Helping my boy to ride a bike

Jeff396 · May 26, 2004

My son didn't figure out how to ride a two wheeler until he was 7. Funny thing was he was a pro on those razor scooters. We tried the running behind him thing but he was so afraid of falling it never worked. Finally we took him up a gentle grass hill and told him to simply coast down dragging his feet and not worry about peddleing(treat it like the scooter). Took about three times and it was like a light went off in his head. This was the most frusrating thing we have ever tried to teach him. It's not like I cared if he rode it, but he was starting to really miss out on activities with his friends so you could tell he was upset. Now we're going through the same thing with my six year old. However, I don't think I've ever even seen him on a scooter.

Now maybe it's me, but do the mountain bikes seem a bunch less stable than the sting rays we had back in the 70's? I would compare it to going from a dirt bike to a trials bike. It's as though the forks are not raked as much and that along with the odd sitting position it seems harder to ride than it used to be. Or is it that I'm just getting old.....

Jeff

Ozarker · May 28, 2004

That won't help if they push it to the top of a hill and ride it down. Training wheels or not, when they hit the curb they are going down.

GerardC · May 29, 2004

My youngest was 5 when she started riding a bike. It was equipped with training wheels but I bent them outwards (bike tilted to either side about the angle of resting on the kick stand).
We started her off, and off she went! Once momentum was established, she was on two wheels. The training wheels were only on for the stops and turns for about a week. That's my girl /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif!

P.S. Stingrays were the coolest weren't they. Loved the banana seat and the sissybar!! G

DannyD · May 30, 2004

Oh man, now you done went and brought back memories of my "first" bike.

Stingray, with one coaster brake (made the parents happy) and one hand brake (made me feel cool).

My brother put it together for them, got it on my like 10th birthday (?), but hey it was cool. Had the "seat and sissy bar". I will have to make a scan of the photo.

Anyone remember when "wheelies" were cool to do?

PineRidge · May 31, 2004

Take lots and lots of pictures guys. Our 4 children are now all grown but most of the pictures were scanned & digitized and used in our computers for slide shows as screen savers. The memories will last forever. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jeff396 · Jun 1, 2004

I think I'll give the bent training wheels a try.....couldn't hurt!

I still remember going to the Schwinn dealer and drooling over the Lemon Crate, Orange Peeler and the Apple crate.....might have been a purple one too. This is the one with the springer front end, 5 speeds and that tire up front that was much smaller than the rear. WAY COOL!!! Unfortunately, my parents were far too practical for that sort of rig

Jeff

GerardC · Jun 1, 2004

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I think I'll give the bent training wheels a try.....couldn't hurt!

I still remember going to the Schwinn dealer and drooling over the Lemon Crate, Orange Peeler and the Apple crate.....might have been a purple one too. This is the one with the springer front end, 5 speeds and that tire up front that was much smaller than the rear. WAY COOL!!! Unfortunately, my parents were far too practical for that sort of rig

Jeff )</font>

Yup. I remember those too!
Two of my friends had Schwinn bicycles. Larry had the Green springer front end bike and Lee had an Orange (thin tires like a 10 speed) 20" bike. Both were 5 speed with that big ball shifter on the frames top bar.
Their parents were divorced so they were "spoiled" by the custodial parent. Buying them /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif ????
Larry was the envy of the neighborhood though. His bike was just way to cool at that time. G

Gatorboy · Jun 1, 2004

Here is a 1966 Stingray Deluxe. I got my first Stingray in 1967 or 1968, but it was nearly identical to this one -- same gold color.

I remember as I got older, I got different handle bars, took off the fenders, painted it red, replaced the banana seat with a regular Schwinn triangular one they put on the adult 5-speeds. Most kids in the neighborhood had Stingrays and also modified theirs. Some added huge tubes to the front forks to create a "chopper".

Boy, those were the days.

MossRoad · Jun 3, 2004

Nice link, Gatorboy. The kid across the street from me had one of those. He put a slick tire on it. Looked cool. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I built one out of a 'normal' bike. Banana seat, sissy bar and handlebars. Lots of fun. Just about every store had bike parts back then. And cheap candy, too! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

GerardC · Jun 3, 2004

We use to cut the forks off a junk bike and have them welded to our bikes forks to make "our" choppers. We were cool (lol). /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif G