[blindkid] Training Wheels for kids (or adults) up to 250 lbs.

Richard Holloway rholloway at gopbc.org
Fri Jul 18 14:57:23 UTC 2014


Another cycling approach, even for adult-sized children can be to adapt a conventional bike. It is probably the least expensive way to go, starting around $120, so long as the child can balance safely.

Part of this info is probably buried in some of the links I posted yesterday, but I know that is a lot to sort through. There are so many exciting cycling options, and our children’s needs are so varied, that  an ideal fit may require a good deal of sorting though. The site below has training wheels available like nothing I have ever seen elsewhere. this guy's smaller wheels (for about $120) are built like a tank. I have used them myself on at least three different setups— they easily keep a 100 lb. child stable on a 24” bike. The largest model will stabilize an adult up to 250 lbs on a full-sized bike. You can also add a sort of stand-off that will let you add training wheels to a multi-speed bike with a conventional derailleur. How cool is that?!!

The fellow who makes these has custom-built wheels for me in the past. I suspect he would still do that. He was a pleasure to deal with, though I haven’t contacted him for a few years.

I think the bike below was in the middle of one of the albums I posted before, but it also points out other interesting (if hard to find) tandem options. I bought this small tandem thinking my typically-sighted son could steer while his big pedaled in back, but as it turned out, my blind daughter preferred to pedal AND steer from the front, and often my son would remove his feet from the pedals, and just enjoy the ride, LOL.

The “Captain” (the person steering) on this small tandem (link below) has no vision. (This is Kendra, my daughter, several years ago.)
The “Stoker” (usually the one seated in the rear on a tandem) is supposed to be “stoking the fire.” At least that is where I believe the name comes from. You will notice that my (typically-sighted) son is preferring to keep his feet entirely off the pedals.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1131272045687&l=74d5e7b733

Another shot with my blind daughter steering the bike and my sighted son doing nothing but letting his big sister drive him around.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1131272205691&l=2e909106a4

If you want to find a little tandem like this, I found mine on ebay. You never know where these little treasures will show up...

I posted this shot earlier, but notice the outriggers on the trailer. They are basically the same training wheels as on the small tandem above, only they have an extension added because this trailer is setup as a multi-speed bike would be (with a derailleur and all). I later moved these exact wheels to a 24” conventional bike for my son to use, where he continued to use them until he was at least 100 lbs. The only negative I can come up with is they can make a rider feel SO stable, that they don’t want to have them taken off of a bike.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203385360818425&l=98f499b833

IMPORTANT: Never add training wheels or outriggers to a trailer on a tow-bike that LEANS when you corner. (Any two wheelers, for example.) I can also direct you towards trailers which have a wheel made on each side to go behind a regular bike, but those present some other challenges with the hitch design. I can discuss more if anyone is interested. Start slow with these setups, and ride them with NO passengers first, to see how they operate without children “helping"

One more link follows, to explain that the “stoker” doesn’t always sit in back. There are several variations of this design. This particular bike is called a Love Bike. The company later renamed this the Buddy Bike.
This one is mine, and that is Kendra when she was quite small. She was riding with her feet on pegs, but a larger passenger can indeed pedal. They can also steer the bike WITH the captain (notice the double handlebar) and the bike can be outfitted with a brake for the stoker to operate a well. (Ours has front and read caliper for the captain plus a “coaster brake” in the hub, controlled by the stoker with a conventional hand lever.

What is great about the Love Bike / Buddy Bike design, is that you can let a young rider with any amout of vision (or none at all) feel what bike riding is all about— they feel the steering of a conventional bike, they can control the braking. They lean with you as you corner and steer, and they pedal the bike conventionally. The optional foot pegs mean they don’t HAVE to pedal. The down side, if there us one, about the brake option is that a curious passenger can jam on the brakes at a bad time, so for some riders, it is better to disconnect that option!
http://www.gopbc.org/gopbc_love_bike.htm

Do be aware than conventional setups make the stoker jeep his or her feet going with the captains— they cannot stop pedaling. There are workarounds there too, but you need to prepare the rider to keep pedaling, ir have a custom setup to let passenger’s “freewheel” (coast) part of the time as needed. If the stoker stops pedaling with a conventional setup, the pedals keep spinning unless the captain stops pedaling too, and the result is the stoker gets hit, usually in the back of their calves, by the pedals.

If the passenger/stoker is BEHIND the captain, there is NO WAY he/she will know the stoker stopped pedaling (or lost their footing) in time to stop pedaling, so knowing how these work before you ride is really important.

They sell these under the name "Buddy Bike" now, and they come in several flavors. In my experience, they are expensive, and often out of stock, so you will probably need to wait for one to come in, if you buy one. They are really great to share the feel of riding, but do be aware of several things. They are somewhat awkward to start moving on, because of the gigantic handle bars wrapping around the stoker/passenger. (They feel like the world’s largest “Beach cruiser,” if you now how those ride.

Also, with the captain/driver sitting in back, and the short wheelbase needed to let the captain steer from the back, the captain’s knees have to clear the passenger, so long rides can become uncomfortable for the captain, and the larger the passenger, the further out the captain’s knees have to spread. Still, they are great to teach small ones how it feels to ride a conventional bike.
http://buddybike.com

The training wheels are called Fat Wheels. I bought multiple sets from the maker close to 10 years ago and have never had a problem with them, so I cannot recommend them highly enough.

You can buy them direct, here:
http://www.fatwheels.com

An in case anyone is curious, I don’t make or sell any bike parts or cycle setups. I’m just posting information on what has worked well for our family and in some cases a few cycling friends as well. I’d love to hear from others who like to bike and learn what setups they have discovered as well!

Happy riding...


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