Riding with newbie
#1
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Riding with newbie
My GF who was born in Sicily when bikes were FAR scarcer then donkeys has never ridden a bike. She wants to learn (we're in mid 60's) I'm wondering if a tandem bike will give her a sense of balance before getting on a bike alone, or would it be more likely that she bring a tandem bike crashing down despite my balancing it for her?
Also would the foot brake be a problem should she panic and not let me stop the bike? Considering that can anyone recommend a reasonably priced tandem with hand brakes? Maybe even a few speeds?
TIA
Also would the foot brake be a problem should she panic and not let me stop the bike? Considering that can anyone recommend a reasonably priced tandem with hand brakes? Maybe even a few speeds?
TIA
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Yeah, I concur about trying a rental tandem--preferably with an upright sitting position and mountain-style handle bars (which is how they are usually set up). One caveat is that riding where you have to start and stop a lot is tricky, especially around people. If you have an uncrowded bike path, that would be best. Communicating when you will start and stop pedaling is also important.
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My GF who was born in Sicily when bikes were FAR scarcer then donkeys has never ridden a bike. She wants to learn (we're in mid 60's) I'm wondering if a tandem bike will give her a sense of balance before getting on a bike alone, or would it be more likely that she bring a tandem bike crashing down despite my balancing it for her?
Also would the foot brake be a problem should she panic and not let me stop the bike? Considering that can anyone recommend a reasonably priced tandem with hand brakes? Maybe even a few speeds?
TIA
Also would the foot brake be a problem should she panic and not let me stop the bike? Considering that can anyone recommend a reasonably priced tandem with hand brakes? Maybe even a few speeds?
TIA
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To me, bike riding always meant freedom. When women first mounted bikes, the whole world changed. I say she could learn to ride a single, no problem. Freedom is a big deal. Google "how to learn to ride a bike as an adult." The frame has to be small enough or a design which allows the saddle to be lowered enough that the rider can propel herself with her feet, the pedals being removed, just like a 2 year-old's balance bike.
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Starting her off on a tandem may have the opposite effect. My stoker hasn't touched her bike since we bought our first of two tandems. We rented a hybrid tandem while on vacation and liked it enough to buy the entry-level Kent Dual-Drive. The Kent is definitely good enough for beginners.
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My wife never learned as a child how to ride a bike, and since has had both knees replaced. I built her a nice bike and tried teaching her. Then I got adult training wheels but still she couldn't manage very well. We bought a reasonably priced used tandem and ride together every chance we get. I changed the seatpost and seat and went through a few variations of handlebars, bull bars, until she was comfortable. I added toeclips to keep her feet safely in place after a close call with the chain and she has learned to get in and out of those easily. Trust is the most important asset you can build, so read up and watch YouTube on tandem tips, how to get on, start off, stop, and communicate. Buy a modern tandem with indexed shifting and lots of gears cause you'll use every one of them when gaining experience.
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My wife has been visually impaired her entire life too. She can see well enough to have been able to ride her bike to and from where she used to work though. That said, her balance is not all that great but some of that comes from poor upper body strength.
To the OP. As some have mentioned, a lot of it is a trust issue where tandems are concerned. My wife used to freak out if we broke 30 miles an hour on a descent until she got used to it and trusted my judgement. Myself, I don't particularly like getting over 40.
Then we took out mountain tandem out on the gravel. It was the same thing all over again but this time, there was noise of gravel crunching and getting spit out as we descended. I also have to move the bike around a lot more to avoid obstructions.
Early on, when we would take our road tandem out, I would lean us into curves. Once or twice when the bike was leaning, she fought me and tried to keep the bike upright. I gave her a little reprimand because I had to get heavy on the brakes to keep from pushing off the side of the road.
Again, as some have mentioned. Try a rental or see if anyone in the area has one to try. There is a joke in the world of tandems. "Whichever way your relationship is heading, a tandem will get you there faster." We say it jokingly but it is true. Luckily, my wife loves our tandem rides. Usually more than I do, but then again, the stoker is the one who puts out all of the power.
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Starting her off on a tandem may have the opposite effect. My stoker hasn't touched her bike since we bought our first of two tandems. We rented a hybrid tandem while on vacation and liked it enough to buy the entry-level Kent Dual-Drive. The Kent is definitely good enough for beginners.
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She can learn. But don't use training wheels. They're the worst. They don't teach riding at all. If anything, they teach the new rider that leaning causes problems, which is the exact opposite of what learning to ride entails.
Have her ride a "skut" type bike. That is, a bicycle without pedals, cranks and chain, and with a saddle low enough where the rider can plant both feet firmly on the ground at the same time. Self-balancing and pushing quickly teaches the new rider the dynamics of bicycle riding.
If a tandem isn't a good introduction to the feeling of riding a single, then put her on the back of a motorcycle. This may more accurately teach the untrained rider what it feels like to carve turns on two wheels.
She can learn. I taught myself how to ride a unicycle in 12 days (at age 50). But the trick to learning was devoting time to it every day. Your brain needs regular exposure to learn a new skill. Instead of, say, spending three frustrating hours every month, spend a half hour to 45 minutes every day. This is the trick. Don't have any expectations at all. Just go out and have her do her best. Don't care at all what sort of progress occurs. Her brain will absorb and process the things she needs to learn along the way. And I'd be very surprised if she isn't riding in relatively short order.
Once she learns the dynamics of bicycle riding, THEN it's up to you to make sure she gets the KNOWLEDGE involved to safely navigate the environment and ride safely. Learning proper braking technique is a perfect example. A bicycle can stop you quickly and safely, or it can throw you over the handlebars. Learning how to prevent the latter can mean the difference between happy cycling and never riding ever again.
Good luck!
Have her ride a "skut" type bike. That is, a bicycle without pedals, cranks and chain, and with a saddle low enough where the rider can plant both feet firmly on the ground at the same time. Self-balancing and pushing quickly teaches the new rider the dynamics of bicycle riding.
If a tandem isn't a good introduction to the feeling of riding a single, then put her on the back of a motorcycle. This may more accurately teach the untrained rider what it feels like to carve turns on two wheels.
She can learn. I taught myself how to ride a unicycle in 12 days (at age 50). But the trick to learning was devoting time to it every day. Your brain needs regular exposure to learn a new skill. Instead of, say, spending three frustrating hours every month, spend a half hour to 45 minutes every day. This is the trick. Don't have any expectations at all. Just go out and have her do her best. Don't care at all what sort of progress occurs. Her brain will absorb and process the things she needs to learn along the way. And I'd be very surprised if she isn't riding in relatively short order.
Once she learns the dynamics of bicycle riding, THEN it's up to you to make sure she gets the KNOWLEDGE involved to safely navigate the environment and ride safely. Learning proper braking technique is a perfect example. A bicycle can stop you quickly and safely, or it can throw you over the handlebars. Learning how to prevent the latter can mean the difference between happy cycling and never riding ever again.
Good luck!
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Have her ride a "skut" type bike. That is, a bicycle without pedals, cranks and chain, and with a saddle low enough where the rider can plant both feet firmly on the ground at the same time. Self-balancing and pushing quickly teaches the new rider the dynamics of bicycle riding.
She can learn. I taught myself how to ride a unicycle in 12 days (at age 50). But the trick to learning was devoting time to it every day. Your brain needs regular exposure to learn a new skill. Instead of, say, spending three frustrating hours every month, spend a half hour to 45 minutes every day. This is the trick. Don't have any expectations at all. Just go out and have her do her best. Don't care at all what sort of progress occurs. Her brain will absorb and process the things she needs to learn along the way. And I'd be very surprised if she isn't riding in relatively short order. Once she learns the dynamics of bicycle riding, THEN it's up to you to make sure she gets the KNOWLEDGE involved to safely navigate the environment and ride safely. Learning proper braking technique is a perfect example. A bicycle can stop you quickly and safely, or it can throw you over the handlebars. Learning how to prevent the latter can mean the difference between happy cycling and never riding ever again.
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If the training wheels are mounted high enough so that the bike can lean, say 10* at least, then the rider will (can) learn how to balance (so the training wheels do not touch) but if they lose their balance the bicycle does not capsize. But we don't need to revisit this. The idea of using a stand scooter where the balance is as intuitive as the balance we use everyday to stand upright ... when you use a scooter which most people get the hang of in mere minutes, if not seconds, IMO that should have been a /thread post.
I have never heard of a skut bike or ever seen one. That might present a problem to someone wanting to use one. In any case, such a purchase is guaranteed to be short lived in value and probably way overpriced for what it is. Can't recommend.
Have you ever been on the back of a motorcycle? Neither a motorcycle or a tandem conveys to a rider the necessary coordination of balance instinct and vehicle control necessary to achieve success in operating a bicycle.
I have put your final two points together because they outline my earlier 'not recommended' for the o.p.'s GF learning to ride a bike at 60y.o. Yes, she probably 'could' learn the actual operation of the bicycle. But, IMO, that's only the tip of the iceberg. The learning of the myriad nuances of operating a bicycle, even in the relatively protected confines of ... a park, for example, that's huge. Even without cars around, a park might still be a dangerous place to ride a bicycle for a cyclist without a lifetime of skills development. This is borne out in actual fact when you compare the accident rates of male and female cyclists. There are more male accidents yes but there are significant numbers of female accidents even where the actual number of female cyclists is insignificant. The o.p. is limited in how much information they can impart without looking like a control freak. It shouldn't be up to them to bring a novice rider up to full readiness in a short time. The tandem in this instance is a perfect tool. I had a number of relationships before I met my present wife. Most could ride a bicycle. None did though, with one exception and she only rode on the sidewalk. Needless to say I was not able to share my love of cycling with any of them. I do find it quite astounding that in over a dozen years of riding tandem on both coasts of the U.S. and also being members of a large tandem club with over 50 teams ... in all that time and among all those tandem aficionados we have never encountered another team where the Stoker is blind. Or a non-cyclists for that matter. All the stokers we know 'could' ride a single bike if they chose. They choose not to for social and companionship reasons. Ironic, because IMO what makes a tandem so special is that it allows someone not trained, or lacking sight or balance ability, to experience the freedom of rapid movement over the earth under their own power.
I have never heard of a skut bike or ever seen one. That might present a problem to someone wanting to use one. In any case, such a purchase is guaranteed to be short lived in value and probably way overpriced for what it is. Can't recommend.
Have you ever been on the back of a motorcycle? Neither a motorcycle or a tandem conveys to a rider the necessary coordination of balance instinct and vehicle control necessary to achieve success in operating a bicycle.
I have put your final two points together because they outline my earlier 'not recommended' for the o.p.'s GF learning to ride a bike at 60y.o. Yes, she probably 'could' learn the actual operation of the bicycle. But, IMO, that's only the tip of the iceberg. The learning of the myriad nuances of operating a bicycle, even in the relatively protected confines of ... a park, for example, that's huge. Even without cars around, a park might still be a dangerous place to ride a bicycle for a cyclist without a lifetime of skills development. This is borne out in actual fact when you compare the accident rates of male and female cyclists. There are more male accidents yes but there are significant numbers of female accidents even where the actual number of female cyclists is insignificant. The o.p. is limited in how much information they can impart without looking like a control freak. It shouldn't be up to them to bring a novice rider up to full readiness in a short time. The tandem in this instance is a perfect tool. I had a number of relationships before I met my present wife. Most could ride a bicycle. None did though, with one exception and she only rode on the sidewalk. Needless to say I was not able to share my love of cycling with any of them. I do find it quite astounding that in over a dozen years of riding tandem on both coasts of the U.S. and also being members of a large tandem club with over 50 teams ... in all that time and among all those tandem aficionados we have never encountered another team where the Stoker is blind. Or a non-cyclists for that matter. All the stokers we know 'could' ride a single bike if they chose. They choose not to for social and companionship reasons. Ironic, because IMO what makes a tandem so special is that it allows someone not trained, or lacking sight or balance ability, to experience the freedom of rapid movement over the earth under their own power.
You are definitely one of the most argumentative posters on this forum. Your replies almost never fail to deliver!
No, raising training wheels is NOT the solution. I've sold youth bikes with and without training wheels for years and watched them do a completely sub-standard job of "teaching" riding. But most parents grew up graduating from training wheels, so they simply feel that their child should learn the same way, and couldn't be convinced otherwise. And since "the customer's always right," any LBS with half a brain will sell the customer what they want instead of losing a sale by taking a staunch position on "proper" bicycle riding education technique. And back to the training wheels. They cannot be raised by much at all because once they're too high, the steep angle the bike reaches quickly exceeds the angle at which the training wheels can prevent fall-over. The only way to prevent this would be to make the training wheels stick out two to three feet from either side of the bike, making an effective 4 1/2 to 6 1/2 foot wingspan. This is completely unacceptable. So the industry has tried to make a compromise with a bike that stands on its own, provides a little lean (and I mean very little) so a new rider can at least move forward, learn how to steer and perhaps brake, while moving the pedals forward. Once speeds exceed probably 8 mph, training wheels become a liability. (Unless said rider is already experienced on two wheels and can overcome the training wheels' limitations.)
If you've never heard of a "Skut" bike, you've been living in a cave the last decade. At least five years ago they hit the youth market with gusto. And boy was their arrival welcome. Such a simple and elegant solution to teaching kids to ride and teach them quickly. Sure, they cost money, but finding them used on Craigslist is easy. And as a perfect coincidence, I JUST returned from Sports Basement where these "Skut" bikes are prominently on display and sale in their store(s). And even if you haven't heard of them, there's this thing called "the internet" to which anyone can avail themselves to which would show them exactly what I mean within a ten second search. And anyone with an ounce of resourcefulness would realize, virtually ANY existing (or new) bike can be made into exactly this bike by removing the cranks, rings, pedals and chain. Front derailleur too. So in other words, this solution is awesome for the adult who never learned. Take a properly-fitting adult bike, make some changes, and you have a really good "Skut-like" bicycle ready to go. And once the adult learns the dynamics of bicycle riding, you re-install the removed bits and you now have a fully-functional bike the new rider can now continue learning on. So in other words, my advice is not by any means "short-lived in value" and not worth recommending. It's a great idea!
Have I been on the back of a motorcycle? Why yes I have! A LOT! I spent much of my high school years on the back of a dual sport with a very well trained rider in front. And then I married a woman who had extensive rear-of-motorcycle experience which just happened to train her to be one of the best stokers around. I currently hold a motorcycle endorsement as well, so I'm pretty experienced as far as motos go. However, I very seriously consider the risks of motorcycling and prefer not to own and ride one regularly. (Anyone considering same should listen to last week's Fresh Air about Travis Rieder, the Johns Hopkins bioethicist who, after ten years of moto experience, got nailed by a van running a stop sign, completely mangling his left foot. He BARELY salvaged his foot through six surgeries and subsequently became addicted to opioids/opiates in the process. His story is an eye-opener on many fronts. Link: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...-opioids-alone)
Your continuing to argue against the value of being on the back of a motorcycle or tandem is kinda silly. It's like saying, "being a passenger in a vehicle will NEVER teach someone to drive!" Sure, but it gives the person a REALLY GOOD IDEA of what driving a car feels like. Jesus, give it a rest!
And I think I was pretty clear about the learning curve of cycling. First are the actual dynamics of keeping a bike upright and moving forward. This is what the Skut bike teaches so effectively and quickly. Learning on a flat surface in a non-traffic environment presents very little risk to an older adult interested in riding. If you're THAT worried about the risks involved, I'd be surprised if you are comfortable with older folks hiking on slippery trails with steps, rocks and roots! OMG, the dangers involved! I went on in my post to point out the subsequent dangers cycling present riders. And that's separate from the initial learning. I'd ponder a guess that about 50% of older new riders, or less, would EVER feel comfortable participating in urban cycling or commuting. So that's where I leave it up to the teacher to take the reigns and inform the new cyclist of said dangers. Luckily today, many urban centers have very active bicycle coalitions who will teach new riders ALL ABOUT urban riding, avoiding pitfalls and common risks and dangers, and teach new riders how to navigate with as much safety as possible. But it would also inform many new riders that they simply do not want to share the pavement with other drivers of SUVs, trucks and buses. More power to them, I say!
Your tandem comments are spot on. They're a great way for a spouse to join in riding, whether or not they ride. I've participated in sight-impaired tandem events and had stokers join me who cannot ride half bikes. It's a great way to get people out.
In conclusion, it's amazing how many assumptions you make in your posts that end up being completely false. Don't assume someone referring to motorcycling would have no experience doing said activity. It would be much more appropriate to assume the opposite. Better yet, don't assume anything at all! Comments and discussion are welcome, but taking a scalpel to posts to argue virtually every point gets quite tiresome, especially when it's countering perfectly reasonable advice, based on over 20 years in the bicycle industry and 40 years riding.
But I'm sure that won't stop you!
Perhaps change your user name to "Sturm & Drang." "Leise?" hardly!
PS And assuming an "older" person probably shouldn't embark on learning something new is such an out-dated approach. The BEST thing many middle age and older folks can and should do is exactly that: learn something new! From learning a new instrument to a new activity, brain research seems to indicate that keeping the mind active is a great way to stave off dementia and other age-related brain degenerative diseases. "Smarter Every Day's" YouTube video of brain plasticity and learning to ride an opposite-steering bike is a really cool video on the issue. Challenge your brain, you'll probably live longer.
Last edited by LV2TNDM; 07-14-19 at 05:46 PM.