“Learning to Cycle: From Training Wheels to Balance Bike”, 2022-02-05 (; backlinks):
Background: Learning to cycle is an important milestone in a child’s life, so it is important to allow them to explore cycling as soon as possible. The use of a bicycle with training wheels (BTW) for learning to cycle is an old approach practiced worldwide. Most recently, a new approach using the balance bike (BB) has received increased attention, and several entities believe that this could be the most efficient. Drawing on the work of 1995 and 1986, this study aimed to analyze the effect of BB’s use on the learning process of cycling independently.
Method: Data were collected in Portugal from an online structured survey between November 2019 and June 2020.
Results: A total of 2,005 responses were obtained for adults and children (parental response).
Results: revealed that when the BB approach was used, learning age (LA) occurred earlier (M = 4.16 ± 1.34 years) than with the BTW approach (M = 5.97 ± 2.16 years) (p < 0.001); or than when there was only the single use of the traditional bicycle (M = 7.27 ± 3.74 years) (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Children who used the BB as the first bike had a statistically-significantly lower LA than children who did not use it (p < 0.001). To maximize its effects, the BB should be used at the beginning of the learning process.
[Keywords: balance bike, bicycle with training wheels, learning to ride a bicycle, constrains, learning paths, cycling, Portugal]