Parenting tip: get a push bike that converts into a real bike

Becoming a new parent is like drinking from a fire hose; there’s just too much knowledge to be absorbed all at once. You never know which portion of knowledge you’ll actually need at any given moment— ask me how I know what a fever seizure is, or an umbilical hernia…

In the hopes of sharing some advice with a parent who is about to need this knowledge, I want to share a mistake I made when it came to thinking through how to teach my child to ride a bike.

The bike choice

We were on vacation in a rental house that had a dead end street, and plenty of room to learn how to ride a bike. Living in Brooklyn means opportunities like this dont always pop up. In order to capitalize on the situation, I tried to find a bike at Target and Walmart, but was shocked by how expensive and terrible the options were.

Eventually, I stumbled across the $70 used Baby Royal on Amazon, and I figured it would be good enough— I mean how different could a bike be? If we ended up having to leave it behind, I wouldn’t be too upset. The reviews were pretty good.

The Problem with Training Wheels

So what’s the big deal? It’s a perfect good bike right?

Well, here we are a year later, and we’re still riding slow and riding with training wheels. We got hooked on the sweet sweet comfort and safety of training wheels, and now we don’t want to make any more progress. She also didn’t love going back to a push bike. When I took the pedals off… that felt like a step back to her, and she wasn’t interested in pushing.

The Power of Push Bikes ( Balance Bikes)

In the meantime, my sister is sending me photos of her 3-year-old crushing laps on a dirt bike track… and I start to wonder what I did wrong? Apparently, it’s now common knowledge to most parents that you should start with a push bike. I’m the only one that didn’t get the memo.

Once I saw it in action, it immediately became obvious. When a kid is on a push bike, you can only go fast with your feet up, and to have your feet up, you need to learn how to balance. So not only does it force them to learn to balance on the bike first, but it does so in a really safe way, with a bike that’s designed for your feet to touch the floor. So the kid can just put their feet down to regain their balance.

Part of the reason I didn’t get a push bike was because the brand that was recommended was the Woom, and it’s almost $250. So long story short, buy a push bike that can eventually convert into having peddles.

What I would get

Knowing what I now know… I would have read this article from Wirecutter on what push bike to get. I would have bought this Strider bike, and this conversion pedal kit for when my daughter outgrows the push bike. The whole setup weighs 12lbs, vs the 23 lbs of the Royal Baby bike that I bought on Amazon. Sure, maybe you’re fine lugging around the extra weight, but what I found is that the heavier bike is just much harder for my daughter to maneuver and scarier for her to lift up.

Modifying your bike

Last but not least, I want to call out that you can just buy any regular used kids bike and convert it. I don’t want to come off as suggesting buying a new bike is the only option here. All you need is the correct wrench size and some zip ties.

https://youtu.be/LfOyMecfsKk?si=qegTsmzdRXtlreUo

You just want to check that the seat can get low enough for your child’s feet to reach the floor, and that the seat can get high enough so they are not too cramped with their feet on the pedals. Getting that spacing right can be tricky.

Final Thoughts

So maybe I’m an idiot and just impulsively bought the wrong bike, but I do truly believe that the best way to learn to ride a bike is with a push bike first. My back is paying for my poor decisions in pain and soreness. I’ve now spent a couple of hours hunched over trying to help my daughter learn to balance with the training wheels off, and we haven’t made much progress.