Training Wheels Off... What Age??

My son learned to ride his bike without training wheels at 5. He was ready, and wanted to do it. And he had no trouble at all. I'd say it definitely depends on the child's attitude toward it. If he wants to try, let him! My cousin's son learned when he was barely 3... my cousin and I were coaching her daughter's cheerleading squad, and her sons were riding their bikes in the school parking lot where the practice was... and the little one jumped on his big brother's bike, and just took off! My other cousin's son only just learned at 8... he was scared and didn't want to try. So it totally depends on the readiness of the child.

My son didn't start riding until around age 7 (nowhere to ride). Training wheels came off a few months afterward.

we did it at 5. he was ready at 4 but i wasn't
:)

My son is 4 and just learned. We used this method and it worked amazingly well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnZlat1yFCU&feature=share

It just really depends on when your son is ready. My granddaughter learned to ride without training wheels at age 4. My other granddaughter, at 7, is not ready yet! But my grandson had his taken off at age 3! My daughter thought he was too young so she wouldn't do it. Little bugger went to the ice cream man and asked him to take them off. He did and next thing you know, my daughter is watching him ride down the sidewalk with no training wheels. He's very coordinated - can ride a skateboard and do tricks also at 4!

Around 5 they can handle it - especially if they are interested in gettting them off. So I'd give it a try. See how he does.

I think it depends on the kid and the size of the bike. We had one of those littlest bikes (I forget what size it is), but one son had them off at 5 and one at 3. The bigger bikes would have been too hard, but the little one worked great.

I have gone to BMX races and my girl raced against kids as young as 3. So, when the child is ready there is NO age limit. They can ride a bike as young as 2-3 without training wheels if they have the balance figured out.

The 3 yr. old boy she raced against came in 3rd in his age group and won a trophy that night.

I have a 10 inch bike that both my kids learned to ride on.
My daughter was 5 at the time and my son had just turned 4.
She learned and he was determined so he got on it and just kept trying.
It just small enough that it was easy for them to learn to balance on it.
I have seen kids anywhere from 4-6 start without training wheels.

My son is 4 and we took his off this summer. He has done great. He picked it up and rode off, we never had to hold him or walk with him (he has bikes at pre-school without wheels - so we assume he learned there). Take them off and give it a shot, if your child doen't like it or take to it, put them back on until he's ready. My fried tried with her 5 year old and he didn't do good, so she loosened the training wheels a little more so he had to work on balancing a litle better. A few weeks of that - he was able to go without them. Good Luck.!

It depends on the child. My daughter who is 9 now didn't until this past summer feel comfortable with them off, she got frustrated very quickly and gave up. The bike had been sitting sans training wheels for 2 yrs before she decided to give it a try again. My son had his off at 6 , when his sister finally decided she could do it without them he wanted to try.

DD is 5 & we just took them off, helped her practice in the grass & she had it down within an hour or two. Honestly, and I feel bad for saying this, I didn't give her enough credit. She took to it very quickly and probably could've been riding w/out training wheels several months ago. I honestly think that this applies to most kids.

My son rode without at 3, but he never really rode WITH them except for a few months earlier when he was two on a bike that was really much too big for him. His friend (our neighbor) a year older, took his trainers off shortly after to keep up with him and did great the same way.

If the seat can be lowered to where he can put his feet flat on the ground, he'll be fine without them. Just have him practice putting his feet down if he starts to tip and he'll do great! The toughest part is getting the bike started, so either take him someplace with a slope or have him push off the ground until he's coasting and then put his feet up and pedal.

HTH

Definitely depends on the child! My daughter was 6. One day she asked me to take them off and as soon as I took them off she rode off. I think she probably could have been without them sooner, but didn't feel confident. Within a few months of that, several other kids on our street removed the training wheels and they were 3, 5 and 5 1/2. If your son wants to give it a try, I say go for it!

You can raise up the training wheels so that they can either ride on one or the other (leaning a little) or balance in between. When you see that your child is balancing in between, you can probably do it. My son had a little bike at age 3 with training wheels and we took them off at 5. We did have a lot of hills in the neighborhood so I was more nervous than if it was flat.

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You can raise up the training wheels so that they can either ride on one or the other (leaning a little) or balance in between. When you see that your child is balancing in between, you can probably do it. My son had a little bike at age 3 with training wheels and we took them off at 5. We did have a lot of hills in the neighborhood so I was more nervous than if it was flat.

It completely depends on the kid. My daughter's were on until she was 6 1/2.

It totally depends on the kid. I have two daughters, one figured it out this past summer she is 6, my other daughter had no interest and was scared to death, she just figured it out this early fall she was almost 8. I have three nieces, one figured it out at 5 and half, 6, and the littlest is 4 and she figured it out early fall, she is a crazy driver and scares the mess out of me.

It depends on the kid, IMO. If you think he can try it, then try it. If he needs more practice, then put them back on for a while.

LOL, my son is a bit afraid. He is 6 and watches his older neighbor boys ride their bikes without the training wheels but still hasn't been brave enough to try. We lifted his training wheels up but so far - he doesn't want us to take them off. I used to teach preschool and had many 4 year olds ride without the trainers. I myself was pretty old. I think like 8 ! lol

There is no age at which a child can ride a bike without training wheels. It depends on the child. Take the wheels off and see if he can ride the bike.

Many children never have training wheels. It's a way to help them learn but I suggest that they can learn without them.

My son never had a bike with training wheels. He was being raised in the house as the youngest of six. He went straight from tricycle to bicycle. The older kids taught him how to ride. He was about 5-6 at the time.

It took me forever to learn how to ride a bicycle. My dad got me this huge bike with training wheels. My feet could barely petal the darn thing, so I was always trying to stretch my toes down to make the stupid thing move. It took me 3 years to actually learn how to ride that bike. Everytime I rode the bike through the bushes, or fences, or just plain old fell off, I'd quit and go in the house. It would be another 2-3 months before I could be convinced to try again and living in NJ at the time meant cold weather always came before my legs were long enough or nerve was strong enough to give it a try.

Funny memories though. My little sister actually learned how to ride that bike before I did and she couldn't reach the petals either but made it work for her. I just hated falling and bleeding and it was just traumatic for me. I'm laughing just thinking about those memories. I was such a drama queen.

My siblings and I were all 4 or 5 when they were taken off.

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My siblings and I were all 4 or 5 when they were taken off.

Depends on the kid. My DD was scared to death to get them off and although we had raised them up so that they no longer touched the ground she didn't let us remove them until she was nearly 7. It was like a security blanket for her. My son wanted them off after about a week (age 5) and then he drove into our neighbor's lawn - with the sprinklers on - and ended up head-over-teakettle in their grass. We wnet back to training wheels for a few more weeks.

My nieghbor has 4 kids - they are all nimble and coordinated. (They're tiny kids - my kids are tall and are always trying to catch up to their recnet growth...!) They were all riding their bike, sans training wheels at age 4....