Learning to ride a bike

Now then. i have been trying to get my Missis to try and learn to ride, she simply never learnt to ride one when she was little, but my bash about bike got stolen, my bike is way to tall for her.
So im trying to think of getting a bike for her to learn on but not sure what to get....? can any one really remember what it was like the first time you hopped on a bike and went on your own steam....need tips for teaching...hmmm where to start.

You will just have to walk behind her supporting some of her weight and helping her balance.
A step-through or smaller frame would be helpful for learning.
Or get some hella-huge training wheels.

This is how I rolled, original fixed wheel.

COOL neaver thought of removing the cranks and getting the ballance thing sorted like that, makes sence though always see kids on those wooden push along bikes.

huge training wheels pram size!!

cheers fellas...ill post back on progress :)

grazed knees and tears!

as the song says

big wheel, keeps on turnin

TheDude This is how I rolled, original fixed wheel.

i remember an american kid in my village moving in and rolling out on one of them, i was very jelous as all ihad wasthis

Your not from Norwich are you? Cause I could have been that American kid!

Agressive geometry there

^ obligatory comment : )

maybe, whens shes ready to pedal, go straight to fixed?? I'm still having to "unlearn" the 35 years of instinctive freewheeling.

Scott not Scot......where were you when I was breaking my back holding my kids saddles! No pedals!! A fabulous idea.

TheDude Your not from Norwich are you? Cause I could have been that American kid!

Dude, no i was brought up in Buckinghamshire, there was a massive American Air base not far from my village so we had a few American Families in the village...they always had the best trikes....bah

So my friend has just email me saying he wants to learn to ride and what bike should he buy. Hes in sheffield so its hilly and his price range is 'mid range' and " for a bit of road cycling, bit of country trails.".

My first thoughts are don't drop £500 on a new bike if you are just learning to ride. Has anyone got any advice? Has anyone helped an adult to learn to ride?

A few of us here teach novices. Your friend should be able to get a lesson and hire a bike from a cycling instructor. So they should not need to buy a bike until they have learned how to ride. The majority of people can learn to ride in less than 2 hours.

There is also a very helpful book on teaching new cyclists.

http://cycletraininguk.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1