"Quit while it's still fun" has always been our family motto - meaning don't force your kids to keep riding/skiing/whatever past the point where the activity is no longer fun. It keeps them coming back for the next session... sometimes that means a ride or trip to the hill can last a frustratingly short amount of time, but in the case of my son, at 13 it all clicked into place for him and he spends every moment riding and skiing and at 16 is just way better than I've ever been or ever will be. I think keeping it light and doing it on his terms as a younger kid let him grow to truly love it later. Now he'll do these things for the rest of his life, and that is awesome!
Love your perspective on this, Ben. The advice "they may not like it and that's OK" is so true and good for everyone to remember. I've been mountain biking since the 80's, have been running my own custom titanium frame shop since 2006 and involved my kids with every aspect of bikes from daily commutes to school, wheel building, some machining, bike assembly and general maintenance. Now that they're teenagers, they're just not interested...and it's OK.
Love this, my 4 yr old has ridden all over the state of AZ with me. We've ridden Sedona, Flagstaff, Prescott, a small portion of the BCT and at least 80% of the trail systems in the valley. It's a great way to bond with your child. We look for and point out all the different animals and plants we see and I get to entertain all sorts of interesting and odd questions a little boy can come up with.
My kids are past the early learning to ride stages and many of these tips worked very well for us. Looking forward to more videos. One thing that works really well especially once kids are a little older is social biking - being around other kids on bikes (training wheels, balance, pedal, even different ages) can really push kids drive to try and experiment and make it more of a game and less something mommy/daddy is trying to force them into.
Biggest thing we learned with our kids was use training wheels at first for the Balance Bike (I can hear the boos and hisses, but bear with me). Both of our kids went on it around 14 months, and we started with the first 2-3 weeks of just having the wheels there to support. This let them find what it felt like to stand over it, what the steering does, etc. without the risk of falling down. Then, slowly as they feel comfortable, we would rotate the wheels toward the rear of the bike, allowing for the bike to tip a little mroe each time. Within about 2 months, we could take them off, which would both lighten the bike and have them feel the 'tip' be a little less dramatic, building confidence. With now a 5 year old Intermerdiate BMX Racer (who also rips in the MTB Jump Park and does Singletrack with me, 7-10 miles at a time) and a 2 year old who can pedal without trainings wheels 2 months before her 3rd birthday, I know we'll be using this same apttern for our 5 month old when she's ready. We weren't a huge bike family, prior, I rode MTB casually and did some biking to attempt and finally do trialthlons, but since my son (he's the one who got us into BMX!) it's been quite a wonderful thing to share with them. Many bikes, a secondhand Ride Shotgun for the MTB to bring my daughter around, and a secondhand bike trailer before that has really made everyone enjoy the outdoors even more as a family.
Ben - we started like this, and it seems only yesterday. Yet it's been too many years. You've coached two of ours on Abernethy Dirt Camps as teenagers. You led our Jack into the Runway for the first time - and he now shreds it with the best of them. Ones has spent last 5 summers in the Alps, riding, racing and helping on the Trans Savoie, likely heading off to ride his bike *somewhere* for the next few years. The youngest (18) is currently in Queenstown riding bikes and spotting pro's. Thank you for being an awesome coach and mega motivator for our lads 😎
My accidental trick was to bike by myself and leave the kids at home because they would whine (when they were 6-8). Good for everyone!However that tactic accidentally gradually spurred interest, plus it turns out they like riding park, and now a bunch of years later I’ve got myself some serious high school racers. Oops! Now I’ve got to either be on an e-bike or catch them on a “light training day” or I can’t keep up. 😂
We go camping with them in Finale Ligure once a year. So they can see that there are much more bike fanatics out there. And all the kids there are riding too. ;)
Building confidence in a young kid is so important, keeping the rides super short helps build confidence they need. I’ve seen my two boys 10-12 years old improve so much when they started riding bikes with good tires and brakes.
5:30 We got our kid a similar four-wheeled bike (Pukylino) for the very reason you mentioned around balance bikes being pretty challenging! Funnily enough, I think the 4-wheeler delayed kiddo's walking by a month or two since he was out speeding around our house. One tip in helping to transition to a balance bike: make sure they are tall enough to literally walk with the bike between their legs. It's slower than walking, but at least this way our kid could get used to the weight and motions needed - we started with very short walks or as we called them to him "rides" in our neighbourhood. We then slowly progressed by gently raising the saddle, bit by bit.
Terrific content. I can't wait to share with my non-bike friends who have kids. This should inspire everyone to try biking and a new way to connect with the kiddos in nature. Thank you Ben
Great video Ben, I spend many of my weekends riding in Dunkeld with the wife and kids these days and I think it would be great if there was a child specific enduro style festival as the social aspect is very important so that they can ride with other kids and not just their parents. My kids love going to the tweedlove festival but something aimed directly at them would be amazing.
The thing I learnt with my 3 boys is when they're young (4-11) lightweight bikes are extremely important. They don't need suspension. Good mtb tires, brakes and trigger shifters on a light rigid bike more than sufficed even in the Alps until they hit their teens.
Great video! Maybe he will tell it in a future video but bikeparks are great for kids as well! Take it easy but they can ride so much more when they don't have to pedal up. Take them on a child seat for the first ride can help them learn the trail.
Dropper posts, Ben - toddlers find 'em funny as! After you've pretended you're magic for a while, they can pop them up, sit on them and levitate... All sorts. Nice content, cheers!
Thanks Ben, although a few years off this makes me excited for starting a family. My partner and I will probably be choosing our future little ones balance bike before they are even in this world 🤣 we can't wait to have our own little sender and share our passion.
Mines at a stage where he's good enough on the balance bike ( Isla bike with the drive train removed ) that he could have the pedals back on but tired it and he hated it. Took them back off but he now won't entertain some small gradients on footpaths in the woods when he was flying around a bike track before. More time out when the weather improves should get him back on track.
My daughter didn't understand the concept of which way the bars go and how to lean her balance bike. She was just under 2 years old. She took one ride on the Macride on my bike and because she was feeling the steering and also feeling the bike lean over, she instantly got it. She hopped of my bike an onto the balance bike and just rode away.
Look over glasses or sunglasses! my 7YO had a pretty normal fall but had major cut in the eyebrow due to the glasses frame, stitching and a lot of ice cream was needed. She is slowly coming back to riding! But is very slow… suggestions on safety gear would be awesome and in cool beginners MTB!
While push bikes are sized & made for really small children, the best way to get ANYONE who's trying to learn to ride a bike is take off the pedals & lower the seat so they can treat it like a push bike! As they gain a sense of balance, you can eventually raise the seat & reattach the pedals when they're ready.
Is the next segment with child seats available yet? I am getting ready to enter that stage with my 15m daughter. Helmet, gloves and seat are shipping now.
Great as always, Ben! I am worried by "kids ride shotgun" rack that you have on the bike. Does it do any harm to the suspension if you just put kid (weight) to suspension adjusted only for your weight. Of course, you wont be hitting any gaps with the kid on, but I am just wondering if its any harm to the bike to stroll like that?
Both of my kids didn't show interest until they were about 10, we tried banana bikes earlier but they hated it, they have to want it... I absolutely hate skiing cuz my parents pushed so hard.
My kid wouldn't stop begging me to get him going in mtb. I told him if he can bunny hop a curb I'll get him an mtb and take him with me. We finally get out there after 3 summers! Fast forward to our first ride and we're about an hour in when he gets bucket otb completely knocking the wind out of himself. As he's catching his breath he starts screaming at the top of his lungs " I hate this stupid sport!! Why did you get me this bike!! Waaaa!!!!" as it's happening a bunch of spandex clad xc guys go by and ass they fly by us looking like an xc version of the human centipede they all look down their noses (as the always do) at me the overbearing dad who forced his kid to take up his hobby 😂.
![PASULOL รามเกียรติ์ ตอนที่ 4 นนทกพบรัก [Ramakien Ep.4: Nonthok in love]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tMUQgmZzf_A/mqdefault.jpg)
"Quit while it's still fun" has always been our family motto - meaning don't force your kids to keep riding/skiing/whatever past the point where the activity is no longer fun. It keeps them coming back for the next session... sometimes that means a ride or trip to the hill can last a frustratingly short amount of time, but in the case of my son, at 13 it all clicked into place for him and he spends every moment riding and skiing and at 16 is just way better than I've ever been or ever will be. I think keeping it light and doing it on his terms as a younger kid let him grow to truly love it later. Now he'll do these things for the rest of his life, and that is awesome!
Love your perspective on this, Ben. The advice "they may not like it and that's OK" is so true and good for everyone to remember. I've been mountain biking since the 80's, have been running my own custom titanium frame shop since 2006 and involved my kids with every aspect of bikes from daily commutes to school, wheel building, some machining, bike assembly and general maintenance. Now that they're teenagers, they're just not interested...and it's OK.
Ben continues to carry this channel. Another solid video!
I gotta agree with you there, refreshing relatability that contrasts with coworkers/co-hosts with such obvious egos and pretense.
Love this, my 4 yr old has ridden all over the state of AZ with me. We've ridden Sedona, Flagstaff, Prescott, a small portion of the BCT and at least 80% of the trail systems in the valley. It's a great way to bond with your child. We look for and point out all the different animals and plants we see and I get to entertain all sorts of interesting and odd questions a little boy can come up with.
Great timing for this. My wife is pregnant and I’ve been looking at balance bikes and PWs constantly
You, sir, are (and will continue to be) a fantastic father. Well done.
My kids are past the early learning to ride stages and many of these tips worked very well for us. Looking forward to more videos. One thing that works really well especially once kids are a little older is social biking - being around other kids on bikes (training wheels, balance, pedal, even different ages) can really push kids drive to try and experiment and make it more of a game and less something mommy/daddy is trying to force them into.
Biggest thing we learned with our kids was use training wheels at first for the Balance Bike (I can hear the boos and hisses, but bear with me). Both of our kids went on it around 14 months, and we started with the first 2-3 weeks of just having the wheels there to support. This let them find what it felt like to stand over it, what the steering does, etc. without the risk of falling down. Then, slowly as they feel comfortable, we would rotate the wheels toward the rear of the bike, allowing for the bike to tip a little mroe each time. Within about 2 months, we could take them off, which would both lighten the bike and have them feel the 'tip' be a little less dramatic, building confidence.
With now a 5 year old Intermerdiate BMX Racer (who also rips in the MTB Jump Park and does Singletrack with me, 7-10 miles at a time) and a 2 year old who can pedal without trainings wheels 2 months before her 3rd birthday, I know we'll be using this same apttern for our 5 month old when she's ready. We weren't a huge bike family, prior, I rode MTB casually and did some biking to attempt and finally do trialthlons, but since my son (he's the one who got us into BMX!) it's been quite a wonderful thing to share with them. Many bikes, a secondhand Ride Shotgun for the MTB to bring my daughter around, and a secondhand bike trailer before that has really made everyone enjoy the outdoors even more as a family.
Ben - we started like this, and it seems only yesterday. Yet it's been too many years. You've coached two of ours on Abernethy Dirt Camps as teenagers. You led our Jack into the Runway for the first time - and he now shreds it with the best of them. Ones has spent last 5 summers in the Alps, riding, racing and helping on the Trans Savoie, likely heading off to ride his bike *somewhere* for the next few years. The youngest (18) is currently in Queenstown riding bikes and spotting pro's. Thank you for being an awesome coach and mega motivator for our lads 😎
My accidental trick was to bike by myself and leave the kids at home because they would whine (when they were 6-8). Good for everyone!However that tactic accidentally gradually spurred interest, plus it turns out they like riding park, and now a bunch of years later I’ve got myself some serious high school racers. Oops! Now I’ve got to either be on an e-bike or catch them on a “light training day” or I can’t keep up. 😂
We go camping with them in Finale Ligure once a year. So they can see that there are much more bike fanatics out there. And all the kids there are riding too. ;)
Glad to see Professor Cathro back. Weird to see you riding so slow.
Being a good dad tops being good at anything else! Kudos Ben.
'Knocked out some sprogletts'....i love you ben!!
Building confidence in a young kid is so important, keeping the rides super short helps build confidence they need. I’ve seen my two boys 10-12 years old improve so much when they started riding bikes with good tires and brakes.
KIds automatically will pay attention to parents activities if done with passion. So much fun !
5:30 We got our kid a similar four-wheeled bike (Pukylino) for the very reason you mentioned around balance bikes being pretty challenging! Funnily enough, I think the 4-wheeler delayed kiddo's walking by a month or two since he was out speeding around our house. One tip in helping to transition to a balance bike: make sure they are tall enough to literally walk with the bike between their legs. It's slower than walking, but at least this way our kid could get used to the weight and motions needed - we started with very short walks or as we called them to him "rides" in our neighbourhood. We then slowly progressed by gently raising the saddle, bit by bit.
Terrific content. I can't wait to share with my non-bike friends who have kids. This should inspire everyone to try biking and a new way to connect with the kiddos in nature. Thank you Ben
Great video Ben, I spend many of my weekends riding in Dunkeld with the wife and kids these days and I think it would be great if there was a child specific enduro style festival as the social aspect is very important so that they can ride with other kids and not just their parents. My kids love going to the tweedlove festival but something aimed directly at them would be amazing.
I’ve seen three videos with this guy but I already trust him with my life
The thing I learnt with my 3 boys is when they're young (4-11) lightweight bikes are extremely important. They don't need suspension. Good mtb tires, brakes and trigger shifters on a light rigid bike more than sufficed even in the Alps until they hit their teens.
Love your videos Ben! But I think your voice is only on the right audio channel, music is on both.
Yeah, my left ear just chilling :D
Great video! Maybe he will tell it in a future video but bikeparks are great for kids as well! Take it easy but they can ride so much more when they don't have to pedal up. Take them on a child seat for the first ride can help them learn the trail.
Thank you for this! Really needed some encouragement. My 3yo is really stubborn about bikes but I try not to push it.
glad to hear ben is a good dad
Dropper posts, Ben - toddlers find 'em funny as! After you've pretended you're magic for a while, they can pop them up, sit on them and levitate... All sorts. Nice content, cheers!
Awesome series! I Love the time, when my daughter was siting on my diy shotgun Style Seat ❤ now she has an early Rider and wants to lear junping 😂
Absolutely Ben its the best sport 👌
Welcome back Ben. This video is just in time.. I am expecting my first one next month:)
Thanks Ben, although a few years off this makes me excited for starting a family. My partner and I will probably be choosing our future little ones balance bike before they are even in this world 🤣 we can't wait to have our own little sender and share our passion.
Mines at a stage where he's good enough on the balance bike ( Isla bike with the drive train removed ) that he could have the pedals back on but tired it and he hated it.
Took them back off but he now won't entertain some small gradients on footpaths in the woods when he was flying around a bike track before.
More time out when the weather improves should get him back on track.
As a 50 year old with adult boys I watched this just for Ben as he's such a legend.
This is so motivational! Gonna get my son on a bike really soon now ✌🏻
My daughter didn't understand the concept of which way the bars go and how to lean her balance bike. She was just under 2 years old. She took one ride on the Macride on my bike and because she was feeling the steering and also feeling the bike lean over, she instantly got it. She hopped of my bike an onto the balance bike and just rode away.
Look over glasses or sunglasses! my 7YO had a pretty normal fall but had major cut in the eyebrow due to the glasses frame, stitching and a lot of ice cream was needed. She is slowly coming back to riding! But is very slow… suggestions on safety gear would be awesome and in cool beginners MTB!
3:35 Look son, this is when papa Cathro wore a skin suit in the World Cup. 😂
Riding with kids is not about biking itself, its more about embracing the little things like animals, landmarks, the nature in general.
Great stuff Ben 🎉❤
While push bikes are sized & made for really small children, the best way to get ANYONE who's trying to learn to ride a bike is take off the pedals & lower the seat so they can treat it like a push bike! As they gain a sense of balance, you can eventually raise the seat & reattach the pedals when they're ready.
Is the next segment with child seats available yet? I am getting ready to enter that stage with my 15m daughter. Helmet, gloves and seat are shipping now.
Great as always, Ben! I am worried by "kids ride shotgun" rack that you have on the bike. Does it do any harm to the suspension if you just put kid (weight) to suspension adjusted only for your weight. Of course, you wont be hitting any gaps with the kid on, but I am just wondering if its any harm to the bike to stroll like that?
What trough axel do you have for the santa cruz with the trailer? Cant find the right with of axel for my tallboy
How did you strap the balance bike to your back??
toe clip straps make great small cargo straps
👏👏 so freaking cute
Both of my kids didn't show interest until they were about 10, we tried banana bikes earlier but they hated it, they have to want it...
I absolutely hate skiing cuz my parents pushed so hard.
Definitely keep their little fingers away from the rotors!
I prefer the G-Class-Bobycar
Dirt pump track. Smooth dirt and exciting rollers and berms. I think under 16” wheels it’s too hard to pedal on trails
it would be cool to watch the redbull rampage when every competitor has a brat on their handlebars
0:42 what is wrong with your fork 😮
My kid wouldn't stop begging me to get him going in mtb. I told him if he can bunny hop a curb I'll get him an mtb and take him with me. We finally get out there after 3 summers! Fast forward to our first ride and we're about an hour in when he gets bucket otb completely knocking the wind out of himself. As he's catching his breath he starts screaming at the top of his lungs " I hate this stupid sport!! Why did you get me this bike!! Waaaa!!!!" as it's happening a bunch of spandex clad xc guys go by and ass they fly by us looking like an xc version of the human centipede they all look down their noses (as the always do) at me the overbearing dad who forced his kid to take up his hobby 😂.
Can you do wife's next?
My advice is don’t come home from mountain biking via the hospital too many times or your kid won’t go near a bike……
Has everyone just accepted that ebike riders are actually mountain bike riders now? When did that happen? Lazy bunch of non leggers. 😂