My child is scared on the bike

I would try to comprimise (meet the distance half way?). Then after the race, slowly raise the seat a bit before every ride. If he will not budge in raising the seat, I would do it 1/4 inch every 2 or 3 rides (without him knowing).

If you have to secretely raise the seat, ask him about raising it every once in a while (just to try it out one more time), and he may surprise you.

Recently on a bike tour I did here in NYC, I saw a kid (about 12 or 13?), rubbing his back cause his seat was waaaaaaay too low. I had never seen a child with back problems before.

You don't want yours winding up that way.

By the way, I know exactly what he is talking about. I still remember my early bicycle days and had the same exact problem. I still remember my father bringing the seat up and I felt like I was on a unicycle.

Is he riding the correct size bicycle frame? That was my issue when I was a child (I had a hand-me-down). The handle bar was too close to my torso. In hind-sight I remember the fit and know very well the frame was too small for me. Eventually, parents got me the correct size bike and I was fine after that.

We just graduated my 8 year old to a bigger bike...we have probably 10 bikes in the garage...maybe more so we have a big variety. I think that this new bike has a frame that fits him fine. I thought the same thing about the seat, put it down where he likes it and raise it a little at a time without him knowing it, I guess I wanted to hear it from someone else.

The 11 year old is 5'2 and I put him on my old Cannondale which seemed to fit him fine. I think it is the shifting that is throwing him. I am not sure. Usually when we are out on the bike I am trying to get him to go faster.

We are all going on a BRAG trip in 3 weeks - Bicycle Ride Across GA. We will be riding almost 400 miles and the 11 year old is going to be riding his own bike. The 8 year old will be doing a tandem bike with me. I thought that he would like my Cannondale more for that. I might still try and get him used to that one if I can. Maybe it is the skinny tires that makes him nervous. I am not sure.

For the kid's triathlon, I think the Mt. bike will do fine. It is the Sat. after next. They all want to do it, I wouldn't make them do something they don't want to do.

HOLY, MOLY 400 miles for kids under 12?!? Am I reading this wrong or are there parts of this ride where they will be on a car (a-la-tour-deFrance), where they ride to certain check points, then ride a train, airplane to their next stage?





Yeah, skinny tires will give a totally different feel. Epecially for someone that small, subtle changes like that are much more pronounced.

Edited by cobannero 2006-05-23 1:12 PM

The BRAG ride covers about 400 miles over 8 days, camping out overnight and with lots of rest stops. It's a family affair. They will be on the bike the whole way.

http://brag.org/

If you are planning that your child is going to ride 400 miles, you need to make sure the bike fits and that includes the seat being at the correct height. That is a lot of riding over a short period of time and you are risking serious knee tracking problems. Also if the bike doesn't fit, you will have one sore and unhappy person trying to ride a bike.

Totally OT: Kids on bikes are the cutest.

Well, I think you should let the kiddos keep the seats where they are comfortable riding on the bike. If they feel safer being able to touch ground.. they will feel better in the race.

They won't "break" anything by riding a few miles in a race with too low of a seat.

After the race... work on edging the seat up... or look into getting them bikes that are a better fit for their height.

The kid is 11. He probably has a better sense of what his body can handle than we do. If he likes the seat where it is, leave it where it is. As he gets older, more into things, he'll probably want the seat raised. Assuming he even stays with it.

I doubt that you're going to hurt the boy by keeping his seat a few inches lower.

As for shifting and such. I still don't know what I'm doing. I just think it's fun to move the little levers up and down.

Well..we went on a ride today - 7.5 miles...the 11 year old did much better on the Mt. bike....and the 8 year old pedaled pretty well. Much better than the bike that had dinner plate sized wheels! I think they are going to be fine for the kids tri coming up. As far as the BRAG trip, I think we will edge the seat up for the 11 year (when he isn't looking of course).

He did say that his back was sore after the ride. I told him that was because the seat was down low...he said it was ok.

I think it is going to work out.

Kelly

Thanks for the advice!

I agree with all of the advice on letting the kids have the seat where they want it and feel comfortable. Riding a bike is fun. When we were little nobody bothered to try and adjust our bikes, we just went out and rode.

Having a kid do a LOONNGG tour, however, should probably require that the bike is fitted well. But if he's uncomfortable with a bike that is fitted "correctly", then mabye he is not ready for that ride.

Just my 2 cents.