From Balance Bike to Pedals: My 4 Year Old Learned to Ride a Bike Without Training Wheels
Real talk: I’ve got a fournado on my hands. IYKYK. 🌪👧🏻
I’ve found that the absolute best way to channel that seemingly endless four year-old energy is through lots of physical play outside. We gave our four year-old her first balance bike for her second birthday, and it wasn’t long after that she learned to zip around our neighborhood, propelling herself forward with her feet on the ground.
Flash forward two years later, and our balance bike ninja has fully outgrown her wheels. We knew it was time for pedals, but we were really unimpressed with the selection of kids bikes we found in local shops. They were either too heavy, awkwardly sized, or unsafely designed. No, thanks.
Enter: Guardian Bikes.
A pedal bike that’s designed with your child’s anatomy in mind
Right out of the gate, I was impressed by all the thought that went into these two wheel bikes made exclusively for little bodies. Lots of big name brands design bikes for the 4-6 age range, but Guardian Bikes are made with kid-specific geometry. Kids aren’t just tiny adults, and it’s really important that their first bike takes their anatomy into consideration.
Guardian Bikes are also super lightweight so my little one won’t have trouble maneuvering her bike up hills and around turns.
Lots of kids transitioning from their little balance bike to a bigger 16 inch pedal bike are used to bikes that don’t weigh very much, and a bike that’s too heavy is more likely to be rejected or result in an injury.
A quick word on safety ✅
Guardian Bikes come in six several bright colors, including Mint Purple, Purple Aqua, Black Blue, Black Red, Pink Aqua, and Grey Electric Lime. And while my little one was busy picking her favorite color (Mint Purple 💚💜), I was learning about the brake system.
When I first learned to ride, kids’ bikes had coaster brakes, which work by stopping the wheels when you pedal backwards. These can be really awkward for little ones who pedal backwards instinctively. My daughter can get frustrated easily learning a new skill, so I knew this wasn’t right for her.
Guardian Bikes are designed with a flywheel and their SureStop® Brake System, a single lever brake that stops kids faster and with more control, and helps prevent head over handlebar accidents by balancing the front and rear brakes simultaneously. There’s only one brake lever that controls the whole system, so kids won’t get confused learning which brake to engage and when.
Build confidence by setting the scene
My daughter was so excited when her new bike arrived in time for her birthday, and she wanted to get started right away. I had no idea how to put a bike together, but thankfully, Guardian Bikes arrive 99% assembled by trained technicians, leaving only the pedals and handlebars to install upon arrival.
Guardian also has a super helpful, easy-to-follow video that takes about five minutes to watch, and we got her bike set up within minutes.
Then came the part I was really dreading: teaching her how to ride. To my relief, Guardian has a video for that, too.
If your kid is graduating from a balance bike, like mine was, you can remove the pedals and let them get a feel for the bike like it’s just a bigger, slightly heavier balance bike. My daughter took to this part really easily, and she wasted no time zooming around without the pedals, testing the brakes (so easy!), and gaining confidence.
My four year old figured it out in just one day
Finally, it came time to put the pedals on and give it a…well, spin. My daughter was a little intimidated at first, and kept trying to pedal backward when she sat down. We actually took a second to lift the back wheels off the ground for her to try a couple of practice pedals without moving around.
Guardian suggests letting your child get their balance first on a gentle slope, but because my little fournado does nothing halfway, she insisted on trying the bike on our not-so-gentle driveway. 😫
With a quick kick off the ground, she put her feet right on the pedals and rode that bike all the way down without stopping. I was seriously impressed.