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.

Learn how to remove decals on your bicycle

An 18" wheel size bike is perfect for a six years old child if he or she is not tall enough yet for a 20" wheel size bike.  He is likely too tall for a 16" wheel size bicycle, which is possibly what he or she is currently cycling on.

Recently, my disbutributors have 18" wheel size bicycles to offer and I have been stocking them for the bike shop.  These are some models available.

Yesterday, a six years old child came with his parents and grandparents to select a bicycle for his birthday.  It will be a gift from his grandparents.  He likes the above 18" wheel size bike in blue.  However, both the parents and grandparents objected because there were lots of Chinese writings on the bicycle. 

I told them that they should be able to remove the decals on the frame and mudguard by heating over them with a hair dryer.  In the end, they opt to go to another bike shop to try to find another bike to his liking.  

I could tell that the child likes the bike very much so I took the trouble to remove the stickers today.  As I heated the decal with the hair dryer and it loosen up, I used the flat of a knife to push it out further.

It took me sometime to remove them as I also need to remove the sticky residue left behind by using an insulation tape.

I have done my best and I am sure his family members will no longer have any objections to his choice.  I hope to see you back for this bike, kid. 

According to a test ran by The Kitchn, the easiest way to remove sticky stickers is by using vinegar. This is how you should do it:

-soak a paper towel with vinegar.
-place it over the sticker.
-depending on thickness of stickers, let it sit for 5 up to 15 minutes.

-try lifting the sticker off the surface after 5 minutes. 
-leave paper towel with vinegar to sit for a bit longer if it is still difficult to remove the decals.

This information is very useful for parents who bought a pink bike for their daugther whose younger sibling is a boy.

They can remove the pink or girlish decals by following the above instructions I have provided when it is time to pass the bike down to their son.