Bike with training wheels - what age???

[Kaydee]

We have had our girls use balance bikes or runbikes. DD1 went straight from that to a 2-wheeler with no training wheels ever before she turned 4. DP thinks training wheels are evil as they don't teach balance - all the kids we know who have used runbikes have gone straight to normal bikes with no training wheels.

I am a huge fan of balance bikes, but I'd like to share my (son's) experience. DS had a hard time learning to pedal, he just didn't get it. So we bought him a bike with training wheels at about 3 years and took a couple of afternoons to focus on teaching him that skill. He already had a balance bike, we figured it's great for balance, but they do need to learn to pedal. Anyway, it took him a couple of afternoons to learn, but he finally got it. DS turned 4 and we decided to try without training wheels and he got it after about 15 minutes! So away the training wheels went.

So training wheels are great with learning to pedal and to control a bike in general, but I suggest getting rid of them ASAP.