What is the best age to start cycling?

What is the best age to start cycling? That depends on where you are from.

A child age 2 1/2 from Australia, America or European countries will be tall enough to learn to ride on a 12″ wheel size balance bike.

There are no chain and pedals installed on a balance bike. To be able to ride on one, the child while seated on the saddle, must be able to push the bike with their feet to move the wheels forward. From my observation as a bike shop owner in Malaysia, a child here has to be age three and above in order to be tall enough to learn to ride on one.

As balance bikes are not so common locally, most children here prefer learning to ride on a regular bicycle with training wheels attached. These are bicycles they have seen their siblings, relatives or neighbours’ kids ride on.

Balance bikes are not the kind of bicycle I can convince a grandparent here to buy for his or her grandkids. Though it is definitely a bike that you can consider getting for even an older child to learn to ride on by getting him/her to go down a slope on it. As you can see from this video, the young girl going down a slope on a balance bike is possibly older than 6.

A child or an adult can learn at any age as long as they have a bicycle in the right wheel size for their height, which is generally as shown in this table:

For the safety of the cyclist, there must be a gap of at least 1″ from the toptube to the crotch area.

This is why for adults and older children age 4 and above, I will suggest that they consider learning to ride on a folding bike. Its toptube is low so learners will not be hit by it should they stumble while learning and fall over it. As most folding bikes are made for adults, that means that older or taller members in the family can also ride on it by adjusting the height of the stem and seatpost.

It can become the bike for the family as an adult folding bike in wheel size of:

1. 12″ and 14″ can be ridden by a child age 4.
2. 16″ can be ridden by a child age 5 and above.
3. 20″ can also be ridden by a child age 6.

How to get on and off a bike?

 This was how I was taught to mount a bicycle:

-stand on the left side of your bicycle
-place your left leg on the pedal
-push the ground with your right leg to move your bicycle forward
-as the wheels build up momentum, lift up your right leg over to the right pedal
-start pedaling

You can watch this technique being taught 58 seconds into the video. Seth of Berm Peak called it the “step and swing” method. He also shared many other methods which you can check out.

This is how I was taught to dismount:

-lift up your right leg over to the left side of your bicycle

-as you brake to slow down, put your right leg on the ground to help slow it down further

-your right leg should be firmly on the ground once your bicycle slow down to a stop

-you can now step off the left pedal

You can watch this method 1 minutes into this video. It is called the “high style” by the instructor, Guillaume Guerard.

How do you commute on a bicycle in Dubai?

The best way to find the answer to your question is to find cycling clubs or cycling community near you. I googled "cyclist in dubai" and found this club:

Rides and Clubs - Dubai Cyclist

If you can tolerate the summer temperature of 40-50 Celcius, I am sure that club members who are already cycling in Dubai should be able to give you some tips of what you should and should not do while cycling in Dubai.

If you don’t like the idea of joining a club, you can read about “Cycle laws and safety in Dubai and UAE” at Cycling in Dubai. That is where I discovered that cycling is not allowed on major highways and motorways and there are no bike lanes. So, if you are concern that cycling on roads in Dubai is not safe, consider cycling in the desert. That should be a great way to work out for fitness.

If you are thinking of cycling in the desert, a fatbike is what you should consider cycling on because it can handle sandy, muddy, grassy and rough terrain well.

Here is what it is like cycling on sandy places like the desert.
https://youtu.be/grZ-LL6NOgI

Cycle to work sweat free

The petrol fee is going up and so are the toll charges.  How can you cut your cost of transport to work?  Ever thought of cycling to work?

If that is on your plan, read this article first so that you can arrive at work sweat free.

Bike commute from Nancy Poh

Bicycle for Timid Riders

What should you be riding if you have not been cycling for a while?  Especially, if you are a female rider who lacks confidence but would like to take your wee one for a ride with you.

First, you need to know the type of child seat that are available in the market.

I noticed that mothers with younger children tend to prefer child seats that can be mounted in front of the bicycle.

You have to think about the safety of your child by ensuring that your feet will land on the ground to hold the bicycle steady, should you fall. Choose a bicycle by standing over the top tube, just in front of your saddle.  Is it too close to your crotch for comfort?  If it is, check out another bike.

If you like the old school look, a cruiser bike is what you should check out next.  Here is a very good example of a 26" bicycle suitable for a less confident mummy who intends to ride with her child.

The handlebar of a cruiser bike is usually wider so the child will not feel squeezed between your arms as you cycle.  It also comes installed with mudguards.  It rains all year round in Malaysia.  You do not want your child splattered with mud after a rainfall, do you?

Similar frame mounted child carrier and breach cruiser for female or male riders can be purchased from Amazon.

Sharing the best

Working on your computer has tired you out? Take this advise. Set a limit for each usage to half and hour.

So, what should you do when your limit is up?

Watch this video for the answer and pick up more along the way.

 

If you think that this is the best advise from Vodafone that you have ever seen, share it with your friends and mention that there is a bicycle store at this address:

Jom Johan Trading and Services
No 43A, Jalan Prima Saujana 1/1A
Taman Prima Saujana Sek 1
43000 KajangSelangor
Contact: 03-87369398 / 012-3867558

Why?

Because the owner of this shop is always willing to share good tips and offer the best price for her bikes.