Make a kid's bike into a balance bike

A little background - this one is intended for people with no background in working on bikes.  If you've worked on bikes you probably don't need to read this.  If you haven't this should be clear enough for you to be able to get it.

Balance bikes are the trend in teaching a kid to ride a 2 wheeler.  The idea is to allow them to learn balance before they have to coordinate pedaling.  There are very nice custom bikes built specifically with this in mind.  However, they tend to be a little spendy and when your kid is ready for pedals you've got no choice but to buy an entirely new bike. 

There's a pretty good background of what I'm talking about here:

http://chicargobike.blogspot.com/2011/01/make-your-own-balance-bike.html

Step 1: Tools and getting started

I was unable to find any 12" bikes that didn't need a lot of help locally, but get one used if you can. Kids usually outgrow this size bike rather than wear it out.

To do this you're going to need a 12" adjustable wrench, a chainbreaker, and a screwdriver. If you have a used bike you're going to want a pedal wrench.

Our objective is to remove the chain and cranks. If you're starting with an assembled bike, remove the training wheels and the pedals - note that the left pedal is reverse thread. You should probably use some penetrating oil before trying to remove them.

Comments

[Chris Nolan.ca]

Pretty good instructions. If I had never worked on bikes before, I'd need a bit more info on using the chain-breaker though (I broke two of the breakers before I figured out how to use it correctly earlier this year).

I found all I needed to do for my son was take the pedals off. The crank didn't seem to get in the way, and it was just 2 evenings going down a grassy hill before he asked for them back on.

[surfyman.1]

i like your style

[green_flash]

Thanks! I look forward to doing more of these. I've always admired the "here's how you do it" style of John Muir (of the Volkswagen for the Compleat Idiot series) and hope I can communicate like he does.

[Malhecho]

my most traumatic memory of learning to ride was when i busted my crotch on the top bar trying to be like the older cool kids and coming off all slick. ive come a long way since then

[rowerwet]

I found the time my child needed was only two weeks, so I was glad I didn't have to put the pedals, pedal crank, chain and bearings back in http://www.instructables.com/id/teach-your-kid-to-ride-without-training-wheels/
he never really had a problem with the pedal crank there as his feet were out wide for balance. If you have a child that is a slow learner then I guess this I'ble would work for the long term.

[dimtick]

I basically did this with my kids although I didn't remove the pedals. i used a bike that was a couple sizes to small and set the seat low so that when the kid sat on it their feet was firmly on the ground. my son has anxiety and actually didn't want to use a bike with no pedals because he was afraid that he couldn't stop.

my son was the latest to learn. what i did for him was to find a modest hill into a parking lot that isn't used very much. the parking lot was big and had plenty of room to coast to a sop. i started at the bottom of the hill and as my son got more and more confortable with coasting we worked gradually higher and higher. at the middle of the hill I had him pick up his feet and pedal when he felt comfortable. by the time we worked our way to the top he was a pedaling master.

I had him use this small bike with the seat set low for a couple weeks. he would shuffle to get going then pick up his feet and pedal. after a couple weeks I set his seat higher, and then after a couple weeks of that I switched him to a correct size bike for his size.

[zazenergy]

what a great idea! i don't have any kids, so my only memory of learning to bike was nervously ambling down the road on training wheels. awesome project.