How to get my 5yo boys off the training wheels

I wish I could give you advice, but we did the scoot with pedals for our daughter last week, and it took her only 2 days to ride it.  We put her on her sisters smaller bike to begin with, then when she learned her balance we put her on her larger bike.  Haven't had any problems.  

We tried the hold the bike seat till she got her balance and then let go thing, but that didn't work out so well for us!  

Good Luck!!!! 

Ok, I'll throw something crazy atcha. Learned this from my Au Pair from Sweden (no kidding). Get a broomstick. 

Take the end of the broomstick and jam it in the triangle right behind the seat post, you can thread it all the way down to where the bb ends and the chainstays start. Voila, handle, or as it would appear to us, a mast/flagpole. 

Gives you a pole to hold them upright if things go awry. It will work. Be prepared to run alongside them for a while.

ETA: This is just a glorified, slightly safer version of what Morey recommended. 

you do it like every other dad has done for the last 10,000 (ok, 80) years.

You run behind him holding the seat.  Telling him that you've got him.  then you hold him less and less... and before you know it he'll be riding a bike.  then- never, ever put the training wheels back on, unless you want the opportunity to re-teach them.

Take some photos and video- as you only get to do this once in your life (for each kid).

^^^^ x2

There's a good chance they could fall but with a helmet and pads they should be fine.  My daughter learned before we could even get training wheels put on which was weird.  My son and step-daughter took a little longer but once they got over the fear of not having training wheels and thinking that I was still hanging on they were fine. 

Step 1:  See if you can raise the training wheels an inch or two so they can balance without the training wheels touching

Step 2:  Take the training wheel off on one side.

Step 3:  Take both training wheels off, hold the seat and tell them you won't let go.

Step 4:  Repeat step 3, only lie about not letting go.

Unless your boys are really small, you should also look into a 16" bike.   Those little 12-inch bikes usually have a steep rake and no forward offset on the fork, which makes them REALLY twitchy.

A 16" bike with a little more rake and the wheel slightly forward of the plane of the fork will be much easier to control.

The broomstick trick will work.  My friend had a "balance buddy" which was the same idea, but it bolted on in place of the training wheels and you could run fully upright.

After running behind the first 3 kids, number 4 was taking a little longer to get the hang of things. Put her on a smaller bike with the pedals off and had her practice on the driveway, then the sidewalk. She moved up to her 20" bike with pedals in no time.

I'm a convert to the glide without pedals approach.

Did the training wheel trick - lifted one up a few inches...my son rode around like that for a bit.  I guess I got lucky, because I took them off one day, gave him a push, and off he went.  The wife (ex) and I couldn't believe it.  

In hind sight, we probably should have told him how to use the breaks so when he reached the end of the cul-de-sac he wouldn't have crashed into the neighbors truck.  

Take the training wheels off.  Period. 

They won't understand the principle that you go where you look and their natural tendency is to look at the front wheel and so they wobble and ride off the sidewalk.  Have them focus on something farther away, like the stop sign at the end of the block and they'll be stable which leads to confidence. 

Let them fall towards the grass once or twice and they'll realize it isn't as "scary" as they thought.  Catch them before they hit a car or ride into the street, or would crash into something hard.  Point out their success, so when they crash, point out how many sidewalk blocks they rode before they crashed and they'll quickly overcome the "failure" of crashing. 

The reason the scoot bikes is suggested is because a kid really learns to balance, not depend on the training wheels.  Now that they've ridden so much on their training wheels, it's scary to think of not having it and they haven't really learned to balance.   

I've helped quite a majority of the kids of our bike club members learn to ride, by usually getting the parent out of the way and doing the following.  With my first daughter I actually bought a bike for $15 at a swap meet just for learning to ride to ensure it was small enough for her to touch.

Definitely adjust the seat so they can fit both feet flat on the ground.  Then before you have them glide or coast down an incline, have them stay right in place. Hold the back of the seat.  Have them put their feet on the pedals.   You are not going to let them go, you are going to teach them how to balance.  Explain to them that if they were riding and their bike leans to the right, he needs to turn the handle bars slightly to the right to counter act the leaning.  Have them look at the horizon. Hold them in one place and narrate them through,  "Ok you are riding along, what do you do when the bike starts to lean?" Then lean the bike slightly have them see as they turn their front wheel it helps keep them up right.  Practice over and over, lean right then left.  This way they learn that they are in control of the bike falling over.  

Then on a flat surface, have them push off with both feet and glide just a little ways with just raising their feet a couple of inches of the ground and then putting their feet back down on the ground again.  Have them do this over and over again.   Once they are good at this, have them push off and move their feet to the pedals but don't pedal then put their feet back on the ground.  

Through each of these they are practicing their balance figuring out how to move the bike and front handle bars to avoid falling over.   Once they are comfortable they are ready for an incline and actually pedaling.

Be sure to show them how to stop.  How to use the brakes, not the bottom of their shoes. Elbow pads and knee pads help them feel comfortable if they do hit the grass.

I agree with have the camera - video ready, cause it's never a first after this.   And you won't be able to get them off their bikes once they learn it.

Grass is your friend....this is not uncharted water.

They will crash, you will pick them up and will them back on their bikes.....and they will crash again.

They will crash again.....and then they will RIDE!!!

Enjoy it!

My grandson is 8 months old....we'll teach him to swim this summer....I can't wait to help teach him to ride a bike. 

These are some of the best memories you will have with your sons.......GO!!

Hmmm, it seems that the method we used was so unique, no one else has tried it.

After doing the bit without pedals, grassy slope, etc, we simple put the training wheels back on, and told the youngest that when he is ready, to let us know. Last year, at six, he decided that it was time, and we did a few rides, where he got used to the idea. This year he is trying all kinds of tricks, we are taking longer journey's, and everyone is having fun.

It will happen when he is ready, even if you don't do anything.

But in any case, good luck to the both of you.

OK I did this with my daughter just this weekend.  I had been unsuccessfully trying the old "hold on to the back of the seat" thing like every other dad does for weeks and weeks now.  That method may work over time but its not the best method.

I actually Googled "how to teach your kid to ride a bike" and found the best advice ever.  Here http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/teach+child+to+ride+a+bike.html and here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7HsWf8cbI

This is what you do.  Lower the seat all the way down.  Take the pedals off.  Let your kid get on the bike and "ride" it by scooting on it, and then coasting a bit with their feet up.  The kid will learn how to balance this way.  They can put their foot down whenever they need to.  Eventually they will coast further and further, and will have enough balance where you can put the pedals back on and they'll be able to balance the bike while pedaling without training wheels.

Sounds crazy, but it works!  MY daughter, who had been scared of her bike for the longest time, learned how to ride without training wheels in one weekend.  Seriously.  This is the way to go.

good luck!

Except mine. Not his fault though; when I decided I was ready, I was ready. I didn't want to wait for him to get home from work so I kept kicking the training wheels until they were up off the ground and I just went for it. I was older than the OP kids though, probably 7 or so. And the bike was a girls bike that was way too big for me. As the 4th out of 5, hand me downs were my life.

Pick him up??

Like!  Nice post Morey.  I would add it's important not to do this on your time scale as a parent.  When your child is ready, they will let you know.  Then again, I say that (the whole "when they're ready") about just about everything.  

x2

We got our daughters off the training wheels this way.  They want to look down so bad; get them away from that and it is really simple.  I also only ran with them to keep them from disaster (car, tree or street) otherwise they take a few scrapes.  The only other advice is have them ride with some kids who are already off of them, that works well too.