to ride without training wheels is to first teach them to balance on two wheels.
In order to learn balance, they need to be able to reach the ground. Remember that when buying a bike. That’s super important. Don’t buy a bike too big for your child, or you’re just asking for trouble. Yes, I know it’s tempting to save a few bucks by buying a larger one they can use for a little longer, but it’s usually not worth it for their safety, and for their comfort level.
We have a tiny blue bicycle I picked up from a garbage pile a few years ago. It was actually pink at the time, and maybe even from the 70’s. Even though it clearly looked like garbage, my heart whispered that it was special. So I brought it home, and with the help of my brother and my husband, we refurbished it.
I think I’ve taught 7 kids to ride without training wheels on that bike. The first day or so we work on balancing by just using their feet on the ground, no peddles. Then once they get going pretty smooth that way, we incorporate the peddles. Works every time!
I’m sure you’ve heard of the craze with Balance Bikes, right? I personally love them, but think they are WAY over priced. Now to be honest, we did just get a Strider No-Pedal Balance Bike for our youngest daughter, because we couldn’t modify one on our own to be short enough for her. And because we got a crazy good deal on it that I just couldn’t refuse (Thank you Strider and Amazon!).
But just for fun, we made one for our son! He’s 7 and has been riding the neighbor girl’s balance bike every chance he gets for a year, so I knew he would actually use this.
We converted his old $40 Wal-Mart bike into a balance bike in about 15 minutes, using a super helpful YouTube Video. You can find used bikes EVERY WHERE. Facebook, thrift stores, garage sales, etc.
I could try to write up steps for you, but honestly this guy covered it so well that I’m just going to direct you over to him:
OMG! I keep watching different DIY videos on this is yours is the FIRST one explaining how to take the baring out.. THANK YOU!!!!
I’m so glad this was helpful! We saved all of the parts and just put them back on a couple weeks ago. Three years after we had taken them off. The kids have had so much fun with this bike, but our 5 yr old was ready for a bigger bike and this one was the right size.