The problem with training wheels

[Myrtonos]

As a child, I was on training wheels until forced off them by a phys-ed teacher, quite late off them. As common as they are on children's bikes, training wheels do not teach the skill of balancing. They prevent a bike from leaning, something that other bikes do when cornering.
Here is what does tech the skill of balancing: Taking off the pedals and lowering the seat. When all the hard work is done, it is a simple matter of raising the seat and refitting the pedals.
Autistic people often have difficulty riding a bicycle but maybe they could overcome this difficulty simply by having a bike with a lower seat and no pedals.

 

[Au Naturel]

Never had training wheels. I learned to ride a bicycle by being pushed off a steep hill, rolling to the bottom, and then trying to stay in balance as it slowed down. I eventually learned, but I don't know if the bike or I took more damage.

 

[Outdated]

I learned to ride a bicycle by being pushed off a steep hill

Exactly how I learned, the kid across the road sat me on his bike and pushed me down the hill. I have exceptional balance though so no damage.

 

[Judge]

That happened to me in 1962. My best friend Danny just grinned at me and said he was going to teach me to ride my bike. He got out a wrench and took those training wheels off, and then told me to straddle my bike. He held the bike up and then told me to peddle as he shoved me forward.

And that was all it took. Most of all of those times I remember the one- and only time in my life when I really did have someone I could call a "best friend".

 

[Progster]

I was 6 or 7 years old, and I still couldn't ride the bike without stabilizers. So my dad lowered the seat and that worked - that's how I learned.

Not sure how taking off the pedals would help, though.

 

[Shevek]

I learned by my father keeping me from falling as I practised on the lawn. Then, I got a bit faster, and he just let me go. I was on my own before I knew it. I fell, but
I'd ridden a bit on my own, so I did it again with confidence. Soon, it was my freedom machine, and have used one most of my life. There's a guy in NYC who teaches riding by having people coast down a grassy hill. He lowers the seat, but leaves the pedals, AFAIR.
However, the real problem with training wheels is that they are often set too low by mistake. They should be able to let the bike lean, but not enough to fall over. You fall onto the wheel when you lose balance. The reflexes for steering a trike vs a bike are so different that bike riders who get on an old-style adult trike, the equivalent of low training wheels, often ride straight into a pole, because they can't make themselves steer before leaning.

 

[Au Naturel]

. . . I'd ridden a bit on my own, so I did it again with confidence. Soon, it was my freedom machine, and have used one most of my life. There's a guy in NYC who teaches riding by having people coast down a grassy hill. He lowers the seat, but leaves the pedals, AFAIR.
However, the real problem with training wheels is that they are often set too low by mistake. They should be able to let the bike lean, but not enough to fall over. You fall onto the wheel when you lose balance. The reflexes for steering a trike vs a bike are so different that bike riders who get on an old-style adult trike, the equivalent of low training wheels, often ride straight into a pole, because they can't make themselves steer before leaning.

People love to roll 3-wheeled ATVs. You have to lean in the opposite direction.

 

[Shevek]

People love to roll 3-wheeled ATVs. You have to lean in the opposite direction.

Harley trikes have the highest insurance rates of all. The trouble with "deltas" is that, with a single front wheel, all the wight goes onto it when you brake hard, so there's almost no stability left, yet you can't lean in to corner either, unless you are incredibly skilled. With two wheels in front, you are far safer in an emergency.

 

[Hypnalis]

Verasatium on how bicycles work:

Proof that trikes and training wheels don't teach you how to ride a bicycle.

 

[Shevek]

Verasatium on how bicycles work:

Proof that trikes and training wheels don't teach you how to ride a bicycle.

That video is about countersteering. There are far more subtle factors at work to let a bicycle balance itself when coasting with no rider. There is also a wide range of geometry to make a bike easier or harder for a rider to balance. However, regarding countersteering, or the need to steer in the "wrong" direction first to lean before turning, there is one very simple fact that people miss. The path that your wheels follow to turn and balance is the exact same path that your feet would make as a dotted line to do that maneuver at that speed and cg height. Running around for sport is good preparation for riding.

 

[Rodafina]

Never had training wheels. I learned to ride a bicycle by being pushed off a steep hill, rolling to the bottom, and then trying to stay in balance as it slowed down. I eventually learned, but I don't know if the bike or I took more damage.

Exactly how I learned, the kid across the road sat me on his bike and pushed me down the hill. I have exceptional balance though so no damage.

Same for me! Several people tried to teach me to no avail, but one time, I pushed my own self down a steep hill, and from then on it was easy cruisin’.

In the States, the balance bike has become popular. Young children in my family used it to learn to ride very successfully.

 

[mysterionz]

I didn’t ride a bike until I was in fourth grade myself. Prior, I would just ride a bike with training wheels.

 

[Tom]

The very first bikes were 'push' or 'run' bikes like you describe (200 years ago). I think I saw ads for them from the 1930's or 40's. There may be a version still out there today.

 

[Judge]

Push bikes. Reminds me of a time in 1964 when my brother lovingly put me on his bicycle which had no chain and sent me downhill towards a cul-de-sac . My feet couldn't quite reach the ground. No brakes, gaining speed I ended up crashing into someone's front porch.

 

[Aspychata]

Training wheels, it still took me awhile. And trying to tie shoes was so hard, and l couldn't understand the mechanics. My toddler just had easy shoes, none of that. She had a trike that she loved, then she switched to a little red scooter and propelled herself with one foot, and loved it.

 

[Myrtonos]

I was 6 or 7 years old, and I still couldn't ride the bike without stabilizers. So my dad lowered the seat and that worked - that's how I learned.

So you could balance it with your feet?

Not sure how taking off the pedals would help, though.

How are you supposed to use your feet to balance and move the bike with pedals attached?

In the States, the balance bike has become popular. Young children in my family used it to learn to ride very successfully.

But those are pretty recent and it seems strange they did not appear earlier.

 

[Hypnalis]

The difficult part of cycling isn't balancing as such.

It's easy to balance on a bicycle that's moving in a straight line at a sufficient speed (it doesn't have to be particularly fast). The problem is control, which requires the ability to countersteer.

It looks like balance bikes allow the user to learn to countersteer without falling (legs can easy be used for support at modest speeds).

I never used training wheels, but if they work without requiring countersteering to turn, they are probably teaching the easy part (learning to move fast enough to balance while moving in a straight line) without teaching the difficult but essential part (automatic countersteering).

The point of Verasatium's demonstration is in the title: most people don't know how bikes work (including me before I saw that video).

An adult who doesn't know how they actually steer can't teach someone else how to steer. From that perspective, training wheels look like a good idea.
The manufacturers probably knew they don't work all along, but a fundamental rule of marketing is "don't refuse to sell someone what they want to pay for".

 

[Rodafina]

But those are pretty recent and it seems strange they did not appear earlier.

Maybe it’s just that the idea has been around for a long time, but the marketing opportunity recently dawned on capitalists?

The DIY version where you remove the pedals seems better, actually, because then you don’t need a whole new bike when you are ready for riding.

 

[Shevek]

It occurs to me that riding a foot-push scooter may be an excellent way to pre-learn for a bike. It uses the same countersteering and balancing methods, but is so low and slow that instead of falling, one can revert to running, or stumbling.
Setting the seat very low is fine for learning, and may keep the feet splayed to the point that there is no danger from the pedals. However, once one can balance, it is good to get the seat up to the optimum height. I had a friend who was about as fit as I on a hike, but her bicycle range was not even 5%. It turned out that as she grew, she had not raised her seat, and was doing the cyclist's equivalent of the duck walk. It felt very strange to her to be at the right height, but soon it worked very well. The right height is such that, wearing shoes with flat heels, you can slowly pedal backwards, completely straightening your knee, but not rocking your hips at all. Then, you ride with the ball of your foot on the pedal, don't quite straigtenen your knee, and push back a bit as well as down.

 

[Myrtonos]

An adult who doesn't know how they actually steer can't teach someone else how to steer. From that perspective, training wheels look like a good idea.

But even if they don't know the term, they might still know they are manually leaning the bike using the handlebars, I certainly did.

The DIY version where you remove the pedals seems better, actually, because then you don’t need a whole new bike when you are ready for riding.

I do wonder if this version is older than those balance bikes that have no pedals in the first place.