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Wednesday, July 2, 2025
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  2. Explore the USA with eSIM – Stay Connected Hassle-Free in Los Angeles!
  3. Compra con inteligencia, ahorra a lo grande: ¡Explora Miravia hoy mismo!
  4. Woolgathering! So these things can be recycled for free?
  5. Elevate Your E-Biking Experience with High-Resolution Sound: Discover Qobuz Music Streaming!
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  7. 2024 Design and Innovation Awards (DI.A) Winning E-Bike Products (Previous)
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  10. Indoor Adventures With Schwinn Coloring Pages
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  14. Decisions Decisions How To Pick The Best Electric Bike
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  18. Restoring A Classic Petr And The Jaguar
  19. Bike Style Guide Electric Bikes
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  21. The History Of The Schwinn Sting Ray And Krates
  22. How To Clean Your Bike
  23. Learning How To Ride A Bike
  24. How To Teach Your Child To Ride A Bike
  25. Let S Bike To School
  26. 5 tips to teach you how to buy an electric bike
  27. Can You Use An E Bike For Exercise
  28. Spring Tune Up
  29. What To Wear When Biking In The Winter
  30. How To Teach Your Child To Ride A Bike
  31. How To Get Outdoors And Stay Active During Social Distancing
  32. Light Up Bike Helmets 101 Using The Schwinn Insight Ert
  33. Choosing The Right Bike
  34. Electric Bike Safety Pre Ride Checklist
  35. Christmas Caroling But With Bikes
  36. Celebrate Bike Month With Schwinn
  37. How To Use Hand Brakes
  38. Bike Style Guide Electric Bikes
  39. How To Clean Your Bike Helmet
  40. Five Summer Biking Ideas
  41. How To Replace Road Bike Bar Tape
  42. Market Insight | The Hot Overseas e-Bike Market
  43. The Ultimate Day Date Bike
  44. Guide To Clipless Pedals
  45. The Guide To Pumping Bicycle Tires
  46. Safety Guide Staying Visible
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  48. Can Biking Save The World Maybe
  49. 5 Simple Ways To Reconnect With Your Loved Ones
  50. Criterium Racing What Is It And How To Get Started
  51. E Bikes For Kids Are Charging Up The Next Generation Of Riders
  52. The Schwinn Tornado A Whirlwind Of Fun
  53. How To Fit A Bike Helmet
  54. A Birthday Bike In 1969
  55. Choosing The Right Bike
  56. A Look Back Who Was Ignaz Schwinn
  57. Biking To School Why When And How
  58. Motorcycle and e-bike helmet evaluation results are out
  59. Biking Signals
  60. How To Find The Right Bike For You
  61. Bicycle Halloween Costume Ideas
  62. Feeling Good Is Just A Bike Ride Away
  63. Converting bicycles to e-bikes offers practical solutions
  64. Guide To Fixing Squeaky Bike Brakes
  65. Biking To School Why When And How
  66. Better Together
  67. How To Bike With Your Dog
  68. Six Tips For Commuting In The City
  69. Phoenix S9 electric bike review: folding design, charging while riding, power range of 350 kilometers
  70. No Limits Wheels Of Empowerment
  71. Learning How To Ride A Bike
  72. Can You Use An E Bike For Exercise
  73. Bike Style Guide Commuter
  74. How To Use Hand Brakes
  75. A Brief Herstory Of Cycling
  76. How To Assemble A Schwinn Smartstart Kids Bicycle
  77. Ride With Pride
  78. Yadi Mojie Mini e-bike evaluation: 20-inch tires + 7-step gears, help to run 280 kilometers
  79. The Best Snacks For Bike Rides
  80. Heartwarming e-Bike
  81. Six Safety Tips For Biking With Kids
  82. Vintage Schwinn Bikes
  83. How To Choose The Right Style Of Bike Helmet
  84. Decisions Decisions How To Pick The Best Electric Bike
  85. The Great Major Taylor
  86. E Bike Microadventures With Peter Kraus
  87. Master these anti-freezing tips to let the e-bike run farther
  88. Expert Explanation E Bike Wattage Range And Weight
  89. Where To Ride Your Schwinn Bike
  90. Take A Tour De Lights This Holiday Season
  91. Learning To Ride The Tricycle A Toddlers First Bike
  92. MS-EBIKE Electric Bike Review: 7 Levels of Speed, 6 Travel Modes, Boosted Range 280KM
  93. Bike Style Guide Hybrid
  94. Gifts For Bike Riders
  95. 3Beautiful Electric Bike Rides
  96. Schwinn Partners With American Family Dreamdrive To Provide Free Bikes For Kids In Our Community
  97. How To Ride An E Bike
  98. The Guide To Adult Bike Sizes And Fit
  99. The Schwinn Tornado A Whirlwind Of Fun
  100. Schwinn Insider Stranger Things Edition
  101. A Kozy Tradition Ron Kozy
  102. New Electric Bike Owners Guide
  103. Phoenix e-bike S1 review: equipped with 26-inch wheels + 9 gears, range of 400 kilometers
  104. Biking Signals
  105. Camping Biking
  106. How Do Electric Bikes Work
  107. The Guide To Kids Bike Sizes And Height
  108. Bike Style Guide Road
  109. Guide To Fix A Flat
  110. How To Find The Right Bike Light
  111. Six Safety Tips For Biking With Kids
  112. Expert Explanation E Bike Wattage Range And Weight
  113. Indoor Adventures With Schwinn Coloring Pages
  114. Guide To Biking In The Winter
  115. The Guide To Pumping Bicycle Tires
  116. Making Helmet Safety Stylish
  117. What You Need To Know For Autumn Bike Rides
  118. Tone E Scooter Grip Assembly
  119. Best Places For Fall Bike Rides
How To Use Hand Brakes

Is there anything so thrilling as your first bike ride? The sense of adventure, achievement, and independence. The breeze rushing past your cheeks as you seem to fly down the sidewalk under a warm summer sun. There will most likely be popsicles later. Life is unbelievably good.

While we all want to deliver that moment, the prospect of actually teaching a child to ride a bike may be a bit daunting. When do we start? What do we need? What’s the best way to do this? Turns out, it’s probably easier than you think. And we’ve got it all mapped out for you right here.

Coaster Brakes vs. Hand Brakes On Kids Bikes - Rascal Rides

There’s no single perfect age for learning how to ride a bike. The most important thing is to start when your child is ready – when they have the balance, coordination, and physical strength to successfully operate a bicycle.

Some kids might be able to start as young as 2, but many wait until 4 or 5 years old. This allows your child’s motor skills and strength to develop a little more before taking on a pedal bike.

Of course, before you can get started learning to ride, you’ll need a bike for your child. Bikes for beginner riders come in two broad styles: balance bikes and pedal bikes. You can start your child with either type of bike, although balance bikes may be easier for the youngest riders.

Balance Bikes

Just like it sounds, balance bikes are designed specifically for establishing balance skills, and are a simple first step in learning to ride without training wheels. They don’t include pedals, gears, or brakes, and typically have an extra-low frame which makes it easy for little ones to get both feet flat on the ground while learning to push, stride, and glide.

Pedal Bikes

Kids’ pedal bikes allow your little one to advance past balancing and use the included pedals and gears to propel themselves forward. Braking skills can also be developed using a pedal bike, either using coaster brakes or hand brakes. Coaster brakes are simple to learn and just require pedaling backward to stop, while hand brakes are typically found on big kids’ bikes and require some extra coordination and hand strength.

Whatever style you choose to start with, getting a bike in the right size to fit your child is key. A bike that fits your child correctly will be more comfortable, easier to control, and lead to more confident riding. With that in mind, Schwinn SmartStart bikes are a great choice for kids learning to ride since they aren’t just two wheels on a kid size frame, they’re actually engineered for kids’ proportions. Our kids’ bike size guide here can help you find the right size for your child, or read more on our kids’ bike size guide.

Next, your child will need a helmet. This is not optional. A helmet is a vital part of riding safety and it’s important to start good safety habits early. Although your child may be eager to get moving on their bike, ensure they always have their helmet on before they start riding.

Wearing the helmet properly is also key, a helmet that is the wrong size or not fitted correctly can significantly reduce its ability to protect the rider. Use the chart below to help find the right size helmet for your child, from there the fun part is picking their favorite color. You may also want to invest in additional safety gear for your child, like elbow and knee pads. While not strictly necessary, they can help prevent injury in the first wobbly days of learning to ride.

After the bike and helmet, the only other thing needed is a good place to learn to ride. You’ll want a flat, open space free of obstacles and traffic. A soft grassy yard may seem like a good idea, but smooth pavement is the best to allow the wheels to roll easily. A set of small orange safety cones can be helpful in marking off the area or creating a course for them to practice steering.

Training wheels are often included with kid’s bikes to help young beginners stay upright on their bikes while they learn to balance and pedal, but they are not absolutely necessary. It can actually be a better method to learn without training wheels because it helps kids develop their balance skills right off the bat. Sometimes training wheels help kids balance a little too much, and they become reliant on them. So, in the long run, it’s better for your child to learn without them.

If you choose to use training wheels or your child needs some help balancing, you can always install them, just make sure they are installed correctly to avoid overreliance. When properly installed, training wheels sit evenly just above the ground, supporting or “catching” the rider if they lean a little too far. This support helps kids build confidence as they work on balance and the mechanics of riding a bike, but they can’t do that if the training wheels are too low and continuously holding them in place.

Training wheels should temporary – very temporary. As soon as your child has mastered balancing on their bike, they can be taken off.

Learning to ride a bike can be intimidating for a child, but it’s much easier to break the process down into separate foundational skills of pedaling, braking, and balance. By taking this step-by-step approach, your child can focus on learning each skill independently before combining them all together. Plus, if they struggle with one area, it’s easy to spend some more time perfecting that before moving on.

First, you’ll want to focus on balance. If you’re using a pedal bike it can be helpful to remove the pedals for this stage, or just have your child ignore them. To remove the pedals, grab a 15 mm wrench and loosen the pedal where it attaches to the crank arm. Always turn the wrench towards the back of the bike to loosen, or towards the front of the bike to tighten.

Once the pedals are off, have your child sit on the bike’s seat to check the seat height. Their feet should be able to comfortably sit flat on the ground, so adjust the seat height as needed. From there, it’s just “push, stride, glide.”

Push: Have your child push themselves along slowly with their feet, just like walking. Don’t worry about steering too much yet, but they can start to get the feel for using the handlebars.

Stride: As they get more comfortable with pushing the bike along, encourage them to pick up the speed a little and take longer strides, like running.

Glide: Finally, have them take a few strides to get some speed in a straight line, then try lifting both feet off of the ground to glide.

As they get the hang of it, have them practice gliding for longer distances. You can also work on steering by setting up a simple course of cones that they can navigate around. That’s all there is to it!

Once they’ve mastered balance, you can put the pedals back on if they were removed earlier. If you started with a balance bike, you’ll need to move up to a pedal bike at this point. Raise the seat height a bit, your child should be able to stand on their tiptoes while seated on the bike.

Before jumping into pedaling, it’s a good idea to explain how the brakes work. Kids’ bikes often have simple coaster brakes, which require pedaling backward to stop. Hold the bike while they’re on it and have them practice pedaling in reverse to get a feel for braking.

Even if your child’s bike has hand brakes, it’s a good idea to start with just the coaster brake for now. Hand brakes require more hand strength to operate, and can be a skill to learn all on their own. As they progress and grow though, learning to operate hand brakes is a key step in getting onto those big kids bikes.

Finally, the key to making pedaling easy is starting with the crank and pedals level. While stationary, help them align the crank in a forward position, so one pedal is as far towards the front of the bike as possible. This will help them get leverage on those first pedal strokes to build enough momentum to balance.

Have your child push down on the forward pedal to start moving, then alternate and push on the opposite pedal once it rotates to the forward position. Keep that alternating left-right rhythm to match the rotation of the pedals, and that’s all there is to it!

Combine the braking technique now so they can ride slowly and bring themselves to a stop. Have them follow your direction to engage the brakes whenever you call “stop”. This helps them get used to stopping, and you can turn it into a fun game.

Riding alongside your child is a great way to practice together once they’re comfortable combining balance, pedaling, and braking.

Don’t worry if it takes your child a little while to get used to riding though. Keep in mind that combining all of these new skills can be the most challenging part of learning to ride, so it may take some time. You can go back to any stage if more practice is needed; if your child struggles with balance while learning to pedal, they can always practice gliding for a while without using the pedals. Once they readjust, they can try again.

No matter how things go, always remember riding a bike is supposed to be fun and every kid will learn at their own rate. If they struggle or don’t seem interested at first, don’t push too hard. Keep things light, use lots of positive reinforcement, and take breaks when you need to – there’s no deadline here.

Learning to ride is a big deal for kids, so celebrate their success with a reward and be sure to print out an official SmartStart ‘I Can Ride’ Certificate! A great learning experience will encourage your child to keep riding for years to come.