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Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on April 16, 2010 at 5:18pm

I bought Dr. Doom Jr. his first bike last year around this time, when he was four, and he ditched the training wheels by the middle of the summer. My advice is just to tell her that you'd like her to learn how to ride without training wheels, and that you'd like her to try. Take tools with you whenever you go out riding, and if she's up for it, take the training wheels off. She'll tip over and want the wheels back on, but once she's gone 10 feet without them she'll really want to learn to balance. Protip: Every time you put the wheels back on, raise one of them a couple of cm, alternating from one to the other. Eventually she'll be basically balancing herself without realizing it...

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Permalink Reply by Michael on April 16, 2010 at 6:05pm

Get an appropriately-sized kids bike and take the pedals, crank, and chain off. BAM! Glider bike! You could probably find one for $20, maybe less.

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Permalink Reply by mike w. on April 17, 2010 at 3:10am

My Dad and brother took the wheels off and let me loose in a big grassy park by Rainbow Beach. The landings were pretty soft when i tipped the first couple of times. When i got my balance after a few minutes, my next lesson was steering after i careened into a trash basket. i think it took about a half hour altogether to get comfortable with the bike. i was 5 1/2 or 6 at the time, but if your 4 year old is fairly agile and adventurous, she'll be a quick learner.

BTW, Thanks! to my Dad and brother Bill for taking the time to teach me... it was a great gift.

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Permalink Reply by Curt H Moore on April 18, 2010 at 1:19am

if you do a small bike and remove the parts as Micheal proposed, be aware the the gliders have a lock on the front fork so the wheel has minimal turning radius ( so wheel wont turn 90 degrees)
I bought a scoot for my grand daughter when she was shy of 4 , in less the a year she is riding a regular bike now my grand son is trying to ride the scoot (glider) , he is two and his legs are a little short. They are a great training pre bike...curt

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Permalink Reply by Vondo on April 18, 2010 at 11:17am

Good tip about the bars not having a full range of motion. I could see a kid jerking the bars all the way to the right, and then falling to the left...

I could try to rig something to the handlebars so they bind before they turn too far.

Thanks for all the tips you guys.

Curt H Moore said:

if you do a small bike and remove the parts as Micheal proposed, be aware the the gliders have a lock on the front fork so the wheel has minimal turning radius ( so wheel wont turn 90 degrees)
I bought a scoot for my grand daughter when she was shy of 4 , in less the a year she is riding a regular bike now my grand son is trying to ride the scoot (glider) , he is two and his legs are a little short. They are a great training pre bike...curt

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