Never, EVER, training wheels. She'll 'get' the pedaling. The balance is sorted, she'll never need the trainers. It would be going backwards.
Find a really gentle slope to get her started on. Show her the pedaling and let her rip. We did this with our boys, tho they'd never had the balance bike part, just straight in on the pedals. Boy2 was a whizz on the scooter at 2, and progressed to a bike before he'd even turned 3. Number 1 was 3 when he started on the bike

The Byk 250 is a cracking bike, No.1 Child loved his, it's currently waiting in the garage for No.2 Child to be big enough (currently on a trike although I need to convert it to two wheels asap as he's getting pretty handy on it).

As above, don't put the stabiliser wheels on, it'll either be a backwards step or will hold up development of proper riding. Find a very gentle slope, ideally one that you could freewheel down without really picking up too much speed, and do a few runs down. Start as a balance bike, i.e. ignore the pedalling action, she can rest her feet on the pedals while she cruises. She can then try a bit of pedalling without having to worry about speed or balance too much.

One thing I did was to run along behind, holding him up by the back of the saddle. He'd pedal along - a bit wobbly at first - and I'd basically keep running but let go of him. Had to keep the hand hovering to catch if necessary at first, more to fool him into thinking that I was still holding on later on. Eventually I'd stop and he'd pedal off without realising. That's when he twigged that he could do it on his own.

Also, I seem to recall the 250 has a back-pedal brake as well as a rear brake on the bars? When No.1 child was learning to pedal he'd occasionally pedal backwards by accident, which inevitably meant skidding and crashing.

Best to do free-wheeling with feet resting on the pedals first, and learning how to do controlled braking with the back-pedal (using both feet). Forward pedalling is easier when you know what to expect from an accidental back-pedal...

I'd be introducing the same concept in a new package first, then pedals, then brakes, gears one day...

(disclaimer - my eldest is younger than yours, untested opinion)

+1 on 86'ing the training wheels.
Balance first...
Then pedaling...
Brakes are optional post-grad course

Velocipedestrian wrote:I'd be introducing the same concept in a new package first, then pedals, then brakes, gears one day...

(disclaimer - my eldest is younger than yours, untested opinion)

I thought this was good advice at first (still might be), but then thought a counter point, you would be introducing 2 changes, rather then one it might be better to introduce pedals (on a small slope as suggested, did this with my nephew and it worked a treat) and a new bike in one hit. you could give her the choice

+100 on not using the training wheels. Wish I had known 12 years ago what I know now.

Problem is they change the way kid needs to turn, if they can turn on a balance bike (which is correct) its double the problem, they have to unlearn that, learn on trainers (bad) then have to unlearn the trainers and relearn what they used to know. Had a heap of trouble weaning my kids of trainers, involved a lot an tears and frustration (and the kids were not much better off).

One of the first things I will do when I become supreme ruler is change the law - putting kids on bikes with trainers will be a capital offense (parent, not the kids).

As far as progressions - depends on the child, some respond well to 'deep ending', others are better off with a softly softly approach. Those as old as I am went from walking to riding a oversized bike, no such thing as balance bikes back in my day, and a kids bike was a Chopper or a Releigh 20.... and 45+ years later I still remember the thrill of realizing I was really riding a bike on my own (and the subsequent crash 10 seconds later). Its would be criminal to deprave your child of that experience by talking them though gentle progressions.

Well she was very very excited about her new bike (complete with custom name vinyl), then immediately took it outside and rode...her old bike

I couldn't figure out how to easily convert it to a balance bike (looked online etc to no avail). We bought it second and I found an utterly useless owners manual online, so we presented it with pedals etc.
I'm tempted to just take the pedals off so she can get used to it as a semi balance bike, as it's noticeably longer than her current one.

It'll take time, but luckily we live near a school with two very good bike tracks so hopefully she'll get it soon

Can you pull the BB? Cranks flailing round the ankles might be off putting...

Yeah I might do that thanks, although discussions with the war office last night concluded in a "she can just suck it up and ride it when she's ready" stance

I hope that stance is flexible, my little (34yo) sister isn't ready yet...

Has anyone got any opinions on using a trailgator type device to tow a five year old?
Any recommendations on a model to go for?

Had a Tag-along for the duration of the years mine needed it. Was good. Tall gear that quite helped when their little legs got pushing.

Started mine on it when they were about 3, last ride probably about when they were 6? So you've not a lot of time left!

I bought a trailgator for our 5 yr old. It's been great, much better than one of those clip-on half bikes as she can ride her own bike then we can use it to tow her home once she's had enough - really extends the options of family outings on bikes.

Also use it to ride from home knowing she's safely behind me in traffic, then we can unclip when we get somewhere safe and she's off under her own steam.

The tow bar easily collapses when not attached to child's bike and has a clip to secure it to your bike at the rear drop-out.

It's been awesome for rail-trail-type tracks, not used it on single track yet but i reckon that time will come soon

oldandlazy wrote:Has anyone got any opinions on using a trailgator type device to tow a five year old?
Any recommendations on a model to go for?

Try this thread yo
Also - I think Derrick has one.