Thanks for the advice everyone. Frankly, I'm not in that much of a
hurry, but my son really is. He loves his big wheel but every time he
gets a chance to ride a bike at the store or whatever he's zooming all
over the place and I hear about it literally like 5 times a day. He
really seems ready, but it certainly seems young to me. 

I guess the main thing about the training wheels is that it actually
allows them to ride (in my mind) faster and more aggressive than they
should be able to ride. Heck, in the store he's pedaling super fast and
then makes a turn and he's up on the outer training wheel. I'm sure it
wouldn't be long before he's on the ground after relying on the training
wheels too much. I kind of equate it to riding motorcycles and ATV's.
I've seen lots of parents put their kids on ATV's since all they need to
do is know how to hit the gas. That doesn't necessarily mean they have
any of the skills to fully control the ATV. On a motorcycle you're not
really going to be able to do anything until you learn the basics of
balance and braking. After that you can putt around all day in first
gear starting and stopping. 

Anyway, sorry for the needless words and thanks for the help. 

-Phil

-----Original Message-----
From: John Connolly, Aircooled.Net [mailto:john@aircooled.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 1:58 PM
To: Walker, Phil; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: OT: No-training wheels bicycle advice needed - Some RVC
around A/C

kids are not ready for a 2 wheeler until 5yo. I have a neice that is 7
that is still on training wheels. My 5yo JUST pitched the training
wheels last weekend! Don't be in a hurry!

a scooter is a good training device for a bike, let them use that for a
year first.

John
Aircooled.Net Inc.

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