Ewan on a Pedal Bike

Ewan was presented with a Balance Bike last Christmas by his grandparents and I shared about his outstanding progress on the blog early this year. He managed to lift both feet off the ground on his first day and became an expert balancer by the 31st. We wondered if he could transit to a 2-wheeler by the next Christmas, which is coming up soon. Oh man! Our active outdoorsy child proved us wrong. He is now a proud owner of a pedal bicycle 28 days before Christmas. He gained such great sense of balance on his pedal-less bike that he could work on slopes and bends effortlessly. My three year old is riding a two-wheeler!

We did not want to get him a regular BMX from Toys R Us because we were bought into the idea of 'the perfect bicycle fit'. It is important to fit a bicycle well to a child for good cycling performance, efficiency, comfort and injury prevention. When it comes to choosing the right bicycle size for kids, 'smaller is better than bigger'. From ages 3 to 5, ergonomics of a bike is most important. It is crucial to keep a child cyclist close to the ground and not have an oversized bicycle too large for him to handle.

A bike is the right size when your child can
1) sit on the saddle and rest the balls of both feet on the ground
2) reach the handlebars with a slight bend in the arms when sitting on the saddle
3) grasp the handbrakes comfortably and apply enough pressure to stop the bike

We sat Ewan down on a 14-inch bicycle but he did not clear point number one. Therefore, we bought him a smaller bicycle (remember the rule of thumb: smaller is better than bigger) with adjustable seat and handbrakes. We lowered the seat and adjusted the handbrakes nearer to the handle bar to cater to his little hands. With that, he got a bicycle fitted just for him.

Then came the question, "Do we leave the training wheels on?"

The shop assistant recommended us to leave the training wheels on for Ewan to get used to the bicycle. I think he felt that there was no hurry in rushing a child to learning how to bike. Me, on the other hand, felt that those training wheels should be removed immediately upon purchase. I prefer to teach my children to swim without floats and cycle without training wheels. Basically, learning without aids. If they didn't know that aids exist, then they won't be dependent on it. Come to think of it, aids are just like pacifiers aren't they? I hate to break a habit when I have to because it can be so darn hard.

Anyways, I learnt not to undermine our children's abilities and informed the shop assistant of my decision to remove the training wheels. We are also lucky that Ewan's pretty courageous and is willing to give each new sport a go without first saying No. He often reminds us that he has to gear up so that he will not injure himself when he falls. Helmet, elbow guards, hand guards and knee guards - the full works! It is a good thing he has no qualms about putting them on because the last thing I want out of learning how to cycle is for him to be afraid of falling. Today, he falls and get up smiling.

We took the chance to teach the little sister how to scoot too. However, the lady in her decided that being pushed takes up less energy on her end. All she does is stand on the scooter and command, "GO!"

How did we end up buying this particular bicycle for Ewan? We were recommended by our neighbour, a father and cycling enthusiast, to Ridgeback for Ewan's first pedal bicycle. Since 1983, Ridgeback has been building bikes for UK riders from high performance flat bar and touring bikes to children's bikes. Their designs provide small riders the best fit for comfort and control. It is, however, extremely heavy! They say it is important to have it heavier than usual for a child's first bicycle - to add on to the stability (staying grounded). Thank goodness Ewan picked up the skill fairly quickly because holding the back of the saddle and pushing him along (while making sure he doesn't fall) took a toll on my back!

So! On the 7th of November 2015, he owned his first pedal two-wheeler and cycled without assistance on the third day of practice. Daddy says he will have to buy a pair of roller-blades soon to keep up with his son!

If you'd like to know where we bought the Ridgeback Junior:
BikeStop - Facebook - 237 Upper Thomson Road - Opens 1130 to 1930 hours

One problem we noticed though - Ewan tires easily with cycling. After 2 rounds, he needs to take a break. We wonder if the cause was the weight of the bicycle. Heavy bicycles provide better stability and is, without a doubt, better for a young learner like him. However, could it make cycling less fun because your legs will have to pedal harder to get it going? That, we still need more observations when Ewan does master the skill of cycling. Riders, what do you think?

A reply from BikeStop on my query:
Hi, nice blog you've written! 

I think your child finds it difficult to pedal not so much due to the weight of the bike, but rather the saddle height (assuming no other mechanical issue with the bike). When his confidence has improved, you may want to adjust the saddle height higher, so he can extend his legs further and make better use of the leg's pedal stroke. 

As for mechanical issues, there are 2 common causes that can affect the efficiency of the bike. 

1) Tire Pressure: ensure the tires are inflated to the correct pressure. For the MX12, it should be about 30psi. We recommend to inflate once every 2-3 wks for tires of this size. 

2) Brake Pad rubbing on the rim: check if the brake pads are rubbing on the rims by spinning the wheels and observing if there's clearance between the brake pads and the rim. If this is not the case, you may bring this in for us to do a brake tuning. 

Happy riding! Wee Kian

Read:

4 January 2015

Ewan on a Balancing Act

A post on Ewan learning how to ride a Balance Bike 

and how it made this transition to a two-wheeler as easy as ABC.

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