Has anyone learned to ride a bike as an adult?

MostlyWater

I'm middle aged, do not want to fall down, and am looking at adult tricycles, recumbant bikes, and bikes with extra stability wheels.

Does anyone have experience with this? Thank you.

middlehaitch

I learnt to ride a bike in my 30's.
I know, not middle aged, but I was an adult, out of shape, and had never rode one as a child.

Got to admit I bought the bike, wheeled it out of the shop, managed to get a few hundred yards down the street, then had to call my teenage son to come and give me a riding lesson to get home.

After that I just took my time building my skill level on quiet streets.

Depending on where you are planning to ride, I would go for a regular bike, that suits your terrain.
Go to a bike store and get a correct fit for you and your body.

Cheers, h.

Therealobi1

i learnt to ride few years back. in hyde park, hired bikes with a friend. they were so heavy but with perseverance and lots of screaming i can ride. i also had a few freebie lessons in my local area on a foldable bike (nice and light). I ride quite slow so havent fallen off had one near miss but got my balance back.

good luck

curlsintherack

I've been teaching my son how to ride. best thing is a regular bike and go slow. maybe the stability/training wheels would help but probably not a lot. What I did with my son was go to a very gradual hill grass surface in his case and have him just coast down the hill repeatedly with his legs down then his legs on the pedals but not pedaling and finally pedaling down the hill. Then we transitioned to a flat surface and he used all the skill he has built up to ride all day. His biggest problem was steering too sharply but you should have an easier time of grasping the concept.

lorrpb

I think just get a regular bike, unless you have medical conditions. Do you know anyone that would let you try theirs?

canadianlbs

i returned to bikes in my late 30's but i had learned to ride as a kid, so i'm not qualified to comment.

it does cross my mind though that you'll probably feel better if you have a bike with lots of standover space. that's the distance between the top tube and your crotch when you have both feet on the ground. in my own head it seems like the scariest mental barrier must be the sense of havign both your feet up, and not knowing yet that you can trust your brain to put a foot down to save you if you do start to tip. at least some of that has to be the fear of sacking yourself on the top tube . . . or perhaps that's just me i've done it, and i'm not even a guy.

this occurs to me mostly because i've been riding forever by now, yet certain patterns are so ingrained for me that it was a few weeks' worth of careful practice and discipline before i could even figure how to put my left foot down at a stoplight, instead of my right. i'm so used to doing it on the right that it feels natural. it wasn't until i tried switching that i got a sense of what a total neurological blank spot feels like, and how scary it is. i fell down a few times my own self, just from my brain not knowing how to do it on the left side

so it occurs to me that one thing i'd probably suggest is just practicing the sensation of putting your feet up and down. get close to a wall or anything else that you can hang onto for balance, and play with that. when you know you can trust your body to handle that, i think a lot of the terror of being up there does go away.

also, wanted to say way to go \o/ bikes are great and learning to ride one is huge freedom, b ut i agree that falling down has a pretty different meaning when you're grownup. so kudos to you for being into it.

Polo265

I bought a Trek Electra Townie 7D. (I'm 67). It's a step through comfort bike, meaning you can just step through without having to put your leg over a bar. Also, it has the pedals slightly forward, which allows you to put both feet on the ground when stopping. You don't have to hop to one side. Although falling is certainly a possibility, being able to put both feet on the ground while sitting, is a plus. Several folks in my retirement community have them. Although I have an older 15 speed, I feel much safer on my new bike. You can google comfort bikes and find them in quite a few places.

sijomial

It's OK to fall down when you are middle-aged!

Would suggest trying to learn a standard bike before buying a tricycle and stabilisers are an awful idea IMHO.
Borrow a bike, set the saddle fairly low, take off the pedals, paddle yourself around to used to naturally balancing and using the brakes progressively. Look up not down - you go where you look to a large degree.

Find a gentle down slope (a grassy one is perfect) and get used to the feeling that moving slightly faster feels far more stable than moving very slowly.

Refit the pedals and give it a go.
When you are comfortable then reset the saddle height in a series of steps as you get more confident. Eventually aim for your knee going almost, but not quite, going straight.

Cycling is a brilliant exercise and pastime for us "not quite as young as we used to be" folks.

BrianSharpe

Do you have a bike club in your area? Many of them offer adult learn to ride programs (we have members of our triathlon club who have learned to ride as adults, you're far from being alone)

scoii

I taught my girlfriend to ride in her 30s. Takes some time as I think the fear of falling is higher as an adult.

Keep the seat a few inches lower than normal to allow for easy foot support and start on a very very slight slope. Don't even pedal to begin with. Just get the feeling of balance whilst letting gravity do the work. Cover the rear brake at all times.

My4happykids

I have CP (cerebral palsy, and didn't learn to walk until I was 3). I don't have it bad but my balance is shot. Just to give you back ground.
I have never been on a two wheeled bike until my husband got me on a tandem bike. It was very odd experience, fun and unusual. If I had the balance I would have been able to learn from riding with him. I suggest you find someone to ride with on a tandem. There are things that you can watch and learn from the experience at the same time.
As for my "bike" I do have a trike. I have a recumbent delta style trike. If you decide to go the trike route find a store that will let you try them out. I thought I would want a tadpole (2 wheels in front). But ended up with the delta (2 wheels in back) my steering is under the seat it's a 21 speed. Mine is a sun ex-3 recumbent trike.

yirara

Buy a proper buy (not a step through bike as those a wobbly and much heavier) and make sure the size fits for you. Also avoid shock absorbers and those as they also make the bike heavy, they need more maintenance and often the quality of those things is usually very poor. If you can get your toes on the ground then start like that: just push yourself forward with your feet to learn how to balance. Maybe you could for a start also keep the saddle lower for better ground contact. Once you've managed to roll a few meters try to put your feet on the pedals. Might take a while but many people moving to biky countries learned to cycle like this.