Why bike
Do training wheels hurt the learning process?
Why training wheels teach the wrong lean, and why a balance bike on a gentle slope is usually the better first tool.
This can be a loaded question. For almost everyone learning to bike, the answer is yes.
Training wheels turn the bike into a tricycle. Turning a bike means committing to a lean. A trike asks you to lean the other way. Lean into a trike turn and you go over. We have funny video of adults trying to learn a trike after a life on two wheels. They get it — eventually. Kids learning for the first time pick up the wrong habit and then have to unlearn it.
Figure out balance first
The better tool is a balance bike and a small hill with a gentle slope. The child learns to balance. The slope gives enough speed to stabilize. After they can roll farther without putting feet down, they are ready to pedal.
Training wheels generally slow that down and lead to more wipeouts, because they cancel the need to solve balance first.
When a third wheel does belong
There is a place for a three-wheeler. In our experience it is more useful for students whose motor function actually affects balance. If you are choosing between training wheels and not, a balance bike is the better default.
This essay first lived on the old Pirate Skool site. The advice has not changed.