Wolf
27th March 2005, 13:41
My boys (aged one and two) are both obsessed with bikes and each had a plastic trike of the sit-on-and-kick-yourself-along variety. The youngest (Tangwyn) has been riding his trike since before he could walk.
On Friday I took Taliesin's trike - one of those ones that have a narrow rear and are styled to resemble a classic British bike - took the wheels off, took to the plastic body with a saw, shortened the axle a mite and put it back together with just one rear wheel - set into a nice little recess at the back. Now he has a real "bike" - albeit still reliant on foot propulsion.
He loves it, it slides out at the back better than when it had two rear wheels and it actually leans properly in the corners. He's getting very adept at balancing it as he careers headlong around the yard/living room. He's already had a few bins and thinks they were exceedingly funny.
Even Tangwyn rides it and is doing well - will have to get another similar trike and modify it for him.
My question:
What else can I do to help my boys develop the co-ordination/skills required for riding bikes?
Getting a couple of JR50's or similar is not an option at the moment and the boys aren't tall enough for them yet, anyway. What I want to do is prepare for when I can afford a coupke of JRs or similar and they're physically tall enough to ride them.
The modified plasic trike is good for balance and cornering. What I'd especially like is something to get them used to using brakes.
Suggestions, please, - bearing in mind they are not particularly tall - Tangwyn's inner-leg measurement is 280mm, Taliesin's is around 300mm (seat height of JR50 is 480mm).
On Friday I took Taliesin's trike - one of those ones that have a narrow rear and are styled to resemble a classic British bike - took the wheels off, took to the plastic body with a saw, shortened the axle a mite and put it back together with just one rear wheel - set into a nice little recess at the back. Now he has a real "bike" - albeit still reliant on foot propulsion.
He loves it, it slides out at the back better than when it had two rear wheels and it actually leans properly in the corners. He's getting very adept at balancing it as he careers headlong around the yard/living room. He's already had a few bins and thinks they were exceedingly funny.
Even Tangwyn rides it and is doing well - will have to get another similar trike and modify it for him.
My question:
What else can I do to help my boys develop the co-ordination/skills required for riding bikes?
Getting a couple of JR50's or similar is not an option at the moment and the boys aren't tall enough for them yet, anyway. What I want to do is prepare for when I can afford a coupke of JRs or similar and they're physically tall enough to ride them.
The modified plasic trike is good for balance and cornering. What I'd especially like is something to get them used to using brakes.
Suggestions, please, - bearing in mind they are not particularly tall - Tangwyn's inner-leg measurement is 280mm, Taliesin's is around 300mm (seat height of JR50 is 480mm).