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I did a lot of research online before deciding which bike to purchase as the first for my 4-year-old. Everything I read said that after mastering a balance bike (which lacks both pedals and training wheels), most kids can learn how to ride a bicycle in one day.
Really?! Having spent many hours and days learning how to ride a pedal bike as a child myself, the idea of my daughter becoming a pedal biker in a day seemed like sorcery to me, but that’s exactly what happened when we used the woom bike.
The makers of the woom claim this bike is the best for little kids, because its lightweight and slim design allows novice bike riders to maneuver and balance with ease. However, the bike comes with a hefty price tag ($300+), and I was not at first convinced that the bike sorcery was worth it—that is, until, we finally got our hands on a woom and saw for ourselves how quickly my kid took to balancing on it.
We are now firm believers in the balance bike method and woom is definitely a top brand to consider when choosing the right balance bike for your aspiring rider. Read on to find:
Why we prefer balance bikes to training wheels for learning to ride
Balance bikes allow children to learn how to ride without pedals, focusing on balancing first. The thought is that once riders have mastered moving forward and balancing for a significant distance on a balance bike, learning to pedal can be easy, and we certainly found this to be true in our child’s case.
This method of learning how to bike does not require training wheels, the use of which teaches bike-riding in the reverse order: pedal first, then balance – with a lot of hands-on help from caregivers.
Read more about balance bikes versus training wheels here.
While aspiring riders can very easily accomplish the balance bike feel by simply taking the pedals off of any bike, specially designed and lightweight balance bikes like woom bikes can provide riders with the right conditions to grow their confidence and feel safe riding.
Why woom bikes are great for kids learning to ride
We cover balance bike comparisons in another post, but here’s why we love woom for new and early riders:
1. woom bikes are lightweight. The makers claim that woom bikes weigh 40% less than other bikes. Bikes that are lighter weight are easier for kids to ride.
2. The brake system is easier for kids to understand and safer for them to learn because there is an obvious distinction between front and back brakes. The green one is the back brake, and the only one we use so our little one doesn’t fly over the handlebars when making an abrupt stop.
3. There is no need for training wheels. This is true of all balance bikes, in general. woom bikes are designed to be used without the traditional training wheels. No training wheels mean no need for another transition or to relearn how to ride a bike without them.
How my kid learned to ride a woom pedal bike without training wheels
Step 1. How to Begin Teaching Your Kid to Ride a woom Pedal Bike - Balance First
Before my child and I got started, we watched a few tutorials online that recommended we first:
- Remove the pedals
- Practice balancing on the bike until she is stable for long stretches of time
- Try using the back brake at slow speeds (the green one)
Step 2. Riding with Pedals
After becoming an expert balancer on her new bike, our 4-year-old was ready for the next step: riding with pedals!
woom recommends that you:
- Put on the pedals. One screws clockwise, one screws counterclockwise, which is slightly confusing until you realize that the pedal is unique to a specific side of the bike
- Practice pushing the pedals. Show your kiddo how the bike works by lifting the wheel in the air and letting them push the pedals with their hands
- Ensure their feet touch the ground when sitting on the saddle
- Let them try to ride! Our kid found it easiest to start off as normal (Flinstone-style), then lifting her feet to the pedals once she gained enough speed. Run alongside them to prevent falling. Encourage them to lift their feet when they gain speed and push down on the pedals
- Give the green brake a squeeze slowly. Practice stopping
One weekend, I whisked my daughters away to their grandparents’ house to practice riding in a large parking lot. My husband stayed home to work on the chicken coop because—as millenials whose bike-learning was a multi-day process with training wheels—we had no clue that our preschooler could potentially be on pedals within a day. Boy, was that a mistake.
Once the pedals were on, our preschooler sat on her bike, pushed off, and rode like she had been riding for weeks. No training wheels. No falling. No joke.
She ended her first day on a pedal bike full of confidence and joy.
I recognize this bike may be cost-prohibitive for some families. Guardian Bikes have similar high ratings and are cheaper. I would also suggest saving the environment and your wallet by finding a secondhand bike on the woom website, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace. Depending on your child’s size, you could even skip the balance bike all together and get started with this bike first, with the pedals off, of course.
I tried searching for a few weeks but had trouble finding the size I needed. Luckily, when your child grows out of their woom bike, you can trade it in on their website for 40% off a new bike. Traded-in bikes go towards “Families in need for the #woomgives program.” Contact woom directly if you’re interested in finding out more. You can also find certified pre-owned bikes for a slight discount on their website.
BIPOC kids should have access to the tools to make early riding a joyful experience for them – it is a great start to a lifetime of adventure!
Was your early bike riding experience a joyful one? Share in the comments below.
Puerto Rican & Indigenous mama of two. Bay Area native. Salsa dancer. Backpacker. Doula. Angel (she/her/hers) is a co-founding member of the Beautiful Brown Adventures team. She has traveled to over 30 countries and loves to explore the world with her two daughters & partner - one ice cream shop at a time.
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Does your woom 3 hub make a really low rattling noise? We have a woom 2 and it is very quiet, but our new woom 3 is really noisey (single speed hub version). – https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-mechanics/1293754-brand-new-woom-3-bike-hub-problem.html
Our woom 3 is not noisy! So far it is a pretty quiet bike. Have you reached out to woom? From my experience, they have a great customer service team.
I had reached out to woom with videos and comparison between both bikes. Woom told me it was “normal” to sound like that and just let it wear-in and it would get better. After checking with other users online I took the bike to a local shop and they disassembled the hub and found that woom forgot to put grease inside the hub, they also replaced a fault in the chain and replaced some hex bolt heads which were stripped by the factory. Certainly did not get a good customer service experience from them and required a lot of emails, photos, videos, correspondence and wasted time to get it sorted.
Wow that is really disappointing! I am sorry to hear you had such a difficult time with them. I appreciate you sharing your experience so other users are aware of the challenges they may encounter with woom’s customer service. I am also glad that you have such an awesome neighborhood bike shop that could help figure out the issue. Even though the bike company was a challenge, I hope the young person in your life can enjoy the bike.