Happy Father’s Day for all Slowtwitch dads!
Question on saddle height – my 6-yr-old’s saddle height right now is at a comfortable level wrt stopping and putting his foot down, but is sub-optimal wrt riding. I would kind of like to raise the saddle a bit to make it better for riding, but of course not compromise safety. Anyone have this issue with young children? Any advice?
happy father’s day. why not wait until he/she is better with handling skills before worrying about that?
I remember the dilema from when my kids were younger. The problem seems that bicycles for kids are not built proportianate to their bodies and of course they grow so fast. Probably best to go with the seat height that allows putting the foot on the ground. It’s safer even if not exactly right.
My kids started cycling very young (we’re Dutch, so I guess it’s in our blood) and what they did is what they called “scootering”… right foot on the down right pedal (like the floorboard to their scooters) and then push, push, push with the left foot until the bike got some momentum, then when it got rolling they put their left foot on the left pedal and got up and back on the saddle and pedaled. For stopping it was the opposite… as they approached a stop they put the right pedal down, got out of the saddle and in front of it and put their left foot out so when it stopped they just put their foot down.
I don’t know if I’ve explained it very well, but it’s a pretty simple concept they mastered when they were around 4. They had scooters which they rode everyday, so it just came natural, I guess.
Doing it that way the saddle can be at the proper height. And I never had a problem finding a bike that fit my children… Schwinn’s little bikes always worked for us.
“grow so fast”
oh yeah, he’s on bike #3 now
on the plus side, this is the first one that doesn’t weigh more than he does.
sounds like a nice, simple solution
we’ll give it a try, thanks.