New Bikes for my Kids, NOW to get them riding!!!

[JMK1]

Both my boys 7&9 are on Silverbacks ,we ride most Sunday afternoons at Delta Park and on the section of spruit between Fratelli and Rustenburg rd.Gears are a must have makes it so much easier for them to deal with grass sections and hills.

[I-FELT-the-FORCE]

Thank you all hubbers for your advice. Looks like I am going to go the pedals and training wheels off route. They have both been riding their smaller bikes and know the pedalling motion pretty well, now just to work ont he balance. SO looking forward to getting them riding on their own properly, cant wait

[DJR]

My boys are now 9 & 10 yrs and have gone through all the bikes from those black scooters to 24 inch GT Stompers and will be onto their first 26 inch bikes in the next year or so. (I thought that it would be the final wheel size, now it seems a 29er may come later as well.)

 

My bit of advice is to realize thoroughly that your rides together are about THEM and then do everything in your power to make it FUN for THEM. If they enjoy it, they'll want to do more of it, and that's what you want to achieve. Take snacks and drinks along and stop for a picnic or a swim when they seem to get tired. Make it easy, mostly flatriding, in the beginning. Take little friends along, take the wife along and the dog too. Forget about your own training, before long you'll be chasing them anyway.

[DJR]

Almost forgot, when they start getting adventurous enough to ride single track with you, invest in protective gear for them and for yourself. They'll wear theirs if you are wearing yours (much like the helmet thing). Often the fear of falling and getting hurt cause them to hesitate and is exactly what they shouldn't do. My own bike skills improved big time because of this too. The "downhill" picture is of my youngest one (10) going beserk in Tokai forest. They have both cycled up to the mast when they were 9 and 10 but, I,d like to think, that is a bit unusual (or maybe every parent just thinks that his crow is a parrot?).

 

O' and take photographs, they love that too!