Eric3.0

My friend Kim is 63 and learning to ride.... She got herself a folding bike off of of Amazon that sits low in the middle....it doesn't sit high and she can plant both feet on the ground at stop....the bike rolls great.... I forgot the name of it...I'll check it out next time.

Thats an idea....get a lower seat ride....so you're not having to use tippy toes when at stop.... It'll make you more safe feeling and confident.

Don't give it up, it's a great fun thing to do.

Once you get the hang of it, consult someone that can help you make your rides more comfortable....correct seat height, riding techniques and all that.

Find a friend to ride with you....you all can have fun riding while chatting......find a nice trail.
Ugggg I wish you were here....I'd love to help you out.

hikingineer

A friend had offered for me to borrow the bike. I was just bit hesitant as I didn't want to damage it while trying to learn. I don't know about any rental place nearby and very generous of biker community to be willing to help in such ways. Good to know about these options tho.

Funny thing .. as soon as I post this here ... I saw Trek 730 on CL for $150 ... I went and got it ... I tried it out there and was able to stay on the bike for 1-2min. Of course, need to get the control and balance when turning and such.

Thanks for encouragement.

GovernorSilver

You're welcome and congrats on the purchase! I admittedly splurged a bit on my bike - in retrospect, any bike would have been fine for me, even the kind you can get at Walmart, because I am also a newbie and lack the experience to discern cheaper bikes from more expensive ones. But I don't regret buying what I bought.

I still practice turns when I go on a ride. Other things I practice:

- Looking left/right and behind before turning or changing lanes (just ordered a mirror though!)
- Signaling (still very hard for me - balance/control goes out of whack when I take a hand off the handlebar to signal)
- Riding on sidewalks, which is also practice for riding within a bike line - don't want to swerve and collide with anyone/anything outside of the lane... or fall off a sidewalk... or hit barrier posts that are there to prevent cars from entering bike paths.
- Descending - to conquer fear of descent
- Climbing - because I need to get used to the hills in my area

mistro17

Hi all, total newbie here. I never learned to ride as a kid, and now, at 30, I want to learn so that I can teach my son (who is due to join us this week) when the time comes. Most of my riding would be just around the development, so thinking either a comfort or hybrid bike would be best. My question is, and I'm sure there are varying opinions - Should I look to spend very little on a used bike (possibly even a mountain bike) to learn to ride, then buy something better? Or, would I be better off buying a new bike and learning on the bike I will end up using most?

Norg

I was in your position just three weeks ago - (almost) 30, had never learnt to ride a bicycle and was looking to buy my first bike. I was originally looking for a used bike, but couldn't find any decent ones for a cheap price. I ended up buying a new bike for around 350 Euro which I intend to keep for a number of years. I bought a city bike because I intend to use the bike to commute to work, and it came with all I needed to do that (lights, a rack, fenders etc.).

I have since learnt to ride fairly well, and I'm doing 10km practice rides every day or every other day. I'm still building up the courage to hit some of the main roads in my area, but I'm thrilled with my choice of bike so far.

Having said that, I get the impression that pretty much any bike would do if you just want to learn to ride. If I had come across a dirt cheap bike I think I would have been perfectly fine with that.

brianogilvie 

You might begin by asking friends and co-workers whether they have a bike that's gathering dust that you could borrow. If it fits, that would be a good way to start.

A good way to teach a child to ride is to avoid training wheels. Instead, take off the pedals, lower the saddle so that the child can easily put his or her feet on the ground, and teach him or her how to balance and steer while pushing with the feet. Begin on flat ground, with a gentle push, and encourage him or her to lift feet off the ground (just a bit) and coast while steering the bike side to side (gently). When he or she has mastered that, find a gentle slope and coast down it (a bike with a handbrake in front is a good idea, since if you take the pedals off a bike with a coaster brake, the rear brake won't be functional). When he or she can comfortably control the bike while coasting, then it's time to introduce pedals and raise the saddle. On most bikes, when the saddle at the correct height the rider can't put feet flat on the ground, just touch it with the toes, so learning how to control and balance the bike without pedals is an important step in building confidence.

As a new adult rider, you might want to try the same thing: pedals off (easy to do with the proper tool as long as you remember that the left-side pedal is reverse threaded, or have a bike shop do it), saddle down, and work on coasting and balance before putting pedals back on. Or you could try out a "pedal-forward" (or "semi-recumbent") bike like the Electra Townie, which is designed so that you can put your feet down while riding.

And if you do get bitten by the cycling bug, you'll probably find that whatever your first bike, you'll want something slightly different for the next bike. So if you buy one, don't spend a fortune. Unless you are already knowledgeable about bikes, it's hard to know a good deal on Craigslist or the classified ads, so if you want a used one, see whether there are any shops or co-ops in your area that sell used bikes that have been refurbished to a decent standard.

Some useful resources for beginners include the late, lamented Sheldon Brown's beginners' page and John S. Allen's Bicycling Street Smarts.

Most importantly, whatever bike you get, have fun!

70sSanO

There is a ton of good advice in this thread on steps or techniques to learning.

One thing that is important is to figure out what type of riding the person is going to do. If it is recreational around town/bike path riding I would echo the recommendation to look into a crank forward bike. Crank forward bikes allow a person to have a proper setup and still be able to touch the ground. This may be important if you ride where there are a lot of people walking and other bikes, like along a beach boardwalk.

If the desire is to eventually ride off-road or a racing bike, then finding a slightly smaller size and lowering the seat to be able to touch the ground might be a better way to go. Even though my wife has ridden all over, it has taken me years to get her to get her saddle higher on her road bike and that only happened when I got a slightly undersized bike so the top bar didn't seem so impending when she stopped.

Another consideration is understanding where you live and if it is hilly or flat. Our daughter and her husband went out and bought beach cruisers. Unfortunately there is nothing flat where they live so the bikes don't get ridden unless they transport them, which is not very often. But they do look good hanging in the garage. If you need gears then get a bike with gears.

The final advice is not to be too cheap buying a first bike. Spending $50 or $100 on something that an experienced rider couldn't even ride only makes things worse. If you can rent a bike, that might be a good first step to at least getting the feel for it. Have the place lower the seat so you can touch the ground. Some bike shops sell used bikes and that may be a good route to go. At the very least, the shop should have made it rideable. Best scenario is to find a good shop and a decent bike whether new or used. I stay away from Walmart bikes because they tend to be heavy and fall apart fairly quickly and in the long run end up costing more.

John

mistro17

Thanks Brian and Norg for your responses. I wound up finding someone selling a used schwinn mountain bike (which I believe is the right size) for under $75 near my home, and I'm going to check it out tomorrow. Even if it is a little scratched up, as long as it is in working condition and seems generally safe, it should hopefully work great for "training" myself. I highly doubt this will be my primary bike if I do get into it, but for the size and price, I'm happy to give it a try.

GovernorSilver

Congrats on the impending birth of your son.

I don't have much more advice to offer other than check out a "How To Ride" type of class in your area. REI does this type of class. However, you might be able to find a non-profit organization that also teaches classes. I took classes from both REI and Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). WABA is a member of the Alliance for Biking and Walking, whose website lists four member organizations in your state - perhaps one or more of them can give you leads for a learn-to-ride class: Member Organizations - Alliance for Biking & Walking

Both REI and WABA teach the "balance-first, no training wheels" method, but differ a bit in some specific teaching methodologies. I found the WABA approach to be more effective, but that's just me.

When you're totally new to riding, just about any bike is going to be hard to ride, even with the seat adjusted down so you can put both feet on the ground. Maybe you can find something in the two links that Brian posted to help you in your bike shopping. One advantage of buying a bike from a local bike shop is that the shop will probably offer a free tuneup within a certain timeframe of purchase - my bike for example came with a free tuneup within 12 months of purchase. Oh and one of those organizations in your area might offer membership perks like discounts at your area bike shops.

One more thing I can add is - practice on your own as often as possible and don't be frustrated if the saying "Just like riding a bike" proves to be false for you as it was for me. Just two days after I successfully pedaled for the first time in WABA's how to ride class, I started trying out bikes and I couldn't balance or pedal worth a a damn - it felt like I never took the class! The only fix for that was to take the bike somewhere where I could coast, relearn how to balance by coasting, then gradually work in the pedaling. By my 2nd week of riding, I still had to warm up before each ride by coasting, then pedaling. In fact, it was only this past weekend, the start of my 3rd week, that I was finally able to take out my bike and pedal forward right away with no coasting warmup.

GovernorSilver

Yet a few more things I forgot to add:

1. Read up on the bike laws in your area - eg. whether you can ride on a sidewalk or not.
2. Here we are advised to take the middle of the lane when biking on the road. Do not bike to the right of the lane because that will encourage cars to try to pass you dangerously close and they are also more likely to hit you on a turn to the right.

mistro17

Thank you as well for all of the valuable information. I will be doing lots of reading tonight through all of the links, as well as researching the REI classes too.

mistro17

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JO1S

I am going to 39, and just started learning to ride a bike. I bought a hybrid bike almost 2 years ago and tried to ride it once without much success as I think I also let frustration get in the way of learning. Two weeks ago I decided to try again. First I tried it at home just sitting on the bike and getting it to move with my feet and tried to balance on it for short distance. Slowly then I tried putting my feet on the paddle and tried to paddle a bit. Still didn't get a good grasp of balancing on it but felt that I was getting close. Spent about an hour doing this. Couple of days later, took the bike out on a bike path. Had a lot of issues balancing on it at the beginning, trying to get on to the paddle and surprisingly found it easier on the grass at first to balance, and then eventually got more comfortable on the path as once you figure out to initially get started paddling while on it, balancing becomes easier once you are moving. Finally managed to ride on the path but still frequently wobbly and tend to panic if there is oncoming traffic which most of the times resulted in me stopping. Tried again this week on another bike which had slightly thinner wheels so took a little while to get adjusted to it. Also one of my feet tend to turn outwards which cause my heel to hit the bike often which can be annoying. At the end managed to cycle again but still confidence is an issue as causes me to wobble a bit and panic when there's other traffic. I think as I get more time on the bike, my confidence should build up and hope that I will be able to ride without fear of other traffic and straight all the time.

For those learning, be persistent and patient and keep on practicing. The more time you have on your bike, the more you get comfortable on it.

GovernorSilver

You have just described my experience as a beginning cyclist this past May and June. I'm older than you, btw.

As of this month (mid-October) I have been commuting by bike to work 1-2 times a week - usually 2. Takes me about 1 hr 10 min. to ride 12-13 miles each way between home and work. No matter what route I choose, I have to ride on streets, sharing lanes with cars; on MUPs (mixed-use paths, aka "bike trails"), and on plain old sidewalks. I've suffered bruises from falls, but if I started over again, I still wouldn't have put on elbow guards and knee guards like a mountain biker or anything like that. I'm not the most graceful person, so some kind of wipeout/fall would have been inevitable as part of the learning experience for me.

Anyway, the desire to start biking to work, as inspired by work colleagues, overrode my various fears as a beginning cyclist. Over time, my balance and control has improved and my various anxieties/fears have been reduced. I have learned to never get too complacent - nothing like passing another cyclist lying on the ground hurt (she was surrounded by fair number of concerned citizens, so it's not like I just left her lying there) to remind you to be always be on the lookout - but my life isn't dominated by fear either.

mpls85

Lots of good advice here, but be sure to ignore this statement. A helmet is absolutely essential, no matter your speed or surface.

Best of luck!

GovernorSilver

At the very least, you can mount a light on your helmet, and also a mirror.

I still prefer a handlebar-mounted mirror, but I have a trekking/butterfly bar and there's no good place really to mount a mirror on it. You'll want a mirror if you ride on streets regularly.

Helmet-mounted light is a near-essential item if you're going to commute, unless your work shift guarantees you're always riding in daylight. You'll need all the help you can get, spotting sharp things in the dark that might cut your tires.

JO1S

Wow, you have progressed really well. Hope I'll get to that stage soon but I don't think I will have the courage to commute to work anytime soon. I'll need to go through the city roads and up hills. Maybe in future I might, but for now I will stick to the bike path. I sort of fell last Sunday on a turn, bike went down but managed to stop my fall against a fence. My wife and I just learned to cycle, and we took it up so that we can take the kids out for cycling on weekends as an activity to do together as a family. Can't wait for this Sunday to come again to take the bike out for a spin.

GovernorSilver

Thanks. The first time I went for a ride on the nearest MUP (Mt. Vernon Trail), I rode almost entirely on sidewalks to get there, because I was scared of riding on the road. It was fine, despite some shaky control, until the ride back home, when I tried to ride around some boxes someone had left scattered all over the sidewalk, as well as garbage and recycle bins. I lost my balance and fell, suffering a bunch of cuts and bruises. That was my 3rd week of bike riding. Before that I was practicing in the park and parking lots uphill from my house, trying to work on my turns, ride straight on sidewalks, and get used to descending, which was also scary. I practiced riding every day because it was addictive.

It was a couple of weeks later that I went for a longer ride on the MVT. This time I rode on the streets to get to the connector MUP to the MVT - I didn't want to deal with random junk on sidewalks again plus stopping several times to let pedestrians go by, some with baby strollers and dogs. Also I wasn't really aware of the dangers of cars backing out of driveways while sidewalk-riding. Anyway, I rode 23 miles, mostly on the MVT, that day. When I told my boss, he thought it was time to meet him on the trails and follow him to work. That would have been about a month and a half after I took that how-to-ride class and learned how to ride a bike. That first ride to work was a scary experience, especially since he liked to ride between cars in rush hour traffic.

Confidence in bike riding just comes with doing it a lot and enjoying it. It's awesome both you and your wife are learning to ride, with the intention of bringing the kids along. My boss is contemplating getting a trailer bike so his younger daughter can pedal along behind him - like this one:



Another colleague got a wooden balance bike for his kid. He's the one that told me that training wheels are now considered obsolete.

VegasTriker

I teach Cycling Merit Badge to young Scouts. The first lesson before we begin the series of rides is bike safety. I teach them that we will never use the sidewalk on any of our rides unless the sidewalk also happens to be designated as a bike path which does happen in some parts of the valley. When they ride on their own, that's their parent's problem. Here's what the League of American Cyclists has to say about riding on the sidewalk: Riding on the Sidewalk | League of American Bicyclists I hadn't seen this before but I tell the kids consider yourself invisible while riding on the sidewalk. That's because drivers aren't looking at the sidewalks. They are looking at the road if they are not looking at their cell phones so they don't see you and may run you down at intersections or when turning into driveways. It may be illegal to ride on the sidewalk in some places, particularly in a business district.

The only time I came close to running over a cyclist was a guy riding on the sidewalk against the flow of traffic. I looked for pedestrians. He was traveling fast and reached the intersection as I was looking for an opening in the flow of traffic to make the turn. If I had been a bit more aggressive on the gas, I would have run right over the top of him.