Beginner bicycles outside
kaykaur6703
Posts: 52 Member
Can’t balance pedal first day looking ytube for tips !!
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Replies
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Not sure what you mean you can't balance pedal. Do you mean you're having a hard time staying upright? Have you ever been on a bicycle before? If not, is there anyone that might be able to help you as you learn?0
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Are you having trouble getting going? If so, I do have a video for that.0
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- If you can, take the pedals off
- use your feet/legs to push yourself along
- once you have a little momentum, keep your feet off the ground and cost along - this will help you learn balance
Practice, practice, practice. Then, once you have the balance mostly down, put the pedals back on and try pedaling.
Depending on the bike, you might want to lower the seat, too. Having the seat too high and/or having your weight too far forward can make it harder to balance.3 -
I agree with the suggestion by jjpptt2. I would add that using a slight decline will allow you to coast easier and longer by helping to maintain some speed without having to frequently use your legs to keep you going. The longer you can keep your feet up the quicker you will gain your sense of balance.0
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I’m 48 just brought my first mountain bike second hand never ride before, do spin classes but this cycling outside is completely different!!0
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kaykaur6703 wrote: »I’m 48 just brought my first mountain bike second hand never ride before, do spin classes but this cycling outside is completely different!!
Oh yeah, riding a bicycle is completely different from spinning. I think jjpptt2 wrote out a great and very simple explanation that will help you.
I think I'd have done better that way then the "have dad push you along and hope you either get it or don't crash too bad....rinse and repeat if crash happens." Haha.1 -
Keep in mind that going very slowly on a bicycle makes it hard to balance. Most can balance pretty easily around 6 mph once they get the hang of it. There are some folks who can balance at basically a stand still. The technique is called a track stand if you would like to do a search.0
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I also take spin classes, three times a week for over 5 years. I'd love to ride outside but never learned how. I've heard that bicycle accidents are the #1 cause of Emergency Room visits.
If I ever moved out of the city, I'd get a big tricycle to ride outside.3 -
Cycling for both myself and my wife is just awesome. We’ve lost over 125lbs combined, been on some amazing cycling vacations and met great folks. I’m 63, my wife 44 and she kicks my butt every time.
The great thing is that we do it together.1 -
Well done for trying something new. :flowerforyou:
Find a gentle down slope, start in a low gear (easy gear), look up and at where you intend to go not down at the front wheel or handlebars, relax your hands and arms to let the bike balance itself......
(Holding on in a death grip and trying to consciously steer with your hands stops the natural flow and balance of a single track vehicle.)
Brake gently to a stop. Fingertips not a knuckle crusher.
Smile.
Repeat. Especially the smiling.
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kaykaur6703 wrote: »I’m 48 just brought my first mountain bike second hand
nice! idk how much this will help, so ignore what doesn't:
- a lot of the balance comes from your hips, on a bike. to get the feeling for that, you can set up near a wall or pole so you can keep a hand on it to save your balance. you can practice just sitting to get that feeling, if you like.
- if you can, ask someone to check the bike 'fit' for you. it probably doens't have to be perfect at this point, but if (for instance) the saddle is seriously too high or low, or the handlebars are seriously too far away for your reach, then the job of learning will be much harder than it needs to be because your body won't be in its own natural shape.
- once you're ready to add movement, i agree that coasting down a slight slope is a good beginning. that lets you get the feeling of how bikes like to move, without you having to do any of the work yet.
- wear a helmet! really. i know it sounds like overkill while you're not planning to go very fast, but height is one of the contributing factors for head injuries in bike falls. plus, it's good to get into the habit, and wearing it may help your confidence too. same goes for long sleeves and pants, provided they don't restrict you. riding in jeans isn't too comfortable even for people who know
i suggest sweats and some kind of 'real' shoe.
good luck and again, congratulations. i can attest you're not alone in picking this up late in life. i get accosted by a surprising number of women my age, who tell me they don't know hwo to ride a bike because they were never allowed to learn when they were kids. and then as adults it gets harder and harder, and most of them just experience it now as a loss that they'll never make up.
so \o/ if you're doing it.0 -
Thank you all for reply’s keep you posted !!1
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kaykaur6703 wrote: »I’m 48 just brought my first mountain bike second hand never ride before, do spin classes but this cycling outside is completely different!!
Never too late to start.
Do you have a local cycling club? Some of them will offer adult "learn to ride" programs.1 -
Good for you for learning this as an adult. I know when we were kids we had no training wheels and we practiced on the grass. Is there a school yard or field close by? That way if you do fall it will hurt less.
To the experienced riders if this is bad advice please advise. I won't be offended. It's just how we learned.3 -
The only thing about practicing in a grassy field is that it's harder to pedal in grass (or dirt) than it is on pavement. I second or third the suggestion of taking the pedals off of the bike and riding it as if it's a balance bike at first so you get the hang of balancing. It would also be harder to work on balancing in the grass because again, it's harder to go fast (I don't mean like, bombing down a hill fast, but fast enough to easily balance) because of the rolling resistance. The faster you go the easier it will be to balance.0
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GOT_Obsessed wrote: »Good for you for learning this as an adult. I know when we were kids we had no training wheels and we practiced on the grass. Is there a school yard or field close by? That way if you do fall it will hurt less.
To the experienced riders if this is bad advice please advise. I won't be offended. It's just how we learned.
this isn't bad advice at all (except the comment below about harder to pedal). This is exactly how I learnt as a child.
The main thing to learn is the balance thing, so the advice on balancing above was spot on. More and more kids these days are learning on 'balance-bikes' rather than having stabilisers fitted (which are like pacifiers, a nightmare to train out of).
Kudos to anyone learning to ride as an adult. Once you've learnt the balance bit, see if you can hunt out some adult lessons - they are offered here in the UK in places, and help with confidence and learning the rules of the road. Not everyone grew up spending every available minute on a bike.
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Have you considered training wheels? Do they make them for adult bikes? Off to Google.
https://www.top5reviewed.com/adult-training-wheel-kits/
The ones on amazon.ca look pricey.0 -
I've noticed that even many experienced riders have trouble getting started from a standstill
1. Decide which side you want to mount from
2. Set the pedal on the opposite side to 10 o'clock
3. Grasp handlebars
4. Kick off with the near leg and with the far leg begin pedaling
You can either stand straddling the bike, or lift your leg over the bike as you kick off.
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MostlyWater wrote: »I also take spin classes, three times a week for over 5 years. I'd love to ride outside but never learned how. I've heard that bicycle accidents are the #1 cause of Emergency Room visits.
If I ever moved out of the city, I'd get a big tricycle to ride outside.
Not a chance...7 -
MostlyWater wrote: »I also take spin classes, three times a week for over 5 years. I'd love to ride outside but never learned how. I've heard that bicycle accidents are the #1 cause of Emergency Room visits.
If I ever moved out of the city, I'd get a big tricycle to ride outside.
I'd sooner bike in the city/suburbs than out in the country.0 -
MostlyWater wrote: »I also take spin classes, three times a week for over 5 years. I'd love to ride outside but never learned how. I've heard that bicycle accidents are the #1 cause of Emergency Room visits.
If I ever moved out of the city, I'd get a big tricycle to ride outside.
You heard wrong. I work with health statistics, and ... no.
But here ... this might give you a better idea of the top reasons for ER visits.
https://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/10-common-reasons-for-er-visit10.htm
Also, those big tricycles can be tippy.
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MostlyWater wrote: »I also take spin classes, three times a week for over 5 years. I'd love to ride outside but never learned how. I've heard that bicycle accidents are the #1 cause of Emergency Room visits.
If I ever moved out of the city, I'd get a big tricycle to ride outside.
You heard wrong. I work with health statistics, and ... no.
But here ... this might give you a better idea of the top reasons for ER visits.
https://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/10-common-reasons-for-er-visit10.htm
Also, those big tricycles can be tippy.
or trippy
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Lh5aenhVuBk/maxresdefault.jpg
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canadianlbs wrote: »
But but but.....1 -
I do concur that speed helps you learn to balance on the bike better.
It was very frustrating when my mom was trying to help me learn how to ride a bike and she kept making me slow down. She wouldn't let me ride fast but every time she let go of the bike I would tip. Wash rinse repeat over and over and over to the mutual frustration of me and my mom.
It wasn't until my uncle decided it was time I learned how to ride a bike and he did it with me. And he kept telling me go faster and I said really and he said yes really go faster faster faster as fast as you can! And then he said look no hands and I was shocked when he wasn't holding on to the bike for me. That's one of my happiest childhood memories.
I agree with everyone who said try a gentle slope and build up your speed you'll get it. And kudos to you for trying this as an adult. Many adults would be afraid to at this point. Good for you.0 -
Turn the handle bars TOWARDS the side you tip to. Sounds counter-intuitive but is works. So if you are falling to your right, steer towards the right and it stabilizes the bike.0
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Update 4 days complete training on bike at local park, success now to continue riding with my boy 11 thank you all for information5
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