Bicycle Training Wheels

[ View All Other Bicycle Training Topics ]

Bicycle training wheels Online

Bicycle training wheels are very much a part of life for most children who are learning how to ride a bicycle. A rite of passage, an acquired skill, a must-know for all children – this is what bicycle riding is all about.

How a parent would teach his child how to ride a bike would depend on how he was taught bike riding during his childhood. For instance, I was taught to just pedal fast enough to gain balance and momentum while my dad was by my side, and holding the bicycle seat. Apart from some minor cuts and bruises, I learned one thing that would be hard for me to unlearn, and that is riding a bicycle.

Introduction to Bicycle Training Wheels

Training wheels are tools to help children master the skill of riding a bicycle.

These are two smaller wheels, which hang slightly higher off the ground, connected to either side of the rear wheel. The reason why they do not entirely touch the ground is that they are only there as a support mechanism.

If the child loses balance then the training wheels will prevent the child from falling over. During the learning process, the child will usually be comfortable enough and will have developed the skill to ride a bicycle without training wheels ever touching the ground.

Most parents buy these accessories without thinking too much – it was second nature to fit them to my bike when I was a boy – but you should be aware that there are pros and cons for their use, not to mention alternative methods for teaching a child to ride their bike unassisted.

Pros and Cons of Bicycle Training Wheels

Pros

The fastest way to impart confidence
Can be retro-fitted to virtually any bicycle
Affordable
Will prevent a lot of spills during the bicycle training period

Cons

Your child can become dependent upon them
They will slow down the training process
Some maneuvers are more dangerous with training wheels
They can be difficult to install on some bikes

Tip: Give your child a deadline for taking off the training wheels.

Training wheels make the process of learning to cycle a gentler and safer one for children, but there exists a danger that your child will become overly dependent on the wheels and never really learn how to ride a bicycle without them.

To avoid this, give your child a fixed deadline for taking off the training wheels. This will give him an objective to work towards and let him know that the wheels will have to come off eventually.

Purchase and Installation of Training Wheels

Buying training wheels is easy enough. There are a lot of places from which purchase is possible. The local bicycle shop will surely have tons of types and sizes to choose from. If you are too tired to scout out the neighborhood then you can also purchase online where it would be easier.

The installation of training wheels is a breeze as the only tools that you would need are the following:

Wrench
Bicycle Training Wheels

The steps that you would need to take are:

Figure out where your rear wheel is located. Got it? Good!
Scrutinize your rear wheel and look for the nut on the axle that connects the wheel to the bike frame.
Take your wrench and loosen and remove the nut on one side of the wheel.
Slide on one of the training wheels.
Replace the bolt.
Do the same thing on the other side of the wheel.
Place the bike upright. The training wheels will have to be a few centimeters above the ground so that the bicycle will tilt to either side once upright.
Tighten all the nuts.
Stand up and give yourself a pat on the back.

Learning How To Ride a Bicycle With Training Wheels

Ensure the bicycle training wheels are well-fitted. They should be a well-regarded brand, such as Bell EZ Training Wheels, extremely well-secured to the frame (get a professional at your local bike store to do this if you're unsure), and when installed, the bike should have a small amount of side-to-side tipping angle. Too much, and your child will fall just as badly, if not worse than they would without training wheels.

Once you can see your child is confident with the wheels at their lowest setting, raise them a notch. This will make the bike a little more unbalanced, and your child will have to develop a sense of balance to compensate.

Eventually you'll see that the stabilizers are no longer needed and you can remove them.

Risks of Using Training Wheels

Because the rear wheel is not vertical when one of the training wheels is taking the balance, the effectiveness of the rear brake is reduced. Turning while traveling fast is also much more dangerous, as the child is over-reliant upon the training wheels to catch them and they will have neither the experience of falling to warn them what's coming nor the natural balance to correct themselves.

You'll also need a very safe, traffic-free environment, in which the child can ride around to practice, otherwise, you will spend just as much time with them while they "spin their wheels", not learning how to balance, as you would with one of the more parent-proactive bicycle training methods.

For a child learning how to ride a bicycle, as in all forms of education, if the parent takes a more active role, the child will learn faster and get more out of the experience. This means that buying your child bicycle training wheels should not be an automatic decision; consider the other options before you buy:

Alternatives to Training Wheels

There are three main alternative methods to fitting stabilizers to a child's bicycle:

You can trust the child to learn without assistance. If your child is a confident, sporty type, and with good coordination, then it may not be necessary to help them with balance aids. Ensure that the child learns to ride with plenty of protection - knee and elbow pads in addition to the best bicycle helmet - and find a flat, grassy place to train them to make the falls as painless as possible.

Good to Know...

Always set a time for your child to ride the training wheels.

Training wheels are the easiest way to train children for riding regular bikes but, parents need to take great care of their safety and make sure that they are not left alone.

The next least invasive method is for the parent to accompany the child as they learn, running alongside the bike to correct their balance. This implies a certain competence in both the child AND the parent! It's also a good way to bond with your child: the learning experience takes place together.

The third alternative to training wheels is to attach a walking stick to the back of his bike and run along, holding the stick to keep his balance correct. These days, enterprising companies have introduced safer, higher-tech versions of the same principle, such as the Dimension Bike Training Handle For Kids

Unlearn the Skill

People would usually say that once you have learned how to ride a bicycle, you will never forget it. This is something that I could dismiss because older people would either tend to not have the same balance and coordination that they had in their youth or they would just forget how to go about riding a bicycle altogether.

Read more about adult bicycle training wheels.

Buying Bicycle Training Wheels Online

If you are interested in buying bicycle training wheels online you can buy them in one of these trusted online stores: